gastar Preterite Conjugation
gastar — to spend
The preterite of gastar is regular: gasté, gastaste, gastó, gastamos, gastasteis, gastaron.
gastar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite to describe completed actions in the past with a clear beginning and end. For example, 'Ayer gasté 50 euros' (Yesterday I spent 50 euros) or 'Gastaron todo el dinero en la fiesta' (They spent all the money on the party).
Notes on gastar in the Preterite
Gastar is regular in the preterite tense. It follows the standard conjugation pattern for -ar verbs.
Example Sentences
Ayer gasté mucho dinero en regalos.
Yesterday I spent a lot of money on gifts.
yo
¿Gastaste todo el dinero que te di?
Did you spend all the money I gave you?
tú
Él gastó su paga extra en un nuevo teléfono.
He spent his bonus on a new phone.
él/ella/usted
Gastamos solo lo necesario para la mudanza.
We spent only what was necessary for the move.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using the imperfect ('gastaba') for a single completed action.
Correct: For a completed action, use the preterite: 'Gasté 50 euros'. The imperfect ('gastaba') implies duration or habit.
Why: Distinguishing between the preterite and imperfect is a key challenge for Spanish learners.
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on 'gasté' and 'gastó'.
Correct: The yo form is 'gasté' and the él/ella/usted form is 'gastó', both with accents.
Why: These accents are necessary to mark the stress on the final syllable and distinguish them from other forms.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: gasto
Gastar is regular in the present tense: gasto, gastas, gasta, gastamos, gastáis, gastan.
Imperfect
yo: gastaba
The imperfect of gastar is regular: gastaba, gastabas, gastaba, gastábamos, gastabais, gastaban.
Future
yo: gastaré
The future tense of gastar is regular: gastaré, gastarás, gastará, gastaremos, gastaréis, gastarán.
Conditional
yo: gastaría
The conditional of gastar is regular: gastaría, gastarías, gastaría, gastaríamos, gastaríais, gastarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: gaste
The present subjunctive of gastar: 'gaste', 'gastes', 'gastemos', 'gastéis', 'gasten'.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: gastara
The imperfect subjunctive of gastar has two forms: gastara/gastase and gastáramos/gastásemos.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: gasta
The imperative of gastar is mostly regular, with specific commands like 'gasta' (tú) and 'gastad' (vosotros).
Negative Imperative
yo: no gastes
Negative commands for gastar use the present subjunctive: 'no gastes', 'no gaste', 'no gastemos', 'no gastéis', 'no gasten'.