designar Preterite Conjugation
designar — to appoint
The preterite of designar (designé, designaste, designó...) marks completed actions of appointing in the past.
designar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite for specific instances when someone appointed someone or something, and the action is finished. For example, 'Ayer, el comité designó al nuevo presidente.' (Yesterday, the committee appointed the new president.) It focuses on the completion of the act of appointing.
Notes on designar in the Preterite
'Designar' is regular in the preterite. You take the stem from the infinitive ('designar-') and add the regular -ar preterite endings (-é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -asteis, -aron).
Example Sentences
Yo designé a mi asistente personal la semana pasada.
I appointed my personal assistant last week.
yo
¿Tú designaste al representante del equipo?
Did you appoint the team representative?
tú
Ella designó a Juan como el nuevo jefe.
She appointed Juan as the new boss.
él/ella/usted
Ellos designaron un comité de emergencia.
They appointed an emergency committee.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using the imperfect 'designaba' instead of the preterite 'designó' for a specific, completed appointment.
Correct: Use 'designó' for a single, finished act of appointing, like 'El director designó al nuevo gerente ayer.'
Why: The preterite signals a completed action in the past, while the imperfect describes ongoing or habitual past actions.
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on the yo form: 'designé' vs 'designe'.
Correct: The yo preterite form is 'designé', with an accent on the final 'é'.
Why: The accent distinguishes the preterite yo form from the present subjunctive 'designe' and marks the stress.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: designo
The present tense of designar (designo, designas, designa...) describes current or habitual acts of appointing.
Imperfect
yo: designaba
The imperfect of designar (designaba, designabas...) describes past habitual or ongoing appointments.
Future
yo: designaré
The future tense of designar (designaré, designarás...) indicates future appointments or probability.
Conditional
yo: designaría
The conditional of designar (designaría, designarías...) expresses hypotheticals, polite requests, or future-in-the-past.
Present Subjunctive
yo: designe
The present subjunctive of designar (e.g., designe, designes) expresses wishes, doubts, or emotions.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: designara
The imperfect subjunctive of designar (e.g., designara, designaras) is used for past hypotheticals or wishes.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: designa
Use the imperative of designar for direct commands like 'designa' (tú) or 'designen' (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no designes
Negative commands with 'designar' use the present subjunctive, like 'no designes' (tú) or 'no designen' (ustedes).