contactar Preterite Conjugation
contactar — to contact
The preterite of contactar is regular: contacté, contactaste, contactó, contactamos, contactasteis, contactaron.
contactar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite when you reached out to someone at a specific moment in the past. It's perfect for saying you made a call or sent an email yesterday or last week.
Notes on contactar in the Preterite
Contactar is regular in the preterite. Note that 'contactamos' is the same in both present and preterite; context tells you if it's 'we contact' or 'we contacted'.
Example Sentences
Ayer contacté con el gerente para pedir el puesto.
Yesterday I contacted the manager to ask for the position.
yo
Ellos contactaron con nosotros hace dos días.
They contacted us two days ago.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
¿Contactaste con el servicio al cliente?
Did you contact customer service?
tú
Common Mistakes
Mistake: contactó (used for 'yo')
Correct: contacté
Why: Learners often confuse the 'yo' ending (-é) with the 'él' ending (-ó) in the preterite.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: contacto
Contactar is regular in the present: contacto, contactas, contacta, contactamos, contactáis, contactan.
Imperfect
yo: contactaba
Contactar is regular in the imperfect: contactaba, contactabas, contactaba, contactábamos, contactabais, contactaban.
Future
yo: contactaré
The future of contactar is regular: contactaré, contactarás, contactará, contactaremos, contactaréis, contactarán.
Conditional
yo: contactaría
The conditional of contactar is regular: contactaría, contactarías, contactaría, contactaríamos, contactaríais, contactarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: contacte
The present subjunctive of contactar is regular: contacte, contactes, contacte, contactemos, contactéis, contacten.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: contactara
The imperfect subjunctive of contactar is regular: contactara, contactaras, contactara, contactáramos, contactarais, contactaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: contacta
The imperative of contactar gives commands: contacta (tú), contactad (vosotros), contacte (usted).
Negative Imperative
yo: no contactes
The negative imperative of contactar uses present subjunctive forms: no contactes, no contacte, no contactéis.