
dañar Preterite Conjugation
dañar — to damage
The preterite of dañar is regular: dañé, dañaste, dañó, dañamos, dañasteis, dañaron.
dañar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite to describe a specific event where something got broken or ruined. It focuses on the moment the damage occurred.
Notes on dañar in the Preterite
Dañar is regular in the preterite. Remember the accent on the 'é' for 'yo' and 'ó' for 'él/ella/usted'.
Example Sentences
Ayer dañé mi teléfono por accidente.
Yesterday I damaged my phone by accident.
yo
Ellos dañaron la mesa durante la mudanza.
They damaged the table during the move.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
La lluvia dañó las flores del jardín.
The rain damaged the flowers in the garden.
él/ella/usted
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Confusing 'dañamos' (past) with 'dañamos' (present).
Correct: Use context clues.
Why: The nosotros form is identical in both tenses, so you must look for words like 'ayer' to know it is preterite.
Master Spanish verbs in context
Memorizing tables only gets you so far. Read 200+ illustrated and narrated Spanish stories to see verbs like 'dañar' used naturally — in the tenses you're learning.
Related Tenses
Present
yo: daño
Dañar is a regular -ar verb in the present: daño, dañas, daña, dañamos, dañáis, dañan.
Imperfect
yo: dañaba
Dañar in the imperfect follows the regular -aba pattern: dañaba, dañabas, dañaba, dañábamos, dañabais, dañaban.
Future
yo: dañaré
The future of dañar uses the infinitive as the stem: dañaré, dañarás, dañará, dañaremos, dañaréis, dañarán.
Conditional
yo: dañaría
The conditional of dañar adds -ía endings to the infinitive: dañaría, dañarías, dañaría, dañaríamos, dañaríais, dañarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: dañe
The present subjunctive of dañar uses -e endings: dañe, dañes, dañe, dañemos, dañéis, dañen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: dañara
The imperfect subjunctive of dañar is built from the 'ellos' preterite: dañara, dañaras, dañara, dañáramos, dañarais, dañaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: daña
The affirmative imperative of dañar uses: daña (tú), dañe (usted), dañad (vosotros), dañen (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no dañes
The negative imperative of dañar uses 'no' plus the present subjunctive: no dañes, no dañe, no dañemos, no dañéis, no dañen.