cambiar Preterite Conjugation
cambiar — to change
The preterite of cambiar is regular: cambié, cambiaste, cambió, cambiamos, cambiasteis, cambiaron.
cambiar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite when a change was completed at a specific moment in the past, such as when you changed your phone number or when the weather suddenly changed.
Notes on cambiar in the Preterite
Cambiar is regular in the preterite. The 'i' in the stem stays, and you add the standard -ar preterite endings.
Example Sentences
Ayer cambié mis dólares por euros.
Yesterday I changed my dollars for euros.
yo
El clima cambió de repente esta tarde.
The weather changed suddenly this afternoon.
él/ella/usted
Nosotros cambiamos de casa el mes pasado.
We moved (changed) houses last month.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using 'cambio' instead of 'cambió'.
Correct: cambió
Why: Without the accent on the 'ó', it means 'I change' instead of 'he/she changed'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: cambio
Cambiar is regular in the present: cambio, cambias, cambia, cambiamos, cambiáis, cambian.
Imperfect
yo: cambiaba
Cambiar is regular in the imperfect: cambiaba, cambiabas, cambiaba, cambiábamos, cambiabais, cambiaban.
Future
yo: cambiaré
The future of cambiar is formed by adding endings to the infinitive: cambiaré, cambiarás, cambiará, cambiaremos, cambiaréis, cambiarán.
Conditional
yo: cambiaría
The conditional of cambiar is regular: cambiaría, cambiarías, cambiaría, cambiaríamos, cambiaríais, cambiarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: cambie
The present subjunctive of cambiar uses -e endings: cambie, cambies, cambie, cambiemos, cambiéis, cambien.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: cambiara
The imperfect subjunctive of cambiar is based on the preterite stem: cambiara, cambiaras, cambiara, cambiáramos, cambiarais, cambiaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: cambia
The imperative of cambiar provides direct commands: cambia, cambie, cambiemos, cambiad, cambien.
Negative Imperative
yo: no cambies
The negative imperative of cambiar uses the present subjunctive: no cambies, no cambie, no cambiemos, no cambiéis, no cambien.