saludar Preterite Conjugation
saludar — to greet
Saludar in the preterite is regular: saludé, saludaste, saludó, saludamos, saludasteis, saludaron.
saludar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite to talk about a specific instance when you greeted someone in the past, such as saying hello to a friend you ran into yesterday.
Notes on saludar in the Preterite
Saludar is fully regular in the preterite. Note that the 'nosotros' form 'saludamos' is the same as the present tense.
Example Sentences
Ayer saludé a Juan en el supermercado.
Yesterday I greeted Juan at the supermarket.
yo
Ellos nos saludaron desde el coche.
They waved to us (greeted us) from the car.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Mi jefe me saludó muy amablemente.
My boss greeted me very kindly.
él/ella/usted
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on 'saludó'.
Correct: The third-person singular is saludó.
Why: Without the accent, it doesn't sound like the past tense and can be confused with other forms.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: saludo
The present tense of saludar is regular: saludo, saludas, saluda, saludamos, saludáis, saludan.
Imperfect
yo: saludaba
The imperfect of saludar follows the standard -aba pattern: saludaba, saludabas, saludaba, saludábamos, saludabais, saludaban.
Future
yo: saludaré
The future of saludar uses the infinitive plus endings: saludaré, saludarás, saludará, saludaremos, saludaréis, saludarán.
Conditional
yo: saludaría
The conditional of saludar is regular: saludaría, saludarías, saludaría, saludaríamos, saludaríais, saludarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: salude
The present subjunctive of saludar swaps the -ar endings for -e: salude, saludes, salude, saludemos, saludéis, saluden.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: saludara
The imperfect subjunctive of saludar is formed from the 'ellos' preterite: saludara, saludaras, saludara, saludáramos, saludarais, saludaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: saluda
The imperative of saludar gives commands: saluda (tú), salude (usted), saludemos (nosotros), saludad (vosotros), saluden (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no saludes
The negative imperative of saludar uses 'no' + present subjunctive: no saludes, no salude, no saludemos, no saludéis, no saluden.