restar Preterite Conjugation
restar — to subtract
Restar is regular in the preterite: resté, restaste, restó, restamos, restasteis, restaron.
restar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite to talk about a specific instance where a subtraction occurred or when an event diminished a specific outcome in the past.
Notes on restar in the Preterite
Restar is fully regular in the preterite. Note that the 'nosotros' form is the same as in the present tense.
Example Sentences
El mes pasado resté todos los impuestos.
Last month I subtracted all the taxes.
yo
¿Restaste la propina de la cuenta?
Did you subtract the tip from the bill?
tú
Ese error le restó puntos al equipo.
That error took points away from the team.
él/ella/usted
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Resté without the accent mark.
Correct: resté
Why: Without the accent, it can be confused with other words or mispronounced.
Master Spanish verbs in context
Memorizing tables only gets you so far. Read 200+ illustrated and narrated Spanish stories to see verbs like 'restar' used naturally — in the tenses you're learning.
Related Tenses
Present
yo: resto
The present tense of restar is regular: resto, restas, resta, restamos, restáis, restan.
Imperfect
yo: restaba
The imperfect of restar follows the standard -aba pattern: restaba, restabas, restaba, restábamos, restabais, restaban.
Future
yo: restaré
The future of restar is formed by adding endings to the infinitive: restaré, restarás, restará, restaremos, restaréis, restarán.
Conditional
yo: restaría
The conditional of restar is regular: restaría, restarías, restaría, restaríamos, restaríais, restarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: reste
The present subjunctive of restar uses -e endings: reste, restes, reste, restemos, restéis, resten.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: restara
The imperfect subjunctive of restar is regular: restara, restaras, restara, restáramos, restarais, restaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: resta
The affirmative imperative of restar gives commands: resta, reste, restemos, restad, resten.
Negative Imperative
yo: no restes
The negative imperative of restar uses the present subjunctive: no restes, no reste, no restemos, no restéis, no resten.