influir Preterite Conjugation
influir — to influence
In the preterite, influir changes 'i' to 'y' in the third-person forms: influyó and influyeron.
influir Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite when talking about a specific event in the past that had a definitive impact or changed someone's mind once.
Notes on influir in the Preterite
The spelling change to 'y' occurs in the third-person singular and plural to avoid having an unstressed 'i' between two vowels.
Example Sentences
Su discurso influyó en la votación de ayer.
His speech influenced yesterday's vote.
él/ella/usted
Tus palabras influyeron en mi decisión final.
Your words influenced my final decision.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Influí en el grupo para cambiar el plan.
I influenced the group to change the plan.
yo
Common Mistakes
Mistake: influio
Correct: influyó
Why: In the third person, the 'i' must change to a 'y' because Spanish spelling rules generally don't allow an unstressed 'i' between two vowels.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: influyo
The present of influir adds a 'y' before the ending in most forms: influyo, influyes, influye, influyen.
Imperfect
yo: influía
Influir is regular in the imperfect: influía, influías, influía, influíamos, influíais, influían.
Future
yo: influiré
The future of influir is regular: influiré, influirás, influirá, influiremos, influiréis, influirán.
Conditional
yo: influiría
The conditional of influir is regular: influiría, influirías, influiría, influiríamos, influiríais, influirían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: influya
The present subjunctive of influir uses a 'y' in all forms: influya, influyas, influya, influyamos, influyáis, influyan.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: influyera
The imperfect subjunctive of influir is built from the 'ellos' preterite: influyera, influyeras, influyera...
Affirmative Imperative
yo: influye
The imperative uses 'influye' (tú) and 'influyan' (ustedes) to command or encourage influence.
Negative Imperative
yo: no influyas
The negative imperative uses the present subjunctive: no influyas, no influya, no influyamos, no influyáis, no influyan.