malgastar Preterite Conjugation
malgastar — to waste
The preterite of malgastar is regular: malgasté, malgastaste, malgastó, malgastamos, malgastasteis, malgastaron.
malgastar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite to talk about specific, completed instances of wasting something. For example, if someone wasted money on a particular purchase or wasted food at a specific meal.
Notes on malgastar in the Preterite
Malgastar is fully regular in the preterite. All forms follow the standard -ar verb conjugation pattern.
Example Sentences
Ayer malgasté demasiado dinero en ropa.
Yesterday I wasted too much money on clothes.
yo
¿Malgastaste la oportunidad de estudiar?
Did you waste the opportunity to study?
tú
Él malgastó toda la tarde jugando videojuegos.
He wasted the whole afternoon playing video games.
él/ella/usted
Nosotros malgastamos mucha comida el fin de semana.
We wasted a lot of food over the weekend.
nosotros
Ellos malgastaron sus recursos en un proyecto fallido.
They wasted their resources on a failed project.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using the imperfect 'malgastaba' instead of the preterite 'malgastó' for a single completed action.
Correct: For a specific instance, use 'malgastó': 'Él malgastó el dinero'.
Why: The preterite is for completed actions at a specific point, while the imperfect describes ongoing or habitual past actions.
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on 'malgastó' (él/ella/usted) and 'malgasté' (yo).
Correct: It should be 'malgastó' and 'malgasté'.
Why: The accents are crucial for pronunciation and to distinguish these forms from other verb forms or words.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: malgasto
Malgastar is regular: malgasto, malgastas, malgasta, malgastamos, malgastáis, malgastan.
Imperfect
yo: malgastaba
The imperfect of malgastar is regular: malgastaba, malgastabas, malgastaba, malgastábamos, malgastabais, malgastaban.
Future
yo: malgastaré
The future of malgastar is regular: malgastaré, malgastarás, malgastará, malgastaremos, malgastaréis, malgastarán.
Conditional
yo: malgastaría
The conditional of malgastar is regular: malgastaría, malgastarías, malgastaría, malgastaríamos, malgastaríais, malgastarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: malgaste
Use 'malgaste' for wishes, doubts, emotions, and after impersonal expressions.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: malgastara
Use 'malgastara' or 'malgastase' for past hypotheticals, wishes, or polite requests.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: malgasta
Use 'malgasta' (tú) and 'malgasten' (ustedes) for direct commands with malgastar.
Negative Imperative
yo: no malgastes
Form negative commands with 'no' + present subjunctive: 'no malgastes' (tú), 'no malgasten' (ustedes).