delegar means: to delegate, to depute, to devolve
Click to see all conjugation charts of delegar in every tense

In this Spanish conjugation lesson we will learn how to conjugate the verb delegar 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 delegar conjugation. For a general overview of all the Simple Tenses conjugation have a look at our Simple Tenses Conjugation Chart.

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

How to translate Pretérito to English

Notice that the English phrases 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 properly locate the desired position on the timeline is an important skill for proper choice of tenses. So note the timeline in our lessons and visualize it while speaking, listening, writing and reading. After a bit 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 conjugated forms are one word long. There are also compound (compuesto) tenses in Spanish language, where each conjugated verb form consists of two words.The verb delegar in the Pretérito tense of the Indicativo mood conjugates following the general conjugation rules for its conjugation group (-ar), although one spelling correction is necessary. The spelling corrections are in most cases not considered to be irregularities because they are predictable and often happen only in spelling to match the pronounced forms. For example that includes corrections required to keep the same consonant sound before the letters e/i and a/o which influence the pronunciation of c, g, z and others. Other correction types include accent changes, adding or dropping letters, etc. The basis for this conjugation is the stem of the verb, so we need to start 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 to get the ending — one of -ar, -er or -ir. What’s left is the stem. So in case of our verb:

• the stem is: deleg-
• and the ending is: -ar

Use the stem deleg- in each subject as the basis for the conjugation, the common prefix or root that each of the forms begins with. Next, add to this regular stem the endings specific to each person. Analyze the image showing all six endings. Note the shapes and colors of the letters. They are arranged to 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 -é for the first person singular to create delegé:

• yo delegé – I delegated

A spelling correction is necessary here.

Because the pronunciation is different when the letter g is followed by a/o/u and different when followed by e/i, we need to change the spelling of the stem to preserve the pronunciation of the infinitive. If we add the letter u after the g, its pronunciation does not change and u is not pronounced in this combination.So add u after g to get delegué:

• yo delegué – I delegated

And again add the regular ending -aste for the second person singular to create delegaste:

• tú delegaste – you delegated

Like previously add the regular ending -ó for the third person singular to create delegó:

• él delegó – he delegated
• ella delegó – she delegated
• usted delegó – (formal) you delegated

And exactly as previously add the regular ending -amos for the first person plural to create delegamos:

• nosotros delegamos – we delegated
• nosotras delegamos – (feminine) we delegated

Again add the regular ending -asteis for the second person plural to create delegasteis:

• vosotros delegasteis – (plural) you delegated
• vosotras delegasteis – (feminine, plural) you delegated

One more time add the regular ending -aron for the third person plural to create delegaron:

• ellos delegaron – they delegated
• ellas delegaron – (feminine) they delegated
• ustedes delegaron – (formal, plural) you delegated

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

yo	delegué	I delegated
tú	delegaste	you delegated
él/ella/usted	delegó	he/she/it delegated
nosotros/nosotras	delegamos	we delegated
vosotros/vosotras	delegasteis	you delegated
ellos/ellas/ustedes	delegaron	they delegated

Click to see all conjugation charts of delegar in every tense
But do not end your session yet – it’s important to repeat and practice the material in order to retain it. Check below for examples and next steps.

Example sentences

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

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