sacrificar Preterite Conjugation
sacrificar — to sacrifice
Sacrificar has a spelling change only in the 'yo' form: sacrifiqué.
sacrificar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite for completed acts of sacrifice, like a one-time donation or a specific moment someone gave something up.
Notes on sacrificar in the Preterite
The 'yo' form changes 'c' to 'qu' (sacrifiqué) to preserve the hard 'k' sound. All other forms are regular -ar preterite endings.
Example Sentences
Sacrifiqué mis vacaciones para terminar el libro.
I sacrificed my vacation to finish the book.
yo
Ella sacrificó todo por sus hijos.
She sacrificed everything for her children.
él/ella/usted
Sacrificamos el peón para ganar la partida.
We sacrificed the pawn to win the game.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: sacrificé
Correct: sacrifiqué
Why: In Spanish, 'cé' is pronounced like 'se'. To keep the 'k' sound of the infinitive, you must use 'qué'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: sacrifico
The present tense of sacrificar is completely regular: sacrifico, sacrificas, sacrifica...
Imperfect
yo: sacrificaba
The imperfect of sacrificar is regular: sacrificaba, sacrificabas, sacrificaba...
Future
yo: sacrificaré
The future tense of sacrificar is regular: sacrificaré, sacrificarás, sacrificará...
Conditional
yo: sacrificaría
The conditional of sacrificar is regular: sacrificaría, sacrificarías, sacrificaría...
Present Subjunctive
yo: sacrifique
The present subjunctive of sacrificar features a 'c' to 'qu' spelling change: sacrifique, sacrifiques, sacrifique, sacrifiquemos, sacrifiquéis, sacrifiquen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: sacrificara
The imperfect subjunctive of sacrificar is regular, based on the third-person plural preterite: sacrificara, sacrificaras, sacrificara...
Affirmative Imperative
yo: sacrifica
The imperative uses the 'qu' spelling change for formal and plural commands: sacrifica, sacrifique, sacrifiquemos.
Negative Imperative
yo: no sacrifiques
The negative imperative always uses the present subjunctive forms: no sacrifiques, no sacrifique...