describir Preterite Conjugation
describir — to describe
The preterite of describir is fully regular: describí, describiste, describió, describimos, describisteis, describieron.
describir Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite when you finished describing something at a specific point in time, like describing a suspect to the police or a scene in a book you just finished writing.
Notes on describir in the Preterite
Describir is a regular -ir verb in the preterite. Be careful with 'describimos', which looks exactly the same in the present tense.
Example Sentences
El testigo describió al ladrón con mucho detalle.
The witness described the thief in great detail.
él/ella/usted
Ayer describí mi casa ideal en la clase de español.
Yesterday I described my ideal house in Spanish class.
yo
¿Nos describisteis el plan anoche?
Did you all describe the plan to us last night?
vosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using 'describió' without the accent.
Correct: describió
Why: Without the accent, the pronunciation and tense change; the accent is required for the third-person singular preterite.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: describo
The present tense is regular: describo, describes, describe, describimos, describís, describen.
Imperfect
yo: describía
The imperfect uses the -ía endings: describía, describías, describía, describíamos, describíais, describían.
Future
yo: describiré
Form the future by adding -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án to the full infinitive: describiré.
Conditional
yo: describiría
Add -ía endings to the full infinitive: describiría, describirías, describiría, describiríamos, describiríais, describirían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: describa
The present subjunctive uses 'a' endings: describa, describas, describa, describamos, describáis, describan.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: describiera
Based on the 'ellos' preterite: describiera, describieras, describiera, describiéramos, describierais, describieran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: describe
Give commands: describe (tú), describa (usted), describid (vosotros), describan (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no describas
Negative commands use the subjunctive: no describas, no describa, no describamos, no describáis, no describan.