masticar Preterite Conjugation
masticar — to chew
Masticar is regular except for the 'yo' form, which changes to mastiqué to keep the hard 'k' sound.
masticar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite for a completed action of chewing at a specific time, like 'I chewed that piece of gum for an hour.'
Notes on masticar in the Preterite
Only the 'yo' form is irregular (mastiqué). The other forms follow the standard -ar pattern (masticaste, masticó, etc.).
Example Sentences
Mastiqué el chicle durante toda la película.
I chewed the gum during the whole movie.
yo
El perro masticó mis zapatos nuevos.
The dog chewed my new shoes.
él/ella/usted
Ayer masticamos mucha carne asada.
Yesterday we chewed a lot of grilled meat.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: masticé
Correct: mastiqué
Why: In Spanish, 'cé' sounds like 'se'. To keep the 'ke' sound of masticar, you must use 'qué'.
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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.
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.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: masticara
The imperfect subjunctive of masticar is regular: masticara, masticaras, masticara, masticáramos, masticarais, masticaran.
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).