pescar Preterite Conjugation
pescar — to fish
The preterite of pescar features a spelling change in the 'yo' form (pesqué) to keep the 'k' sound.
pescar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite for specific fishing trips that happened and finished, or for the exact moment you caught a fish.
Notes on pescar in the Preterite
The verb is regular except for the 'yo' form. To keep the hard 'c' sound before an 'e', the 'c' changes to 'qu', resulting in 'pesqué'.
Example Sentences
Ayer pesqué mi primer salmón en el río.
Yesterday I caught my first salmon in the river.
yo
Mis tíos pescaron mucho durante sus vacaciones.
My aunt and uncle fished a lot during their vacation.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
¿Pescaste algo en el lago el domingo?
Did you catch anything in the lake on Sunday?
tú
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Writing 'pescé' for the first person.
Correct: pesqué
Why: In Spanish, 'ce' sounds like 'se' or 'the'. You need 'que' to maintain the hard 'k' sound of the infinitive.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: pesco
The present tense of pescar is completely regular: pesco, pescas, pesca, pescamos, pescáis, pescan.
Imperfect
yo: pescaba
The imperfect of pescar uses the standard -aba endings: pescaba, pescabas, pescaba...
Future
yo: pescaré
The future tense is regular and formed by adding endings to the infinitive: pescaré, pescarás, pescará...
Conditional
yo: pescaría
The conditional adds -ía endings to the infinitive: pescaría, pescarías, pescaría...
Present Subjunctive
yo: pesque
The present subjunctive uses the 'qu' spelling change in all forms: pesque, pesques, pesque...
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: pescara
The imperfect subjunctive is regular based on the 'ellos' preterite: pescara, pescaras, pescara...
Affirmative Imperative
yo: pesca
Give orders to fish: pesca (tú), pesque (usted), pesquemos (nosotros).
Negative Imperative
yo: no pesques
Negative commands use 'no' plus the subjunctive: no pesques, no pesque, no pesquemos.