quitar means: to quench, to remove, to take off, to unstick
Click to see all conjugation charts of quitar in every tense

In this Spanish conjugation lesson we will learn how to inflect the verb quitar 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 quitar conjugation. For an overview of all the Simple Tenses conjugation check our 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 will get more detailed 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 accurately locate the desired position on the timeline is an important skill for proper use 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 its inflected forms are one word long. There are also compound (compuesto) tenses in Spanish language, where each conjugated form consists of two words.The verb quitar has an entirely regular conjugation in the Pretérito tense of the Indicativo mood. It means this verb just follows the basic rules for its group (-ar) without exceptions. The basis for this conjugation is the stem of the verb, so we need to begin by splitting the infinitive into a stem and an ending. It’s really easy to do. Just 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 in case of the verb quitar it’s easy to see that:

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

Use the stem quit- 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. Check out the image showing all the endings. Notice the colors and shapes of the letters. It should 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 quité:

• yo quité – I quenched

Again add the regular ending -aste for the second person singular to create quitaste:

• tú quitaste – you quenched

And exactly as previously add the regular ending -ó for the third person singular to create quitó:

• él quitó – he quenched
• ella quitó – she quenched
• usted quitó – (formal) you quenched

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

• nosotros quitamos – we quenched
• nosotras quitamos – (feminine) we quenched

One more time add the regular ending -asteis for the second person plural to create quitasteis:

• vosotros quitasteis – (plural) you quenched
• vosotras quitasteis – (feminine, plural) you quenched

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

• ellos quitaron – they quenched
• ellas quitaron – (feminine) they quenched
• ustedes quitaron – (formal, plural) you quenched

Hurray! The conjugation is now finished. That’s the final result:

yo	quité	I quenched
tú	quitaste	you quenched
él/ella/usted	quitó	he/she/it quenched
nosotros/nosotras	quitamos	we quenched
vosotros/vosotras	quitasteis	you quenched
ellos/ellas/ustedes	quitaron	they quenched

Click to see all conjugation charts of quitar 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 some links.

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 quitar visit our Exercise section To see conjugation charts in all tenses for quitar visit the Conjugator To explore other learning materials visit the Study section

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