despertar Preterite Conjugation
despertar — to wake (someone) up
Despertar is regular in the preterite: desperté, despertaste, despertó, despertamos, despertasteis, despertaron.
despertar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite for the specific moment someone was woken up. It marks a completed event in the past, like an alarm going off or someone calling your name.
Notes on despertar in the Preterite
Unlike the present tense, despertar is completely regular in the preterite. There is no stem change (e to ie) here.
Example Sentences
El ruido me despertó a las seis.
The noise woke me up at six.
él/ella/usted
Despertamos a los niños temprano para el viaje.
We woke the children up early for the trip.
nosotros
¿A qué hora te despertaste ayer?
What time did you wake up yesterday?
tú
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using 'despiertó' instead of 'despertó'.
Correct: despertó
Why: Learners often try to carry the stem change from the present tense into the preterite, but it only happens in the present.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: despierto
Despertar has an e→ie stem change in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
Imperfect
yo: despertaba
Despertar is regular in the imperfect: despertaba, despertabas, despertaba, despertábamos, despertabais, despertaban.
Future
yo: despertaré
The future of despertar is regular: despertaré, despertarás, despertará, despertaremos, despertaréis, despertarán.
Conditional
yo: despertaría
The conditional of despertar is regular: despertaría, despertarías, despertaría, despertaríamos, despertaríais, despertarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: despierte
The present subjunctive follows the e→ie stem change: despierte, despiertes, despierte, despertemos, despertéis, despierten.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: despertara
The imperfect subjunctive of despertar is regular: despertara, despertaras, despertara, despertáramos, despertarais, despertaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: despierta
Give commands using despierta (tú), despierte (usted), or despertad (vosotros).
Negative Imperative
yo: no despiertes
Negative commands use the present subjunctive: no despiertes (tú), no despierte (usted).