costar Preterite Conjugation
costar — to cost
The preterite of costar is regular: costé, costaste, costó, costamos, costasteis, costaron.
costar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite to state the specific price paid for something in the past or to say that a specific event or task was difficult at a certain moment.
Notes on costar in the Preterite
Costar is completely regular in the preterite. The stem change (o to ue) does NOT happen here.
Example Sentences
El coche me costó una fortuna.
The car cost me a fortune.
él/ella/usted
Ayer me costó mucho terminar el informe.
Yesterday it was very hard for me to finish the report.
él/ella/usted
Los zapatos costaron cincuenta dólares.
The shoes cost fifty dollars.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using a stem change like 'cuestó'.
Correct: costó
Why: -ar verbs with an o-to-ue change in the present do not keep that change in the preterite.
Mistake: Confusing 'costó' with 'costó' (forgetting the accent).
Correct: costó
Why: Without the accent, it doesn't follow the preterite conjugation for third-person singular.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: cuesto
In the present tense, costar follows an o-to-ue stem change: cuesto, cuestas, cuesta, costamos, costáis, cuestan.
Imperfect
yo: costaba
The imperfect of costar is regular: costaba, costabas, costaba, costábamos, costabais, costaban.
Future
yo: costaré
The future of costar is regular: costaré, costarás, costará, costaremos, costaréis, costarán.
Conditional
yo: costaría
The conditional of costar is regular: costaría, costarías, costaría, costaríamos, costaríais, costarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: cueste
The present subjunctive follows the o-to-ue stem change: cueste, cuestes, cueste, costemos, costéis, cuesten.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: costara
The imperfect subjunctive of costar is regular: costara, costaras, costara, costáramos, costarais, costaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: cuesta
The imperative of costar uses the stem-changed 'cuesta' (tú) and 'cuesten' (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no cuestes
The negative imperative uses the present subjunctive: no cuestes, no cueste, no costemos, no costéis, no cuesten.