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Conjugation Chart of “Detener” (to stop/detain) in the Preterite (Past) Tense

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Understanding the Preterite (Past) Tense of “Detener”

The preterite of detener is used to express when you stopped or detained something at a specific moment in the past. For example, “The police stopped the suspect last night” – “La policía detuvo al sospechoso anoche.”

This is an irregular verb in the preterite tense. Like ‘tener’, it changes its stem to ‘tuv-‘ throughout all conjugations, making it essential to learn these forms separately.

How to Use Detener in the Preterite (Past) Tense

The Preterite of detener expresses completed actions of stopping or detaining.

To stop/halt: Describes bringing something to a complete stop, for example La policía detuvo el tráfico (The police stopped the traffic), or Detuvieron la construcción (They halted the construction).

To arrest/detain: Used in law enforcement contexts, for example Detuvieron al sospechoso (They arrested the suspect).

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

La policía detuvo al sospechoso. (The police detained the suspect.)

Detuve el coche en el semáforo rojo. (I stopped the car at the red light.)

¿Por qué detuviste la música? (Why did you stop the music?)

Detuvimos el proyecto temporalmente. (We temporarily stopped the project.)

Se detuvo el tiempo por un momento. (Time stopped for a moment.)

Los manifestantes detuvieron el tráfico. (The protesters stopped traffic.)

Detuve la llamada cuando perdí señal. (I ended the call when I lost signal.)

El juez detuvo el proceso. (The judge halted the process.)

Detuvieron la construcción por falta de permisos. (They stopped construction due to lack of permits.)

Me detuve a pensar antes de actuar. (I stopped to think before acting.)

Detuvimos la pelea antes que empeorara. (We stopped the fight before it got worse.)

El banco detuvo los pagos automáticos. (The bank stopped the automatic payments.)

Detuviste el sangrado justo a tiempo. (You stopped the bleeding just in time.)

Se detuvieron las negociaciones abruptamente. (The negotiations stopped abruptly.)

El médico detuvo el tratamiento. (The doctor stopped the treatment.)

Conjugation Chart with English Translations

Conjugations of Detener (to stop/detain) 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.