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A small red car with smoke coming from under the hood, stopped on a simple road.

descomponer Preterite Conjugation

descomponerto break down

A2irregular (follows poner) -er★★★★★
Quick answer:

The preterite of descomponer is highly irregular, using the 'pus-' stem: descompuse, descompusiste, descompuso.

descomponer Preterite Forms

yodescompuse
descompusiste
él/ella/usteddescompuso
nosotrosdescompusimos
vosotrosdescompusisteis
ellos/ellas/ustedesdescompusieron

When to Use the Preterite

Use the preterite to report a specific event where something broke down or was dismantled at a specific point in time.

Notes on descomponer in the Preterite

It uses the irregular stem 'descompus-' and takes the special preterite endings (e, iste, o, imos, isteis, ieron) without any accents.

Example Sentences

  • Ayer se descompuso mi coche en la carretera.

    Yesterday my car broke down on the highway.

    él/ella/usted

  • Yo descompuse el juguete sin querer.

    I broke the toy by accident.

    yo

  • Nosotros descompusimos la vieja estufa para repararla.

    We took apart the old stove to repair it.

    nosotros

Common Mistakes

  • Mistake: Saying 'descomponí' or 'descompuso' with an accent on the 'o'.

    Correct: The correct forms are 'descompuse' and 'descompuso' (no accent).

    Why: Irregular preterite stems like 'pus-' do not take accents on the endings.

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Related Tenses