secar Affirmative Imperative Conjugation
secar — to dry
The imperative uses 'seca' (tú) and 'seque' (usted), with the 'c' to 'qu' change in formal and plural commands.
secar Affirmative Imperative Forms
When to Use the Affirmative Imperative
Use this to give direct orders to dry something—very common in the kitchen or after a swim.
Notes on secar in the Affirmative Imperative
The formal commands (usted/ustedes) and 'nosotros' use the spelling change 'qu' to keep the hard 'k' sound.
Example Sentences
Seca bien tus manos.
Dry your hands well.
tú
Seque el coche con cuidado, por favor.
Dry the car carefully, please.
usted
Sequemos los platos antes de guardarlos.
Let's dry the dishes before putting them away.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using 'sece' for the formal command.
Correct: seque
Why: The imperative for 'usted' is taken from the subjunctive, which requires the 'qu' spelling change.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: seco
The present tense of secar is completely regular: seco, secas, seca, secamos, secáis, secan.
Preterite
yo: sequé
Secar is regular except for the 'yo' form, which changes to 'sequé' to preserve the pronunciation.
Imperfect
yo: secaba
The imperfect of secar is regular: secaba, secabas, secaba, secábamos, secabais, secaban.
Future
yo: secaré
The future tense is regular; just add the endings to the infinitive: secaré, secarás, secará, secaremos, secaréis, secarán.
Conditional
yo: secaría
The conditional is regular: add -ía endings to the infinitive (secaría, secarías, secaría, secaríamos, secaríais, secarían).
Present Subjunctive
yo: seque
The present subjunctive of secar features a spelling change (c to qu) in all forms: seque, seques, seque, sequemos, sequéis, sequen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: secara
The imperfect subjunctive is regular based on the preterite stem: secara, secaras, secara, secáramos, secarais, secaran.
Negative Imperative
yo: no seques
The negative imperative always uses the present subjunctive forms: no seques, no seque, no sequemos, no sequéis, no sequen.