pagar Imperfect Subjunctive Conjugation
pagar — to pay
The imperfect subjunctive of pagar is regular: pagara, pagaras, pagara, pagáramos, pagarais, pagaran.
pagar Imperfect Subjunctive Forms
When to Use the Imperfect Subjunctive
Use this in 'if' clauses (e.g., 'If I paid...') or after past-tense expressions of desire or doubt.
Notes on pagar in the Imperfect Subjunctive
This tense is regular for pagar. It is built from the third-person plural preterite (pagaron).
Example Sentences
Si yo pagara menos, tendría más ahorros.
If I paid less, I would have more savings.
yo
Me pidió que pagara la cuenta.
He asked me to pay the bill.
yo
Si pagáramos ahora, nos darían un descuento.
If we paid now, they would give us a discount.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on the 'nosotros' form.
Correct: pagáramos
Why: In the -ra form of the imperfect subjunctive, the nosotros form always has an accent on the vowel before the 'ramos'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: pago
Pagar is fully regular in the present tense: pago, pagas, paga, pagamos, pagáis, pagan.
Preterite
yo: pagué
The preterite of pagar has a spelling change in the first person (pagué) to keep the hard 'g' sound.
Imperfect
yo: pagaba
The imperfect of pagar is regular: pagaba, pagabas, pagaba, pagábamos, pagabais, pagaban.
Future
yo: pagaré
The future of pagar is regular: add endings to the full infinitive (pagaré, pagarás, etc.).
Conditional
yo: pagaría
The conditional of pagar is regular: add -ía endings to the infinitive (pagaría, pagarías).
Present Subjunctive
yo: pague
The present subjunctive of pagar uses the 'gu' spelling change in all forms: pague, pagues, pague, etc.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: paga
Use 'paga' for informal 'tú' and 'pague' for formal 'usted'.
Negative Imperative
yo: no pagues
The negative imperative always uses the present subjunctive: no pagues, no pague, no paguemos.