imponer Preterite Conjugation
imponer — to impose
Imponer uses the irregular 'pus-' stem in the preterite: impuse, impusiste, impuso, impusimos, impusisteis, impusieron.
imponer Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use this for specific past events, like when a law was passed or a specific penalty was handed down at a single point in time.
Notes on imponer in the Preterite
This verb follows the same irregular pattern as 'poner'. The stem changes to 'impus-' and it uses the special 'u-stem' endings (no accents).
Example Sentences
El juez impuso una multa muy alta.
The judge imposed a very high fine.
él/ella/usted
Ayer les impuse silencio a los niños.
Yesterday I forced (imposed) silence on the children.
yo
Nos impusieron condiciones injustas en el contrato.
They imposed unfair conditions on us in the contract.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Saying 'imponí' or 'imponió'.
Correct: Use 'impuse' and 'impuso'.
Why: Learners often try to conjugate it as a regular -er verb, but it must follow the 'pus' stem change.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: impongo
The present tense of imponer uses the 'g-verb' pattern for 'yo' (impongo), but follows regular -er patterns for all other persons.
Imperfect
yo: imponía
The imperfect of imponer is completely regular: imponía, imponías, imponía, imponíamos, imponíais, imponían.
Future
yo: impondré
The future tense of imponer uses the irregular stem 'impondr-': impondré, impondrás, impondrá, etc.
Conditional
yo: impondría
The conditional of imponer uses the irregular stem 'impondr-': impondría, impondrías, impondría, etc.
Present Subjunctive
yo: imponga
The present subjunctive uses the 'impong-' stem: imponga, impongas, imponga, impongamos, impongáis, impongan.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: impusiera
The imperfect subjunctive uses the 'impusi-' stem: impusiera, impusieras, impusiera, impusiéramos, impusierais, impusieran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: impón
The affirmative imperative has a short 'tú' form (impón) and uses 'impong-' for formal/plural commands.
Negative Imperative
yo: no impongas
The negative imperative always uses the present subjunctive: no impongas, no imponga, no impongamos, no impongáis, no impongan.