comprender Preterite Conjugation
comprender — understand
The preterite of comprender is regular: comprendí, comprendiste, comprendió, comprendimos, comprendisteis, comprendieron.
comprender Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite when you want to say you finally 'got it' at a specific moment in the past. It marks the point in time when the realization occurred.
Notes on comprender in the Preterite
Comprender is a regular -er verb in the preterite. Be sure to put the accent on the final vowel for the 'yo' and 'él/ella/usted' forms.
Example Sentences
En ese momento, comprendí que tenía razón.
At that moment, I understood that he was right.
yo
Él comprendió el mensaje enseguida.
He understood the message right away.
él/ella/usted
Ellos no comprendieron las instrucciones del examen.
They didn't understand the exam instructions.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: comprendio
Correct: comprendió
Why: The third-person singular preterite requires an accent on the 'ó' to indicate the correct stress.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: comprendo
Comprender is a regular -er verb in the present: comprendo, comprendes, comprende, comprendemos, comprendéis, comprenden.
Imperfect
yo: comprendía
Comprender is regular in the imperfect: comprendía, comprendías, comprendía, comprendíamos, comprendíais, comprendían.
Future
yo: comprenderé
The future of comprender uses the full infinitive as the stem: comprenderé, comprenderás, comprenderá, comprenderemos, comprenderéis, comprenderán.
Conditional
yo: comprendería
The conditional of comprender is regular: comprendería, comprenderías, comprendería, comprenderíamos, comprenderíais, comprenderían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: comprenda
The present subjunctive of comprender uses -a endings: comprenda, comprendas, comprenda, comprendamos, comprendáis, comprendan.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: comprendiera
The imperfect subjunctive of comprender uses the preterite stem: comprendiera, comprendieras, comprendiera, comprendiéramos, comprendierais, comprendieran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: comprende
The imperative of comprender varies by person: comprende (tú), comprenda (usted), comprendamos (nosotros), comprended (vosotros), comprendan (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no comprendas
The negative imperative of comprender uses the present subjunctive: no comprendas, no comprenda, no comprendamos, no comprendáis, no comprendan.