machacar Imperfect Conjugation
machacar — to crush
The imperfect of machacar is regular: machacaba, machacabas, machacaba, machacábamos, machacabais, machacaban.
machacar Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use this to describe a repeated action in the past (e.g., how your grandma used to crush herbs) or an ongoing action.
Notes on machacar in the Imperfect
Machacar is fully regular in the imperfect indicative.
Example Sentences
Mi abuela machacaba las hierbas en un mortero.
My grandmother used to crush the herbs in a mortar.
él/ella/usted
Nosotros machacábamos el metal en la antigua fábrica.
We used to crush the metal in the old factory.
nosotros
Mientras tú machacabas el ajo, yo cortaba la cebolla.
While you were crushing the garlic, I was cutting the onion.
tú
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using 'machacía' instead of 'machacaba'.
Correct: machacaba
Why: -ar verbs always use -aba endings in the imperfect, never -ía.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: machaco
The present tense of machacar is completely regular: machaco, machacas, machaca, machacamos, machacáis, machacan.
Preterite
yo: machaque
The preterite of machacar is regular except for the 'yo' form, which changes to 'machaqué'.
Future
yo: machacaré
The future tense of machacar is regular: add endings to the infinitive (machacaré, machacarás, etc.).
Conditional
yo: machacaría
The conditional of machacar is regular: attach -ía endings to the full infinitive (machacaría, machacarías, etc.).
Present Subjunctive
yo: machaque
The present subjunctive of machacar features a spelling change (c to qu) in all forms: machaque, machaques, machaque, machaquemos, machaquéis, machaquen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: machacara
The imperfect subjunctive of machacar is regular, based on the third-person plural preterite: machacara, machacaras, machacara...
Affirmative Imperative
yo: machaca
The imperative of machacar uses the spelling change 'qu' for formal commands (machaque) and 'c' for informal (machaca).
Negative Imperative
yo: no machaques
The negative imperative of machacar always uses the 'qu' spelling change: no machaques, no machaque, no machaquemos, etc.