carecer means: to be short of, to lack
Click to see all conjugation charts of carecer in every tense

In this conjugation lesson we will see how to inflect the verb carecer in the Pretérito tense of the Indicativo mood. It means we will see step by step how to create and translate forms of each grammatical person.

This lesson is specifically about the carecer verb conjugation. For a general overview of Simple Tenses conjugation check the Simple Tenses Conjugation Chart.

You may also see the Video Presentation on how to conjugate verbs in Pretérito. It’s embedded below, but using the above link you can see additional information on conjugation in this tense as well as explanation of exceptions and special cases.

How to translate Pretérito to English

Notice that the phrases in English provided below next to each conjugation are not direct translations from Spanish to English. They are usually the closest general equivalents. The example differences are:

• In Spanish conjugation, there is the form usted in the third person singular. But this person does not translate to the English third person singular. It translates to the so called formal you and uses the inflected form which is most often represented as he/she/it in English conjugation charts.
• Similar situation happens in the third person plural, where ustedes translates to the English plural formal you but uses the form which corresponds to the they form in English.
• Tenses are used differently in Spanish and English, so the actual translation should always take into account the context and focus on translating the meaning, not just words.
• In both languages each verb may have multiple meanings and not every meaning translates directly to the other language. Here also, the context and focusing on the particular meaning helps to create the most accurate translation.

Note the timeline

The ability to correctly locate the intended position on the timeline is a crucial skill for the right choice of tenses. So note the timeline in our lessons and visualize it while listening, speaking, writing and reading. After some practice you will be able to select the right tense to use much easier.

Step by step instructions

Pretérito belongs to the simple tenses group, which means that all of the inflected forms are one word long. There are also compound (compuesto) tenses in the Spanish language, where each inflected form consists of two words.The verb carecer has an almost regular conjugation in the Pretérito tense of the Indicativo mood. An exception is the first person singular, which has an irregular form. It means that the other persons just follow the general rules for this conjugation group (-er) without further exceptions or spelling corrections. The basis for this conjugation is the stem of the verb, so we have to begin by splitting the infinitive into a stem and an ending. It’s really easy to do. Simply remove two letters from the end of the infinitive form to get the ending — one of -ar, -er or -ir. What’s left is the stem. So for our verb:

• the stem is: carec-
• and the ending is: -er

Use the stem carec- in each subject as the basis for the conjugation, the common prefix that each of the forms begins with. Next, add to this regular stem the endings specific to each person. See the image on the side showing all the six endings. Note the colors and shapes of the letters. It will help you find patterns and make it easier to remember these endings.Each grammatical person has a specific ending in each of the three conjugation groups -ar, -er, -ir. Add the regular ending -í for the first person singular to create carecí:

• yo carecí – I was short of

And add the regular ending -iste for the second person singular to create careciste:

• tú careciste – you were short of

As before add the regular ending -ió for the third person singular to create careció:

• él careció – he was short of
• ella careció – she was short of
• usted careció – (formal) you were short of

And one more time add the regular ending -imos for the first person plural to create carecimos:

• nosotros carecimos – we were short of
• nosotras carecimos – (feminine) we were short of

Also as in the previous case add the regular ending -isteis for the second person plural to create carecisteis:

• vosotros carecisteis – (plural) you were short of
• vosotras carecisteis – (feminine, plural) you were short of

Similarly add the regular ending -ieron for the third person plural to create carecieron:

• ellos carecieron – they were short of
• ellas carecieron – (feminine) they were short of
• ustedes carecieron – (formal, plural) you were short of

This is it! The conjugation is now finished. Put together, the conjugation chart looks like this:

yo	carecí	I was short of
tú	careciste	you were short of
él/ella/usted	careció	he/she/it was short of
nosotros/nosotras	carecimos	we were short of
vosotros/vosotras	carecisteis	you were short of
ellos/ellas/ustedes	carecieron	they were short of

Click to see all conjugation charts of carecer in every tense
But do not end your session yet – it’s important to repeat and practice the material in order to remember it. Check below for some links.

Next Steps to Perfection To practice this conjugation and test your knowledge try this Conjugation Exercise or the Memory Game To see other conjugation lessons for this verb choose another tense: PresenteImperfectoCondicionalFuturoPretérito Perfecto CompuestoPretérito PluscuamperfectoFuturo PerfectoCondicional PerfectoPretérito Perfecto Compuesto (subjuntivo)Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto A (subjuntivo)Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto B (subjuntivo)Futuro Perfecto (subjuntivo)  For exercises and examples related to carecer visit our Exercise section To see conjugation charts in all tenses for carecer visit the Conjugator To explore other learning materials visit the Study section

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