conseguir means: to get, to obtain
Click to see all conjugation charts of conseguir in every tense

In this conjugation lesson we will learn how to inflect the verb conseguir 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 conseguir conjugation. For a general overview of all the 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 may find additional information on conjugation in this tense as well as explanation of exceptions and special cases.

How to translate Pretérito to English

Note 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 desired position on the timeline is an important skill for the right choice of tenses. So note the timeline in our lessons and visualize it while listening, speaking, reading or writing. After some practice you’ll 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 verb form consists of two words. The verb conseguir has an irregular conjugation in the Pretérito tense of the Indicativo mood. The first person singular has a regular stem. So we need to use consegu- at the beginning of this form. Add the regular ending -í for this person to get conseguí:

• yo conseguí – I got

Like previously the second person singular has a regular stem. So simply use consegu- as the basis for this form. And as before add the regular ending -iste for this person to get conseguiste:

• tú conseguiste – you got

The third person singular has an irregular stem in this tense.

This verb belongs to the group which gets a change of the last e in the stem into an i.

It’s convenient to think about this change as happening only in:

• persons 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd singular and 3^rd plural of Presente Indicativo
  
• 3^rd person singular & plural of Pretérito Perfecto Simple
  
• Gerundio

but influencing all the grammatical persons of all the Imperative and simple Subjunctive tenses. That’s because their forms are created based on either the 3^rd person singular of Presente de Indicativo or the 3^rd person plural of Pretérito Perfecto Simple de Indicativo.

Note: the above is true when the 1^st person singular of Presente is not completely irregular. If it is, tenses which normally use the 3^rd person’s form as the basis of their conjugation, use the 1^st person’s form of Presente instead.

So in the regular stem consegu change e to i to get consigu. But at least the ending is regular for this person. It is -ió as normally in the -ir verb group. Add it to the stem to get:

• él consiguió – he got
• ella consiguió – she got
• usted consiguió – (formal) you got

Like previously the first person plural has a regular stem. So we need to use consegu- at the beginning of this form. Like previously add the regular ending -imos for this person to get conseguimos:

• nosotros conseguimos – we got
• nosotras conseguimos – (feminine) we got

Like previously the second person plural has a regular stem. So simply use consegu- at the beginning of this form. And add the regular ending -isteis for this person to get conseguisteis:

• vosotros conseguisteis – (plural) you got
• vosotras conseguisteis – (feminine, plural) you got

The third person plural also has an irregular stem in this tense.

So as explained before we need to change e to i in the regular stem consegu to get consigu. And the ending is regular for this person. It is -ieron as normally in the -ir verb group. Add it to the stem to get:

• ellos consiguieron – they got
• ellas consiguieron – (feminine) they got
• ustedes consiguieron – (formal, plural) you got

¡Ya está! The conjugation is now finished. That’s the final result:

yo	conseguí	I got
tú	conseguiste	you got
él/ella/usted	consiguió	he/she/it got
nosotros/nosotras	conseguimos	we got
vosotros/vosotras	conseguisteis	you got
ellos/ellas/ustedes	consiguieron	they got

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

Example sentences

Next Steps to Perfection To practice this conjugation and test yourself 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 conseguir visit our Exercise section To see conjugation charts in all tenses for conseguir visit the Conjugator To explore other learning materials visit the Study section

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