parar Preterite Conjugation
parar — to stop
The preterite of parar is regular: paré, paraste, paró, paramos, parasteis, pararon.
parar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite for a completed stop at a specific time, like stopping the car suddenly or when the rain stopped yesterday.
Notes on parar in the Preterite
Parar is regular in the preterite. Note that 'paramos' is the same in both present and preterite; context is key.
Example Sentences
Paré el coche en el semáforo.
I stopped the car at the traffic light.
yo
La lluvia paró a las cinco de la tarde.
The rain stopped at five in the afternoon.
él/ella/usted
Ustedes pararon de correr cuando se cansaron.
You all stopped running when you got tired.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on 'paró'.
Correct: Always write 'paró' for the third person singular.
Why: Without the accent, it sounds like the present tense 'para'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: paro
Parar is regular in the present: paro, paras, para, paramos, paráis, paran.
Imperfect
yo: paraba
Parar follows the regular -aba pattern in the imperfect: paraba, parabas, paraba, parábamos, parabais, paraban.
Future
yo: pararé
The future of parar uses the infinitive as the stem: pararé, pararás, parará, pararemos, pararéis, pararán.
Conditional
yo: pararía
The conditional of parar is regular: pararía, pararías, pararía, pararíamos, pararíais, pararían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: pare
The present subjunctive of parar changes the -a to -e: pare, pares, pare, paremos, paréis, paren.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: parara
The imperfect subjunctive of parar uses the -ara stem: parara, pararas, parara, paráramos, pararais, pararan.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: para
The imperative of parar gives direct orders: para (tú), pare (usted), paremos (nosotros), parad (vosotros), paren (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no pares
The negative imperative of parar uses the present subjunctive: no pares, no pare, no paremos, no paréis, no paren.