extinguir Imperfect Subjunctive Conjugation
extinguir — to extinguish
The imperfect subjunctive of extinguir follows the third-person plural preterite: extinguiera, extinguieras, extinguiera, extinguiéramos, extinguierais, extinguieran.
extinguir Imperfect Subjunctive Forms
When to Use the Imperfect Subjunctive
Use this in 'if' clauses or past-tense requests, like 'Si se extinguiera el fuego...' (If the fire were to go out...).
Notes on extinguir in the Imperfect Subjunctive
This tense is regular based on the preterite stem. Note the accent on the 'e' in the nosotros form (extinguiéramos).
Example Sentences
Si se extinguiera esa especie, sería una tragedia.
If that species were to go extinct, it would be a tragedy.
él/ella/usted
Me gustaría que ellos extinguieran el rumor.
I would like them to put an end to (extinguish) the rumor.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Si nosotros extinguiéramos las luces, veríamos las estrellas.
If we turned out the lights, we would see the stars.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the 'u' in the stem.
Correct: extinguiera
Why: The 'u' is required before 'e' and 'i' to keep the hard 'g' sound.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: extingo
The present tense of extinguir is mostly regular, but the 'yo' form changes to 'extingo' to keep the hard 'g' sound.
Preterite
yo: extinguí
The preterite of extinguir is regular, focusing on completed actions like putting out a fire or a species going extinct.
Imperfect
yo: extinguía
The imperfect of extinguir is completely regular: extinguía, extinguías, extinguía, extinguíamos, extinguíais, extinguían.
Future
yo: extinguiré
The future tense of extinguir is regular, formed by adding endings to the full infinitive: extinguiré, extinguirás, etc.
Conditional
yo: extinguiría
The conditional of extinguir is regular: extinguiría, extinguirías, extinguiría, extinguiríamos, extinguiríais, extinguirían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: extinga
The present subjunctive of extinguir changes the 'gu' to 'g' in all forms: extinga, extingas, extinga, extingamos, extingáis, extingan.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: extingue
The imperative of extinguir uses 'extingue' for informal tú and 'extinga' for formal commands.
Negative Imperative
yo: no extingas
The negative imperative of extinguir always drops the 'u' to keep the hard 'g' sound: no extingas, no extinga, no extingamos, no extingáis, no extingan.