respectar Preterite Conjugation
respectar — to concern
The preterite of respectar is regular: respecté, respetaste, respetó, respetamos, respetasteis, respectaron.
respectar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite of respectar to talk about a specific, completed act of respecting or not respecting something in the past. For instance, 'Yesterday, I respected his opinion'.
Notes on respectar in the Preterite
Respectar is fully regular in the preterite. The 'nosotros' form 'respetamos' is identical to the present indicative, so context is key.
Example Sentences
Ayer, respeté su punto de vista.
Yesterday, I respected his point of view.
yo
¿Respetaste las señales de prohibido pasar?
Did you respect the 'do not enter' signs?
tú
Él respetó la fila en todo momento.
He respected the queue at all times.
él/ella/usted
Nosotros respetamos las tradiciones familiares.
We respected the family traditions.
nosotros
Ellos respetaron el silencio durante la ceremonia.
They respected the silence during the ceremony.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using the imperfect instead of the preterite for a single past action.
Correct: Use 'respeté' for a specific instance, like 'I respected it once'.
Why: The preterite marks completed actions, while the imperfect describes ongoing or habitual past actions.
Mistake: Confusing 'respetamos' (preterite) with 'respetamos' (present).
Correct: Context will clarify if 'respetamos' means 'we respected' (completed) or 'we respect' (habitual/current).
Why: This is a common feature of regular -ar verbs; learners must rely on surrounding words or the situation to distinguish.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: respecto
The present indicative of respectar is regular: respeto, respetas, respeta, respetamos, respetáis, respetan.
Imperfect
yo: respectaba
The imperfect of respectar is regular: respectaba, respectabas, respectaba, respectábamos, respectabais, respectaban.
Future
yo: respectaré
The future of respectar is regular: respetaré, respetarás, respetará, respetaremos, respetaréis, respetarán.
Conditional
yo: respectaría
The conditional of respectar is regular: respetaría, respetarías, respetaría, respetaríamos, respetaríais, respetarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: respecte
The present subjunctive of respectar is regular: respete, respetes, respetemos, respetéis, respeten.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: respectara
The imperfect subjunctive of respectar uses -ra or -se endings: respectara, respectaras, respectase, etc.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: respecta
The imperative of respectar is regular: respeta, respete, respetemos, respetad, respeten.
Negative Imperative
yo: no respectes
The negative imperative of respectar uses 'no' + present subjunctive: no respetes, no respete, no respetemos, no respetéis, no respeten.