dedicar Preterite Conjugation
dedicar — to dedicate
The preterite of dedicar has a spelling change only in the first person (yo): dediqué, dedicaste, dedicó, dedicamos, dedicasteis, dedicaron.
dedicar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite for specific, completed instances of dedicating something, like a book dedication or a specific block of time in the past.
Notes on dedicar in the Preterite
Only the 'yo' form changes 'c' to 'qu' (dediqué). All other forms are regular -ar preterite endings.
Example Sentences
Le dediqué mi primer libro a mi madre.
I dedicated my first book to my mother.
yo
El autor dedicó su vida a la ciencia.
The author dedicated his life to science.
él/ella/usted
Ayer dedicamos tres horas a limpiar la casa.
Yesterday we dedicated three hours to cleaning the house.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Writing 'dedicé' for the yo form.
Correct: dediqué
Why: In Spanish, 'cé' is pronounced like 'say/thay'. To keep the 'kay' sound of the infinitive, you must use 'qué'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: dedico
The present tense of dedicar is regular: dedico, dedicas, dedica, dedicamos, dedicáis, dedican.
Imperfect
yo: dedicaba
The imperfect of dedicar is regular: dedicaba, dedicabas, dedicaba, dedicábamos, dedicabais, dedicaban.
Future
yo: dedicaré
The future tense of dedicar is regular: dedicaré, dedicarás, dedicará, dedicaremos, dedicaréis, dedicarán.
Conditional
yo: dedicaría
The conditional of dedicar is regular: dedicaría, dedicarías, dedicaría, dedicaríamos, dedicaríais, dedicarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: dedique
The present subjunctive of dedicar requires a spelling change from 'c' to 'qu': dedique, dediques, dedique, dediquemos, dediquéis, dediquen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: dedicara
The imperfect subjunctive of dedicar is formed from the third-person plural preterite: dedicara, dedicaras, dedicara, dedicáramos, dedicarais, dedicaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: dedica
The imperative of dedicar uses the 'c' to 'qu' spelling change for formal and plural commands: dedica, dedique, dediquemos, dedicad, dediquen.
Negative Imperative
yo: no dediques
The negative imperative of dedicar uses the present subjunctive forms: no dediques, no dedique, no dediquemos, no dediquéis, no dediquen.