The preterite of establecer is used to express when something was established or set up at a specific moment in the past. For example, “They established the company in 2010” – “Establecieron la empresa en 2010.”

This is a regular -er verb that follows the standard preterite conjugation pattern. Despite ending in -cer, it maintains regular conjugation in the preterite tense.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Establecer (to establish) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Castilian Spanish):

The Preterite of establecer expresses the act of establishing or setting up something specific.

To establish/set up: Used for creating or founding something new, for example Establecí mi negocio en 2020 (I established my business in 2020), or Establecieron nuevas reglas (They established new rules).

To settle/determine: Indicates fixing or determining something definitively, for example Se estableció un nuevo récord (A new record was established).

Examples

Examples of Establecer in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Establecí nuevas reglas en la oficina. (I established new rules in the office.)

La empresa estableció una nueva sede. (The company established a new headquarters.)

¿Estableciste contacto con el cliente? (Did you establish contact with the client?)

Establecimos un nuevo récord de ventas. (We established a new sales record.)

Los países establecieron relaciones diplomáticas. (The countries established diplomatic relations.)

El gobierno estableció nuevas políticas. (The government established new policies.)

Estableciste un buen precedente. (You established a good precedent.)

La universidad estableció nuevos criterios. (The university established new criteria.)

Establecimos una rutina diaria. (We established a daily routine.)

Los científicos establecieron una nueva teoría. (The scientists established a new theory.)

Establecí prioridades claras. (I established clear priorities.)

Estableciste un nuevo negocio. (You established a new business.)

El comité estableció las normas. (The committee established the rules.)

Establecimos una conexión fuerte. (We established a strong connection.)

Los expertos establecieron los parámetros. (The experts established the parameters.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Establecer (to establish) in the Preterite (Past) Tense 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.