
inquietar Preterite Conjugation
inquietar — to worry
The preterite of inquietar is regular: inquieté, inquietaste, inquietó, inquietamos, inquietasteis, inquietaron.
inquietar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite of 'inquietar' to talk about a specific instance in the past when something or someone worried you, and it ended. For example, 'The news worried me for a moment.'
Notes on inquietar in the Preterite
Inquietar is a regular -ar verb and follows the standard conjugation pattern in the preterite.
Example Sentences
La noticia me inquietó durante toda la noche.
The news worried me all night long.
él/ella/usted
Ayer, tus palabras me inquietaron un poco.
Yesterday, your words worried me a little.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Yo no me inquieté por el examen porque estudié mucho.
I didn't worry about the exam because I studied a lot.
yo
¿Te inquietó la llamada a medianoche?
Did the midnight call worry you?
él/ella/usted
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using the imperfect 'inquietaba' instead of the preterite 'inquietó' for a specific past worry.
Correct: Use 'me inquietó' for a specific worry that happened and finished. Use 'me inquietaba' for a worry that was ongoing in the past.
Why: The preterite marks a completed action, while the imperfect describes duration or repetition.
Master Spanish verbs in context
Memorizing tables only gets you so far. Read 200+ illustrated and narrated Spanish stories to see verbs like 'inquietar' used naturally — in the tenses you're learning.
Related Tenses
Present
yo: inquieto
The present tense of inquietar (e.g., 'inquieto', 'inquietas', 'inquieta') means 'to worry' about something happening now or habitually.
Imperfect
yo: inquietaba
The imperfect of inquietar (inquietaba, inquietabas, etc.) describes ongoing or habitual past worrying.
Future
yo: inquietaré
The future tense of inquietar (inquietaré, inquietarás, etc.) means 'will worry' or 'will bother'.
Conditional
yo: inquietaría
The conditional of inquietar (inquietaría, inquietarías, etc.) means 'would worry' or 'would bother'.
Present Subjunctive
yo: inquiete
The present subjunctive of inquietar (e.g., 'inquiete', 'inquieten') expresses wishes, doubts, or emotions about something happening now or in the future.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: inquietara
The imperfect subjunctive of inquietar (e.g., 'inquietara', 'inquietase') is used for past hypotheticals or wishes.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: inquieta
Use the imperative of inquietar for direct commands like '¡Inquieta!' (you informal) or '¡Inquieten!' (you formal/plural).
Negative Imperative
yo: no inquietes
Form negative commands for inquietar using 'no' + present subjunctive, like '¡No inquietes!' (you informal).