obligar Preterite Conjugation
obligar — to force
The preterite of obligar has a spelling change only in the 'yo' form: obligué, obligaste, obligó, obligamos, obligasteis, obligaron.
obligar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite to talk about a specific instance where someone was forced to do something at a definite point in time.
Notes on obligar in the Preterite
There is a spelling change in the 'yo' form (obligué) where the 'g' becomes 'gu' to preserve the hard 'g' sound.
Example Sentences
Ayer obligué a mi hermano a limpiar su cuarto.
Yesterday I forced my brother to clean his room.
yo
La lluvia nos obligó a cancelar el picnic.
The rain forced us to cancel the picnic.
él/ella/usted
Me obligaste a decir la verdad.
You forced me to tell the truth.
tú
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Writing 'obligé' for the yo form.
Correct: The correct form is obligué.
Why: Without the 'u', the 'g' would sound like the Spanish 'j' (h-sound).
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: obligo
The present tense of obligar is regular: obligo, obligas, obliga, obligamos, obligáis, obligan.
Imperfect
yo: obligaba
The imperfect of obligar is regular for -ar verbs: obligaba, obligabas, obligaba, obligábamos, obligabais, obligaban.
Future
yo: obligaré
The future of obligar is regular, adding endings to the infinitive: obligaré, obligarás, obligará, obligaremos, obligaréis, obligarán.
Conditional
yo: obligaría
The conditional of obligar is regular: obligaría, obligarías, obligaría, obligaríamos, obligaríais, obligarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: obligue
The present subjunctive of obligar requires a spelling change (g to gu) to keep the hard 'g' sound: obligue, obligues, obligue, obliguemos, obliguéis, obliguen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: obligara
The imperfect subjunctive of obligar is formed from the third-person plural preterite: obligara, obligaras, obligara, obligáramos, obligarais, obligaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: obliga
The imperative of obligar uses standard -ar endings, with a spelling change in formal and plural forms: obliga, obligue, obliguemos, obligad, obliguen.
Negative Imperative
yo: no obligues
The negative imperative of obligar uses the present subjunctive forms: no obligues, no obligue, no obliguemos, no obliguéis, no obliguen.