preservar Preterite Conjugation
preservar — to preserve
The preterite of preservar is regular: preservé, preservaste, preservó, preservamos, preservasteis, preservaron.
preservar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite to talk about completed actions in the past related to preserving something. For instance, when someone successfully preserved food or a historical site at a specific time.
Notes on preservar in the Preterite
Preservar is fully regular in the preterite tense. The 'nosotros' form 'preservamos' is identical to the present indicative, so context is key to differentiate.
Example Sentences
Yo preservé las cartas de mi abuela.
I preserved my grandmother's letters.
yo
¿Tú preservaste el documento original?
Did you preserve the original document?
tú
Ella preservó la receta secreta.
She preserved the secret recipe.
él/ella/usted
Nosotros preservamos la flora nativa del parque.
We preserved the native flora of the park.
nosotros
Ellos preservaron el edificio histórico.
They preserved the historic building.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on 'preservó' (él/ella/usted).
Correct: The form is 'preservó' with an accent on the 'ó'.
Why: This accent distinguishes the third-person singular preterite from other forms and indicates the stressed syllable.
Mistake: Using the imperfect instead of the preterite for a single completed action.
Correct: Use 'preservó' for a one-time act of preservation, not 'preservaba'.
Why: The preterite marks a specific, finished event, while the imperfect describes ongoing or habitual past actions.
Master Spanish verbs in context
Memorizing tables only gets you so far. Read 200+ illustrated and narrated Spanish stories to see verbs like 'preservar' used naturally — in the tenses you're learning.
Related Tenses
Present
yo: preservo
The present indicative of preservar is regular: preservo, preservas, preserva, preservamos, preserváis, preservan.
Imperfect
yo: preservaba
The imperfect of preservar is regular: preservaba, preservabas, preservaba, preservábamos, preservabais, preservaban.
Future
yo: preservaré
The future tense of preservar is regular, adding endings to the infinitive: preservaré, preservarás, preservará, preservaremos, preservaréis, preservarán.
Conditional
yo: preservaría
The conditional of preservar is regular: preservaría, preservarías, preservaría, preservaríamos, preservaríais, preservarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: preserve
The present subjunctive of preservar uses regular -ar endings: preserve, preserves, preservemos, preservéis, preserven.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: preservara
The imperfect subjunctive of preservar uses -ra or -se endings: preservara/preservase, preservaras/preservases, etc.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: preserva
The imperative of preservar uses regular -ar endings: preserva, preserve, preservemos, preservad, preserven.
Negative Imperative
yo: no preserves
Negative commands for preservar use 'no' + present subjunctive: no preserves, no preserve, no preservemos, no preservéis, no preserven.