educar Preterite Conjugation
educar — to educate
The preterite of educar is regular except for the 'yo' form spelling change: eduqué, educaste, educó, educamos, educasteis, educaron.
educar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite to talk about a specific, completed period of schooling or a specific instance where a lesson was taught.
Notes on educar in the Preterite
Only the 'yo' form is irregular (eduqué) to preserve the hard 'k' sound. All other forms follow the standard -ar preterite pattern.
Example Sentences
Yo eduqué a mis hijos en un ambiente bilingüe.
I raised (educated) my children in a bilingual environment.
yo
El profesor nos educó sobre la importancia del reciclaje.
The teacher educated us on the importance of recycling.
él/ella/usted
Ellos educaron a su comunidad sobre la salud.
They educated their community about health.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Writing 'educé' for the yo form.
Correct: eduqué
Why: In Spanish, 'ce' sounds like 'se'. To keep the 'ke' sound from 'educar', you must change 'c' to 'qu'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: educo
The present tense of educar is completely regular: educo, educas, educa, educamos, educáis, educan.
Imperfect
yo: educaba
The imperfect of educar is regular: educaba, educabas, educaba, educábamos, educabais, educaban.
Future
yo: educaré
The future tense of educar is regular: educaré, educarás, educará, educaremos, educaréis, educarán.
Conditional
yo: educaría
The conditional of educar is regular: educaría, educarías, educaría, educaríamos, educaríais, educarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: eduque
The present subjunctive of educar features a 'c' to 'qu' spelling change: eduque, eduques, eduque, eduquemos, eduquéis, eduquen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: educara
The imperfect subjunctive of educar is formed regularly from the preterite: educara, educaras, educara, educáramos, educarais, educaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: educa
The affirmative imperative of educar uses the spelling change 'qu' for formal commands: educa, eduque, eduquemos, educad, eduquen.
Negative Imperative
yo: no eduques
The negative imperative of educar always uses the 'qu' spelling change: no eduques, no eduque, no eduquemos, no eduquéis, no eduquen.