cabalgar Preterite Conjugation
cabalgar — to ride a horse
Cabalgar is regular except for the 'yo' form (cabalgué), which adds a 'u' to keep the hard 'g' sound.
cabalgar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite to describe a completed instance of riding a horse at a specific point in time.
Notes on cabalgar in the Preterite
Only the 'yo' form is irregular (cabalgué). The other forms (cabalgaste, cabalgó, etc.) are completely regular.
Example Sentences
Ayer cabalgué por la playa al atardecer.
Yesterday I rode along the beach at sunset.
yo
Ella cabalgó durante tres horas.
She rode for three hours.
él/ella/usted
Nosotros cabalgamos por el valle el verano pasado.
We rode through the valley last summer.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Writing 'cabalgue' for the past tense 'yo' form.
Correct: cabalgué
Why: You must include the accent mark on the 'é' to indicate it is the past tense, otherwise it looks like the subjunctive.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: cabalgo
Cabalgar is a completely regular -ar verb in the present tense: cabalgo, cabalgas, cabalga, cabalgamos, cabalgáis, cabalgan.
Imperfect
yo: cabalgaba
The imperfect of cabalgar is regular: cabalgaba, cabalgabas, cabalgaba, cabalgábamos, cabalgabais, cabalgaban.
Future
yo: cabalgaré
The future tense of cabalgar is regular: add the endings -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án to the infinitive.
Conditional
yo: cabalgaría
The conditional of cabalgar is regular: add -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían to the infinitive.
Present Subjunctive
yo: cabalgue
Cabalgar requires a spelling change from 'g' to 'gu' in all forms: cabalgue, cabalgues, cabalgue, cabalguemos, cabalguéis, cabalguen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: cabalgara
The imperfect subjunctive of cabalgar is regular, based on the third-person plural preterite: cabalgara, cabalgaras, cabalgara...
Affirmative Imperative
yo: cabalga
The imperative uses 'cabalga' (tú) and spelling-changed forms for others: cabalgue (usted), cabalguen (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no cabalgues
The negative imperative always uses the present subjunctive forms: no cabalgues, no cabalgue, no cabalguemos, no cabalguéis, no cabalguen.