detestar Preterite Conjugation
detestar — to detest
The preterite of detestar is regular: detesté, detestaste, detestó, detestamos, detestasteis, detestaron.
detestar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite when you want to mention a specific moment in the past when you felt a sudden surge of hatred or a specific event you hated.
Notes on detestar in the Preterite
Detestar is entirely regular in the preterite. Note that the 'nosotros' form is the same as in the present tense.
Example Sentences
Ayer detesté cada minuto de esa película.
Yesterday I detested every minute of that movie.
yo
¿Detestaste la comida en el avión?
Did you detest the food on the plane?
tú
Ellos detestaron el clima durante sus vacaciones.
They detested the weather during their vacation.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on detesté or detestó.
Correct: detesté / detestó
Why: Without the accent, the meaning or the person changes entirely.
Master Spanish verbs in context
Memorizing tables only gets you so far. Read 200+ illustrated and narrated Spanish stories to see verbs like 'detestar' used naturally — in the tenses you're learning.
Related Tenses
Present
yo: detesto
The present tense of detestar is regular: detesto, detestas, detesta, detestamos, detestáis, detestan.
Imperfect
yo: detestaba
The imperfect of detestar is regular: detestaba, detestabas, detestaba, detestábamos, detestabais, detestaban.
Future
yo: detestaré
The future of detestar is regular: detestaré, detestarás, detestará, detestaremos, detestaréis, detestarán.
Conditional
yo: detestaría
The conditional of detestar is regular: detestaría, detestarías, detestaría, detestaríamos, detestaríais, detestarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: deteste
The present subjunctive of detestar is regular: deteste, detestes, deteste, detestemos, detestéis, detesten.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: detestara
The imperfect subjunctive of detestar is regular: detestara, detestaras, detestara, detestáramos, detestarais, detestaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: detesta
The affirmative imperative of detestar uses detesta (tú) and detestad (vosotros), with other forms matching the subjunctive.
Negative Imperative
yo: no detestes
The negative imperative of detestar uses 'no' plus the present subjunctive forms: no detestes, no deteste, etc.