calificar Preterite Conjugation
calificar — to grade
The preterite of calificar is regular except for the 'yo' form, which changes to 'califiqué' to maintain the hard 'k' sound.
calificar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite to describe a completed instance of grading or qualifying, like when a teacher finished grading a stack of papers or a team qualified for a final.
Notes on calificar in the Preterite
Only the 'yo' form is irregular (califiqué) due to the orthographic change from 'c' to 'qu'. All other forms (calificaste, calificó, etc.) are regular.
Example Sentences
Ayer califiqué todos los ensayos de mis alumnos.
Yesterday I graded all my students' essays.
yo
El equipo calificó para la final del mundial.
The team qualified for the world cup final.
él/ella/usted
¿Calificaste ya la tarea?
Did you grade the homework yet?
tú
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Writing 'calificé' instead of 'califiqué'.
Correct: califiqué
Why: The 'qu' is necessary to keep the hard 'k' sound of the verb stem.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: califico
The present tense of calificar is completely regular: califico, calificas, califica, calificamos, calificáis, califican.
Imperfect
yo: calificaba
The imperfect of calificar is regular: calificaba, calificabas, calificaba, calificábamos, calificabais, calificaban.
Future
yo: calificaré
The future tense of calificar is regular: calificaré, calificarás, calificará, calificaremos, calificaréis, calificarán.
Conditional
yo: calificaría
The conditional of calificar is regular: calificaría, calificarías, calificaría, calificaríamos, calificaríais, calificarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: califique
The present subjunctive of calificar requires a spelling change from 'c' to 'qu' in all forms: califique, califiques, califique, califiquemos, califiquéis, califiquen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: calificara
The imperfect subjunctive of calificar is formed from the third-person plural preterite: calificara, calificaras, calificara, calificáramos, calificarais, calificaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: califica
The affirmative imperative uses califica (tú) and califique (usted), maintaining the 'qu' spelling change for formal commands.
Negative Imperative
yo: no califiques
The negative imperative always uses the 'qu' spelling change: no califiques, no califique, no califiquemos, no califiquéis, no califiquen.