masticar Imperfect Subjunctive Conjugation
masticar — to chew
The imperfect subjunctive of masticar is regular: masticara, masticaras, masticara, masticáramos, masticarais, masticaran.
masticar Imperfect Subjunctive Forms
When to Use the Imperfect Subjunctive
Use this for hypothetical situations or past requests involving chewing, such as 'If I chewed gum, my jaw would hurt.'
Notes on masticar in the Imperfect Subjunctive
This tense is regular for masticar. It is formed from the third-person plural of the preterite (masticaron) by dropping the -ron and adding the endings.
Example Sentences
Si masticaras más despacio, no te dolería el estómago.
If you chewed more slowly, your stomach wouldn't hurt.
tú
Me pidió que masticara con la boca cerrada.
He asked me to chew with my mouth closed.
yo
Era necesario que ellos masticaran bien antes de tragar.
It was necessary for them to chew well before swallowing.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: masticáramos without the accent.
Correct: masticáramos
Why: The 'nosotros' form of the imperfect subjunctive always requires an accent on the vowel before the -ramos ending.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: mastico
Masticar is a completely regular -ar verb in the present tense: mastico, masticas, mastica, masticamos, masticáis, mastican.
Preterite
yo: mastiqué
Masticar is regular except for the 'yo' form, which changes to mastiqué to keep the hard 'k' sound.
Imperfect
yo: masticaba
The imperfect of masticar is regular: masticaba, masticabas, masticaba, masticábamos, masticabais, masticaban.
Future
yo: masticaré
The future of masticar is regular: masticaré, masticarás, masticará, masticaremos, masticaréis, masticarán.
Conditional
yo: masticaría
The conditional of masticar is regular: masticaría, masticarías, masticaría, masticaríamos, masticaríais, masticarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: mastique
Masticar undergoes a spelling change from 'c' to 'qu' in all present subjunctive forms: mastique, mastiques, mastique, mastiquemos, mastiquéis, mastiquen.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: mastica
The imperative forms are: mastica (tú), mastique (usted), mastiquemos (nosotros), masticad (vosotros), mastiquen (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no mastiques
The negative imperative uses the present subjunctive: no mastiques (tú), no mastique (usted), no mastiquemos (nosotros), no mastiquéis (vosotros), no mastiquen (ustedes).