quitar Preterite Conjugation
quitar — remove
The preterite of quitar is regular: quité, quitaste, quitó, quitamos, quitasteis, quitaron.
quitar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite for completed actions in the past, such as when you took something away or removed a specific stain yesterday.
Notes on quitar in the Preterite
Quitar is completely regular in the preterite. The 'nosotros' form is identical to the present tense.
Example Sentences
Ayer quité las cortinas viejas.
Yesterday I took down the old curtains.
yo
Ella quitó el libro de la mesa.
She removed the book from the table.
él/ella/usted
Ellos quitaron la nieve de la entrada.
They cleared the snow from the driveway.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on quité or quitó.
Correct: quité (yo) and quitó (él/ella/usted).
Why: Without the accent, the stress shifts and the meaning or tense changes.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: quito
The present tense of quitar is regular: quito, quitas, quita, quitamos, quitáis, quitan.
Imperfect
yo: quitaba
The imperfect of quitar follows the standard -aba pattern: quitaba, quitabas, quitaba, quitábamos, quitabais, quitaban.
Future
yo: quitaré
The future of quitar uses the infinitive as a stem: quitaré, quitarás, quitará, quitaremos, quitaréis, quitarán.
Conditional
yo: quitaría
The conditional of quitar is regular: quitaría, quitarías, quitaría, quitaríamos, quitaríais, quitarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: quite
The present subjunctive of quitar swaps -ar for -e: quite, quites, quite, quitemos, quitéis, quiten.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: quitara
The imperfect subjunctive of quitar uses the preterite stem: quitara, quitaras, quitara, quitáramos, quitarais, quitaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: quita
The affirmative imperative of quitar is quita (tú), quite (usted), and quitad (vosotros).
Negative Imperative
yo: no quites
The negative imperative of quitar uses the present subjunctive: no quites, no quite, no quitemos, no quitéis, no quiten.