residir Preterite Conjugation
residir — to reside
Residí, residiste, residió, residimos, residisteis, residieron. Use for completed past actions of residing.
residir Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite of 'residir' to talk about the specific, completed action of starting to reside somewhere or residing somewhere for a defined period in the past. For example, 'Residí en Valencia por dos años.' (I resided in Valencia for two years.)
Notes on residir in the Preterite
Residir is a regular -ir verb in the preterite. All the endings follow the standard pattern: -í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -isteis, -ieron.
Example Sentences
Residí en Barcelona durante mi Erasmus.
I resided in Barcelona during my Erasmus.
yo
¿Residiste mucho tiempo en esa casa?
Did you reside in that house for a long time?
tú
Ella residió en Londres antes de mudarse a París.
She resided in London before moving to Paris.
él/ella/usted
Ellos residieron allí solo un mes.
They resided there for only one month.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using the imperfect instead of the preterite for a specific past residence.
Correct: Use 'Residí en Madrid en 2010' (I resided in Madrid in 2010), not 'Residía...'.
Why: The preterite is for completed actions with a defined start/end, while the imperfect describes ongoing or habitual past states.
Mistake: Confusing the 'nosotros' preterite with the present.
Correct: While 'residimos' is the same in both tenses, ensure context clarifies if you mean 'we reside' (present) or 'we resided' (preterite).
Why: This is a common feature of regular -er/-ir verbs where the 'nosotros' form is identical in the present and preterite indicative.
Master Spanish verbs in context
Memorizing tables only gets you so far. Read 200+ illustrated and narrated Spanish stories to see verbs like 'residir' used naturally — in the tenses you're learning.
Related Tenses
Present
yo: resido
Resido, resides, reside, residimos, residís, residen. Use for current or habitual residence.
Imperfect
yo: residía
Residía, residías, residía, residíamos, residíais, residían. Use for ongoing or habitual past residence.
Future
yo: residiré
Residiré, residirás, residirá, residiremos, residiréis, residirán. Use for future residence or probability.
Conditional
yo: residiría
Residiría, residirías, residiría, residiríamos, residiríais, residirían. Use for hypotheticals or polite requests about residence.
Present Subjunctive
yo: resida
Resida, residas, residamos, residan. Use for wishes, doubts, emotions, and impersonal expressions.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: residiera
Residiera or residiese. Use for past hypotheticals, wishes, or polite requests in the past.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: reside
Reside, residan, residamos, residid! Use imperative for direct commands.
Negative Imperative
yo: no residas
No residas, no resida, no residamos, no residáis, no residan. Use present subjunctive with 'no' for negative commands.