colocar Preterite Conjugation
colocar — to place
The preterite of colocar features a spelling change in the first person: coloqué, colocaste, colocó, colocamos, colocasteis, colocaron.
colocar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite when you finished placing or putting something in a specific spot at a specific moment in the past.
Notes on colocar in the Preterite
Colocar is a -car verb, which means the 'c' changes to 'qu' in the 'yo' form (coloqué) to keep the hard 'k' sound. All other forms are regular.
Example Sentences
Coloqué las llaves sobre la mesa.
I placed the keys on the table.
yo
¿Dónde colocaste los libros?
Where did you put the books?
tú
Ella colocó el cuadro en la pared.
She placed the painting on the wall.
él/ella/usted
Common Mistakes
Mistake: colocé
Correct: coloqué
Why: In Spanish, 'ce' sounds like 'se' or 'the'. To keep the hard 'k' sound of the infinitive, you must use 'qu'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: coloco
The present tense of colocar is completely regular: coloco, colocas, coloca, colocamos, colocáis, colocan.
Imperfect
yo: colocaba
The imperfect of colocar is regular: colocaba, colocabas, colocaba, colocábamos, colocabais, colocaban.
Future
yo: colocaré
The future tense of colocar is regular: colocaré, colocarás, colocará, colocaremos, colocaréis, colocarán.
Conditional
yo: colocaría
The conditional of colocar is regular: colocaría, colocarías, colocaría, colocaríamos, colocaríais, colocarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: coloque
The present subjunctive of colocar uses 'qu' in all forms: coloque, coloques, coloque, coloquemos, coloquéis, coloquen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: colocara
The imperfect subjunctive of colocar is regular: colocara, colocaras, colocara, colocáramos, colocarais, colocaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: coloca
The imperative of colocar gives commands: coloca (tú), coloque (usted), coloquemos (nosotros), colocad (vosotros), coloquen (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no coloques
The negative imperative of colocar uses 'qu' throughout: no coloques, no coloque, no coloquemos, no coloquéis, no coloquen.