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Conjugation Chart of “Despertar” (to wake up) in the Preterite (Past) Tense

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Understanding the Preterite (Past) Tense of “Despertar”

The preterite of despertar is used to express when you woke up at a specific moment in the past. For example, when you want to say “I woke up early yesterday” – “Desperté temprano ayer.”

This verb follows the regular -ar conjugation pattern in the preterite tense, making it straightforward to conjugate using standard -ar endings.

How to Use Despertar in the Preterite (Past) Tense

The Preterite of despertar indicates specific moments of waking up.

To wake up: Used for specific instances of awakening, for example Desperté temprano (I woke up early), or Me desperté con el ruido (I woke up from the noise).

To arouse/stimulate: Describes causing awareness or interest, for example El libro despertó mi curiosidad (The book aroused my curiosity).

Real Life Examples of Despertar in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Me desperté temprano para ir al aeropuerto. (I woke up early to go to the airport.)

El bebé se despertó llorando a medianoche. (The baby woke up crying at midnight.)

¿A qué hora te despertaste ayer? (What time did you wake up yesterday?)

Nos despertamos con el sonido de la lluvia. (We woke up to the sound of rain.)

Los niños se despertaron muy emocionados en Navidad. (The children woke up very excited on Christmas.)

El ruido me despertó de repente. (The noise suddenly woke me up.)

Te despertaste de mal humor esta mañana. (You woke up in a bad mood this morning.)

La alarma nos despertó a las seis. (The alarm woke us up at six.)

Se despertaron tarde para la reunión. (They woke up late for the meeting.)

Me desperté con un fuerte dolor de cabeza. (I woke up with a bad headache.)

El gato me despertó maullando. (The cat woke me up meowing.)

Nos despertamos con el olor a café. (We woke up to the smell of coffee.)

Se despertó sobresaltado por el trueno. (He woke up startled by the thunder.)

Los pájaros me despertaron al amanecer. (The birds woke me up at dawn.)

¿Por qué te despertaste tan tarde? (Why did you wake up so late?)

Conjugation Chart with English Translations

Conjugations of Despertar (to wake up) in the Preterite (Past) Tense (Castilian Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Castilian Spanish. For Latin American Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Preterite tense is also known as the Simple Past, Past Simple, Definite Past, Absolute Past, or Past Tense Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Perfecto Simple, Pretérito Indefinido, Pretérito Simple, Pasado Simple, or Pretérito de Indicativo in Spanish.