machacar Preterite Conjugation
machacar — to crush
The preterite of machacar is regular except for the 'yo' form, which changes to 'machaqué'.
machacar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite to talk about a specific time you crushed something, like finishing a recipe or defeating an opponent in a past game.
Notes on machacar in the Preterite
Only the 'yo' form is irregular (spelling change): 'machaqué'. This ensures the 'k' sound is maintained before the 'e'.
Example Sentences
Machaqué los aguacates para el guacamole.
I crushed the avocados for the guacamole.
yo
El equipo machacó al rival el domingo pasado.
The team crushed the rival last Sunday.
él/ella/usted
Ayer machacamos las uvas para el vino.
Yesterday we crushed the grapes for the wine.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Writing 'machacé' for the 'yo' form.
Correct: machaqué
Why: The letter 'c' sounds like 's/z' before 'e'. You need 'qu' to keep the hard 'k' sound from 'machacar'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: machaco
The present tense of machacar is completely regular: machaco, machacas, machaca, machacamos, machacáis, machacan.
Imperfect
yo: machacaba
The imperfect of machacar is regular: machacaba, machacabas, machacaba, machacábamos, machacabais, machacaban.
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.