regañar Preterite Conjugation
regañar — to scold
The preterite of regañar is regular: regañé, regañaste, regañó, regañamos, regañasteis, regañaron.
regañar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite to talk about a specific instance of scolding that happened and finished in the past. For example, 'My mom scolded me yesterday'.
Notes on regañar in the Preterite
Regañar is a regular -ar verb and follows the standard conjugation pattern in the preterite tense. The nosotros form 'regañamos' is identical to the present indicative; context clarifies the tense.
Example Sentences
Mi madre me regañó por no hacer la tarea.
My mother scolded me for not doing the homework.
él/ella/usted
Ayer, el profesor nos regañó por hablar en clase.
Yesterday, the teacher scolded us for talking in class.
él/ella/usted
¿Por qué me regañaste si no hice nada malo?
Why did you scold me if I didn't do anything wrong?
tú
Ellos se regañaron mutuamente después de la discusión.
They scolded each other after the argument.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using the imperfect instead of the preterite for a single scolding event.
Correct: Use 'regañó' for 'He scolded me', not 'regañaba'.
Why: The preterite marks a completed action, while the imperfect describes an ongoing or habitual past action.
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on 'regañó' (él/ella/usted) and 'regañé' (yo).
Correct: The correct forms are 'regañó' and 'regañé', with accents on the final 'o' and 'é'.
Why: The accent mark indicates the stressed syllable and distinguishes these forms.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: regaño
The present tense of regañar is regular: regaño, regañas, regaña, regañamos, regañáis, regañan.
Imperfect
yo: regañaba
The imperfect of regañar is regular: regañaba, regañabas, regañaba, regañábamos, regañabais, regañaban.
Future
yo: regañaré
The future tense of regañar is regular: regañaré, regañarás, regañará, regañaremos, regañaréis, regañarán.
Conditional
yo: regañaría
The conditional of regañar is regular: regañaría, regañarías, regañaría, regañaríamos, regañaríais, regañarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: regañe
The present subjunctive of regañar is regañe (yo, él/ella/usted), regañes (tú), regañemos (nosotros), regañéis (vosotros), regañen (ellos/ellas/ustedes).
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: regañara
The imperfect subjunctive of regañar is regañara or regañase (e.g., yo regañara, tú regañaras, él regañara).
Affirmative Imperative
yo: regaña
Use 'regaña' for tú commands, 'regañe' for usted, 'regañemos' for nosotros, 'regañad' for vosotros, and 'regañen' for ustedes.
Negative Imperative
yo: no regañes
Negative commands use 'no' plus the present subjunctive: no regañes (tú), no regañe (usted), no regañemos (nosotros), no regañéis (vosotros), no regañen (ustedes).