castigar Imperfect Conjugation
castigar — to punish
The imperfect of castigar is regular: castigaba, castigabas, castigaba, castigábamos, castigabais, castigaban.
castigar Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use this to describe how someone used to be punished in the past or to set the scene (e.g., 'The teacher was punishing the student when...').
Notes on castigar in the Imperfect
Castigar is fully regular in the imperfect indicative.
Example Sentences
De niño, mi abuela nunca me castigaba.
As a child, my grandmother never used to punish me.
él/ella/usted
En esa escuela, castigaban a los alumnos con frecuencia.
In that school, they used to punish the students frequently.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Nos castigábamos a nosotros mismos con dietas estrictas.
We used to punish ourselves with strict diets.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Writing 'castigaba' with a 'v' (castigava).
Correct: castigaba
Why: All -ar verbs use 'b' for the imperfect endings.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: castigo
The present tense of castigar is completely regular: castigo, castigas, castiga, castigamos, castigáis, castigan.
Preterite
yo: castigué
The preterite of castigar is regular except for the 'yo' form (castigué), which adds a 'u' to keep the hard 'g' sound.
Future
yo: castigaré
The future of castigar is regular: castigaré, castigarás, castigará, castigaremos, castigaréis, castigarán.
Conditional
yo: castigaría
The conditional of castigar is regular: castigaría, castigarías, castigaría, castigaríamos, castigaríais, castigarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: castigue
The present subjunctive of castigar requires a 'u' after the 'g' (castigue) to keep the hard 'g' sound.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: castigara
The imperfect subjunctive of castigar is regular based on the third-person preterite: castigara, castigaras, castigara...
Affirmative Imperative
yo: castiga
The affirmative imperative uses 'castiga' (tú) and 'castigue' (usted), with the 'u' spelling change in formal forms.
Negative Imperative
yo: no castigues
The negative imperative of castigar uses 'no' + present subjunctive, always including the 'u' (no castigues).