merecer Preterite Conjugation
merecer — to deserve
Merecer is regular in the preterite: merecí, mereciste, mereció, merecimos, merecisteis, merecieron.
merecer Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite to highlight a specific moment when someone earned something or when a reward/punishment was finally justified by a completed action.
Notes on merecer in the Preterite
Merecer is completely regular in the preterite. There is no 'z' in this tense.
Example Sentences
Ella mereció el premio que ganó ayer.
She deserved the prize she won yesterday.
él/ella/usted
Merecimos ganar el partido por cómo jugamos.
We deserved to win the match because of how we played.
nosotros
¿Merecieron ellos tanta suerte?
Did they deserve so much luck?
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Adding a 'z' like 'merezcí'.
Correct: Yo merecí.
Why: The 'z' change only happens before 'o' or 'a'. Since the preterite endings start with 'i', the 'c' stays alone.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: merezco
Merecer is irregular in the first person (yo merezco), while the other forms follow regular -er patterns.
Imperfect
yo: merecía
Merecer is regular in the imperfect: merecía, merecías, merecía, merecíamos, merecíais, merecían.
Future
yo: mereceré
The future of merecer is regular: mereceré, merecerás, merecerá, mereceremos, mereceréis, merecerán.
Conditional
yo: merecería
The conditional of merecer is regular: merecería, merecerías, merecería, mereceríamos, mereceríais, merecerían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: merezca
The present subjunctive uses the 'merezc-' stem for all persons.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: mereciera
The imperfect subjunctive uses the stem 'merecie-': mereciera, merecieras, mereciera, mereciéramos, merecierais, merecieran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: merece
The imperative uses 'merece' for tú and 'merezca' for formal commands.
Negative Imperative
yo: no merezcas
The negative imperative always uses the present subjunctive forms with 'no'.