Inklingo
A sad person tucked into bed with a thermometer and a bowl of soup, looking unwell again.

recaer Preterite Conjugation

recaer — to relapse

B1irregular (follows the pattern of 'caer') -er★★★★
Quick answer:

The preterite of recaer features spelling changes and accents: recaí, recaíste, recayó, recaímos, recaísteis, recayeron.

recaer Preterite Forms

yorecaí
túrecaíste
él/ella/ustedrecayó
nosotrosrecaímos
vosotrosrecaísteis
ellos/ellas/ustedesrecayeron

When to Use the Preterite

Use the preterite for a specific instance of relapsing that happened at a definite point in the past.

Notes on recaer in the Preterite

It requires an accent on the 'í' to prevent a diphthong (recaí) and changes the 'i' to 'y' in the third person (recayó, recayeron).

Example Sentences

  • Ayer recaí en la tentación y comí chocolate.

    Yesterday I fell back into temptation and ate chocolate.

    yo

  • El paciente recayó la semana pasada.

    The patient relapsed last week.

    él/ella/usted

  • Ellos recayeron tras un mes de dieta.

    They relapsed after a month of dieting.

    ellos/ellas/ustedes

Common Mistakes

  • Mistake: recaio

    Correct: recayó

    Why: The third-person singular needs the 'y' to separate the vowels and an accent on the 'o'.

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Related Tenses

Present

yo: recaigo

The present indicative of recaer is mostly regular except for the 'yo' form: recaigo.

Imperfect

yo: recaía

The imperfect of recaer is regular but uses accents on the 'í': recaía, recaías, recaía, recaíamos, recaíais, recaían.

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.