vaciar Preterite Conjugation
vaciar — to empty
Vaciar is regular in the preterite: vacié, vaciaste, vació, vaciamos, vaciasteis, vaciaron.
vaciar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use this for completed actions in the past, such as when you finished emptying a bottle or a room at a specific moment.
Notes on vaciar in the Preterite
Vaciar is completely regular in the preterite. The accent on 'vacié' and 'vació' follows standard -ar verb rules.
Example Sentences
Vacié toda la caja en un minuto.
I emptied the whole box in one minute.
yo
¿Vaciaste el buzón ayer?
Did you empty the mailbox yesterday?
tú
Vaciamos la piscina el verano pasado.
We drained the pool last summer.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: vacié (thinking it needs an extra 'i')
Correct: vacié
Why: Learners sometimes try to add an extra 'i' because of the present tense irregularity, but the preterite stays simple.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: vacío
Vaciar is irregular in the present tense, adding an accent to the 'í' in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
Imperfect
yo: vaciaba
Vaciar is regular in the imperfect: vaciaba, vaciabas, vaciaba, vaciábamos, vaciabais, vaciaban.
Future
yo: vaciaré
Vaciar is regular in the future: vaciaré, vaciarás, vaciará, vaciaremos, vaciaréis, vaciarán.
Conditional
yo: vaciaría
Vaciar is regular in the conditional: vaciaría, vaciarías, vaciaría, vaciaríamos, vaciaríais, vaciarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: vacíe
The present subjunctive of vaciar follows the same irregular accent pattern as the present indicative: vacíe, vacíes, vacíe, vaciemos, vaciéis, vacíen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: vaciara
The imperfect subjunctive of vaciar is regular: vaciara, vaciaras, vaciara, vaciáramos, vaciarais, vaciaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: vacía
The imperative for vaciar uses accented 'í' for most commands: vacía, vacíe, vaciemos, vaciad, vacíen.
Negative Imperative
yo: no vacíes
The negative imperative uses the present subjunctive forms: no vacíes, no vacíe, no vaciemos, no vaciéis, no vacíen.