quemar Preterite Conjugation
quemar — burn
The preterite of quemar is regular: quemé, quemaste, quemó, quemamos, quemasteis, quemaron.
quemar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite to describe a specific event where something caught fire or was burned, like 'I burned the letter' or 'He burned his finger yesterday'.
Notes on quemar in the Preterite
Quemar is regular in the preterite. Remember that the first person plural 'quemamos' is identical to the present tense.
Example Sentences
Ayer quemé la cena por accidente.
Yesterday I burned dinner by accident.
yo
Ella se quemó la mano con el horno.
She burned her hand with the oven.
él/ella/usted
Nosotros quemamos toda la leña anoche.
We burned all the firewood last night.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on 'quemó'.
Correct: quemó
Why: Without the accent, it can be confused with other forms or lose its past-tense meaning.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: quemo
The present tense of quemar is regular: quemo, quemas, quema, quemamos, quemáis, queman.
Imperfect
yo: quemaba
The imperfect of quemar is regular: quemaba, quemabas, quemaba, quemábamos, quemabais, quemaban.
Future
yo: quemaré
The future of quemar is regular: quemaré, quemarás, quemará, quemaremos, quemaréis, quemarán.
Conditional
yo: quemaría
The conditional of quemar is regular: quemaría, quemarías, quemaría, quemaríamos, quemaríais, quemarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: queme
The present subjunctive of quemar follows the regular -ar pattern: queme, quemes, queme, quememos, queméis, quemen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: quemara
The imperfect subjunctive of quemar is: quemara, quemaras, quemara, quemáramos, quemarais, quemaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: quema
The affirmative imperative of quemar is: quema (tú), queme (usted), quememos (nosotros), quemad (vosotros), quemen (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no quemes
The negative imperative of quemar uses the present subjunctive: no quemes, no queme, no quememos, no queméis, no quemen.