destrozar Preterite Conjugation
destrozar — to destroy
Destrozar is regular in the preterite except for the 'yo' form, which changes 'z' to 'c': destrocé.
destrozar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite to talk about a specific moment when something was smashed, ruined, or destroyed in the past.
Notes on destrozar in the Preterite
Only the 'yo' form is irregular (destrocé) to keep the pronunciation consistent. All other forms are regular (destrozaste, destrozó, etc.).
Example Sentences
Ayer destrocé mis zapatos nuevos en el barro.
Yesterday I ruined my new shoes in the mud.
yo
El granizo destrozó la cosecha.
The hail destroyed the harvest.
él/ella/usted
Los niños destrozaron el salón en cinco minutos.
The kids trashed the living room in five minutes.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: destrozé
Correct: destrocé
Why: The letter 'z' changes to 'c' before 'e' in the first-person preterite.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: destrozo
Destrozar is a regular -ar verb in the present tense: destrozo, destrozas, destroza, destrozamos, destrozáis, destrozan.
Imperfect
yo: destrozaba
The imperfect of destrozar is regular: destrozaba, destrozabas, destrozaba, destrozábamos, destrozabais, destrozaban.
Future
yo: destrozaré
The future tense of destrozar is regular: destrozaré, destrozarás, destrozará, destrozaremos, destrozaréis, destrozarán.
Conditional
yo: destrozaría
The conditional of destrozar is regular: destrozaría, destrozarías, destrozaría, destrozaríamos, destrozaríais, destrozarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: destroce
The present subjunctive of destrozar requires a spelling change from 'z' to 'c' in all forms: destroce, destroces, destroce, destrocemos, destrocéis, destrocen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: destrozara
The imperfect subjunctive of destrozar is regular, based on the third-person plural preterite: destrozara, destrozaras, destrozara, destrozáramos, destrozarais, destrozaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: destroza
The imperative uses 'destroza' for tú and 'destrocen' for ustedes (note the spelling change).
Negative Imperative
yo: no destroces
The negative imperative always uses the present subjunctive forms: no destroces, no destroce, no destrocemos, no destrocéis, no destrocen.