How to Say "to operate" in Spanish
The Spanish word for “to operate” is “conducir” — A1 level. This is a very common word in everyday Spanish.
Examples
¿Puedes conducir un coche estándar?
Can you drive a manual car?
Ella conduce muy rápido en la autopista.
She drives very fast on the highway.
Yo conduzco al trabajo todos los días.
I drive to work every day.
The Special 'I' Form
In the present tense, the 'yo' (I) form is irregular: it must be 'conduzco' (with 'zc') to keep the 'z' sound clear. This special stem also shows up in all the wish/command forms (subjunctive).
Preterite Change
In the simple past (preterite), the verb changes its stem completely from 'c' to 'j': 'conduje', 'condujiste', etc. This happens to other verbs ending in -ducir like 'traducir' (to translate).
Forgetting the 'zc'
Mistake: “Yo conduco.”
Correction: Yo conduzco. Remember the 'zc' is needed to maintain the correct sound and follow the verb pattern.
Related Translations
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