destacar Preterite Conjugation
destacar — to highlight
The preterite of destacar is regular except for the 'yo' form, which changes to 'destaqué'.
destacar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite to mention a specific moment when someone stood out or a specific time you highlighted a piece of information.
Notes on destacar in the Preterite
There is a spelling change only in the 'yo' form (destaqué) to preserve the hard 'k' sound. All other forms are regular.
Example Sentences
Destaqué los párrafos más importantes del libro.
I highlighted the most important paragraphs of the book.
yo
Ella destacó entre todos los candidatos.
She stood out among all the candidates.
él/ella/usted
Ayer destacamos la necesidad de mejorar el servicio.
Yesterday we highlighted the need to improve the service.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Writing 'destacé' for the 'yo' form.
Correct: destaqué
Why: The letter 'c' followed by 'e' sounds like 's'. To keep the 'k' sound from 'destacar', you must use 'qu'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: destaco
The present tense of destacar is completely regular: destaco, destacas, destaca, destacamos, destacáis, destacan.
Imperfect
yo: destacaba
The imperfect of destacar is regular: destacaba, destacabas, destacaba, destacábamos, destacabais, destacaban.
Future
yo: destacaré
The future of destacar is regular: destacaré, destacarás, destacará, destacaremos, destacaréis, destacarán.
Conditional
yo: destacaría
The conditional of destacar is regular: destacaría, destacarías, destacaría, destacaríamos, destacaríais, destacarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: destaque
The present subjunctive of destacar features a 'c' to 'qu' spelling change: destaque, destaques, destaque, destaquemos, destaquéis, destaquen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: destacara
The imperfect subjunctive of destacar is based on the preterite stem: destacara, destacaras, destacara, destacáramos, destacarais, destacaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: destaca
The imperative of destacar uses 'destaca' (tú) and 'destaque' (usted).
Negative Imperative
yo: no destaques
The negative imperative of destacar always uses the 'qu' spelling change: no destaques, no destaque, no destaquemos, no destaquéis, no destaquen.