traficar Preterite Conjugation
traficar — to traffic
The preterite of traficar is regular except for the 'yo' form, which changes to 'trafiqué'.
traficar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite for completed past instances of trafficking, such as a specific smuggling event that was stopped or finished.
Notes on traficar in the Preterite
Only the 'yo' form is irregular (trafiqué) due to the 'c' to 'qu' spelling change to maintain the hard 'k' sound.
Example Sentences
Yo trafiqué con diamantes hace años.
I trafficked diamonds years ago.
yo
La banda traficó con drogas el mes pasado.
The gang trafficked drugs last month.
él/ella/usted
Ellos traficaron marfil ilegalmente.
They trafficked ivory illegally.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: traficé
Correct: trafiqué
Why: In Spanish, 'cé' is pronounced like 'say'. To keep the 'kay' sound of the infinitive, you must use 'qué'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: trafico
The present tense of traficar is completely regular: trafico, traficas, trafica, traficamos, traficáis, trafican.
Imperfect
yo: traficaba
The imperfect of traficar is regular: traficaba, traficabas, traficaba, traficábamos, traficabais, traficaban.
Future
yo: traficaré
The future tense of traficar is regular: traficaré, traficarás, traficará, traficaremos, traficaréis, traficarán.
Conditional
yo: traficaría
The conditional of traficar is regular: traficaría, traficarías, traficaría, traficaríamos, traficaríais, traficarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: trafique
The present subjunctive of traficar requires a spelling change from 'c' to 'qu' in all forms: trafique, trafiques, trafique, trafiquemos, trafiquéis, trafiquen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: traficara
The imperfect subjunctive of traficar is regular based on the third-person plural preterite: traficara, traficaras, traficara, traficáramos, traficarais, traficaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: trafica
The imperative of traficar uses the 'qu' spelling change for formal commands (trafique, trafiquen).
Negative Imperative
yo: no trafiques
The negative imperative of traficar always uses the 'qu' spelling change: no trafiques, no trafique, no trafiquemos, no trafiquéis, no trafiquen.