indicar Preterite Conjugation
indicar — to indicate
The preterite of indicar has a spelling change in the first person: indiqué, indicaste, indicó, indicamos, indicasteis, indicaron.
indicar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite to describe a specific moment when someone gave directions or when a symptom first pointed to a specific cause.
Notes on indicar in the Preterite
Indicar has a spelling change (c to qu) in the 'yo' form (indiqué) to keep the hard 'k' sound. All other forms are regular.
Example Sentences
Ayer le indiqué el camino al turista.
Yesterday I showed the tourist the way.
yo
El médico nos indicó el tratamiento correcto.
The doctor indicated the correct treatment to us.
él/ella/usted
¿Me indicaste el número de teléfono?
Did you give me the phone number?
tú
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Writing 'indicé' for the yo form.
Correct: indiqué
Why: Using a 'c' before 'e' would change the pronunciation to an 's' or 'th' sound; 'qu' is needed to keep the 'k' sound.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: indico
The present tense of indicar is fully regular: indico, indicas, indica, indicamos, indicáis, indican.
Imperfect
yo: indicaba
The imperfect of indicar is regular: indicaba, indicabas, indicaba, indicábamos, indicabais, indicaban.
Future
yo: indicaré
The future tense of indicar is regular: indicaré, indicarás, indicará, indicaremos, indicaréis, indicarán.
Conditional
yo: indicaría
The conditional of indicar is regular: indicaría, indicarías, indicaría, indicaríamos, indicaríais, indicarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: indique
The present subjunctive of indicar uses a 'qu' spelling in all forms: indique, indiques, indique, indiquemos, indiquéis, indiquen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: indicara
The imperfect subjunctive of indicar is regular: indicara, indicaras, indicara, indicáramos, indicarais, indicaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: indica
The imperative of indicar includes spelling changes for formal commands: indica, indique, indiquemos, indicad, indiquen.
Negative Imperative
yo: no indiques
The negative imperative of indicar uses 'qu' in all forms: no indiques, no indique, no indiquemos, no indiquéis, no indiquen.