secar Preterite Conjugation
secar — to dry
Secar is regular except for the 'yo' form, which changes to 'sequé' to preserve the pronunciation.
secar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite for a completed drying action at a specific time, like 'I dried my hair this morning.'
Notes on secar in the Preterite
Only the 'yo' form is irregular (sequé) due to the orthographic change from 'c' to 'qu'. All other forms (secaste, secó, etc.) are regular.
Example Sentences
Me sequé el pelo después de la ducha.
I dried my hair after the shower.
yo
¿Secaste la mesa después de cenar?
Did you dry the table after dinner?
tú
El sol secó la ropa en una hora.
The sun dried the clothes in one hour.
él/ella/usted
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Writing 'secé' for the first person.
Correct: sequé
Why: In Spanish, 'ce' sounds like 'se'. To keep the 'k' sound from 'secar', you must change the 'c' to 'qu'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: seco
The present tense of secar is completely regular: seco, secas, seca, secamos, secáis, secan.
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.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: seca
The imperative uses 'seca' (tú) and 'seque' (usted), with the 'c' to 'qu' change in formal and plural commands.
Negative Imperative
yo: no seques
The negative imperative always uses the present subjunctive forms: no seques, no seque, no sequemos, no sequéis, no sequen.