recaer Imperfect Conjugation
recaer — to relapse
The imperfect of recaer is regular but uses accents on the 'í': recaía, recaías, recaía, recaíamos, recaíais, recaían.
recaer Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use this to describe a period when someone was frequently relapsing or to provide background context in a story.
Notes on recaer in the Imperfect
While it follows -er verb rules, remember that every form has an accent on the 'í' to keep the 'a' and 'i' in separate syllables.
Example Sentences
De niño, recaía a menudo en la gripe.
As a child, I often relapsed with the flu.
yo
Ustedes recaían cada vez que dejaban el tratamiento.
You all used to relapse every time you stopped the treatment.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Sentíamos que ella recaía poco a poco.
We felt she was relapsing little by little.
él/ella/usted
Common Mistakes
Mistake: recaia
Correct: recaía
Why: Without the accent, the 'ai' becomes a diphthong. The accent is mandatory for the imperfect -ía ending.
Master Spanish verbs in context
Memorizing tables only gets you so far. Read 200+ illustrated and narrated Spanish stories to see verbs like 'recaer' used naturally — in the tenses you're learning.
Related Tenses
Present
yo: recaigo
The present indicative of recaer is mostly regular except for the 'yo' form: recaigo.
Preterite
yo: recaí
The preterite of recaer features spelling changes and accents: recaí, recaíste, recayó, recaímos, recaísteis, recayeron.
Future
yo: recaeré
The future tense of recaer is regular: recaeré, recaerás, recaerá, recaeremos, recaeréis, recaerán.
Conditional
yo: recaería
The conditional of recaer is regular: recaería, recaerías, recaería, recaeríamos, recaeríais, recaerían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: recaiga
The present subjunctive of recaer uses the irregular 'g' stem: recaiga, recaigas, recaiga, recaigamos, recaigáis, recaigan.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: recayera
The imperfect subjunctive uses the 'y' spelling change: recayera, recayeras, recayera, recayéramos, recayerais, recayeran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: recae
The imperative uses the 'g' stem for formal commands: recae, recaiga, recaigamos, recaed, recaigan.
Negative Imperative
yo: no recaigas
The negative imperative uses the 'g' stem: no recaigas, no recaiga, no recaigamos, no recaigáis, no recaigan.