rezar Preterite Conjugation
rezar — to pray
The preterite of rezar features a spelling change in the first person (recé) to maintain the soft 'c' sound.
rezar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite when talking about a specific prayer or a completed instance of praying at a definite point in time.
Notes on rezar in the Preterite
Rezar is a 'z to c' verb. In Spanish, 'z' usually changes to 'c' before an 'e'. This only affects the 'yo' form: recé.
Example Sentences
Anoche recé por tu salud.
Last night I prayed for your health.
yo
El sacerdote rezó un padrenuestro.
The priest prayed an Our Father.
él/ella/usted
Ellos rezaron juntos en la iglesia.
They prayed together in the church.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: rezé
Correct: recé
Why: In Spanish spelling rules, 'z' changes to 'c' before the letter 'e'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: rezo
The present tense of rezar is regular, following standard -ar endings.
Imperfect
yo: rezaba
The imperfect of rezar is regular, using the standard -aba endings.
Future
yo: rezaré
The future tense of rezar is regular: just add the endings to the infinitive.
Conditional
yo: rezaría
The conditional of rezar is regular: infinitive + ía, ías, ía...
Present Subjunctive
yo: rece
The present subjunctive of rezar uses a 'c' instead of a 'z' in all forms (rece, reces...).
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: rezara
The imperfect subjunctive of rezar is regular, based on the 'rezaron' stem.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: reza
The imperative of rezar uses 'reza' for tú and 'rece' for formal commands.
Negative Imperative
yo: no reces
The negative imperative of rezar always uses the present subjunctive forms with 'no'.