mostrar means: to show
Click to see all conjugation charts of mostrar in every tense

In this conjugation lesson we are going to learn how to inflect the verb mostrar 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 mostrar conjugation. For an overview of all the Simple Tenses conjugation see 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 get additional information on conjugation in this tense and explanation of special cases and exceptions.

How to translate Pretérito to English

Note 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 correctly locate the desired position on the timeline is a crucial skill for the right use of tenses. So note the timeline in our lessons and visualize it while listening, speaking, 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 its conjugated 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 mostrar has regular conjugation in the Pretérito tense of the Indicativo mood. It means this verb follows the general rules for its group (-ar) without any exceptions or spelling corrections. The basis for the conjugation in this tense is the stem of the verb, so we need to begin by splitting the infinitive into a stem and an ending. It’s easy to do. Simply remove two letters from the end of the infinitive form and you have the ending — one of -ar, -er or -ir. What’s left is the stem. So for our verb:

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

Use the stem mostr- in each subject as the basis for conjugations, the common prefix or root that each of the forms begins with. Next, add to this regular stem the endings specific to each person. Check out the image showing all the endings. Notice 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 -é for the first person singular to create mostré:

• yo mostré – I showed

And similarly add the regular ending -aste for the second person singular to create mostraste:

• tú mostraste – you showed

And add the regular ending -ó for the third person singular to create mostró:

• él mostró – he showed
• ella mostró – she showed
• usted mostró – (formal) you showed

As before add the regular ending -amos for the first person plural to create mostramos:

• nosotros mostramos – we showed
• nosotras mostramos – (feminine) we showed

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

• vosotros mostrasteis – (plural) you showed
• vosotras mostrasteis – (feminine, plural) you showed

And again add the regular ending -aron for the third person plural to create mostraron:

• ellos mostraron – they showed
• ellas mostraron – (feminine) they showed
• ustedes mostraron – (formal, plural) you showed

This is it! The conjugation is now finished. The final result looks as follows:

yo	mostré	I showed
tú	mostraste	you showed
él/ella/usted	mostró	he/she/it showed
nosotros/nosotras	mostramos	we showed
vosotros/vosotras	mostrasteis	you showed
ellos/ellas/ustedes	mostraron	they showed

Click to see all conjugation charts of mostrar 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 mostrar visit our Exercise section To see conjugation charts in all tenses for mostrar visit the Conjugator To explore other learning materials visit the Study section

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