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Conjugation Chart of “Matar” (to kill) in the Preterite (Past) Tense
| Pronoun | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| Yo | maté |
| Tú | mataste |
| Él / Ella / Usted | mató |
| Nosotros / Nosotras | matamos |
| Vosotros / Vosotras | matasteis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | mataron |
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Understanding the Preterite (Past) Tense of “Matar”
The preterite of matar is used to express when something was killed at a specific moment in the past. For example, “The hunter killed the deer last winter” – “El cazador mató el ciervo el invierno pasado.”
This is a regular -ar verb that follows the standard preterite conjugation pattern. All forms are predictable and follow the regular endings for -ar verbs in the preterite tense.
How to Use Matar in the Preterite (Past) Tense
The Preterite of matar expresses the act of killing or ending life.
To kill/end life: Used for literal ending of life, for example La enfermedad mató a muchas plantas (The disease killed many plants), or Mataron al personaje en la película (They killed the character in the movie).
To turn off/stop completely: Colloquially used for shutting things down, for example Maté el motor del coche (I killed the car’s engine).
Real Life Examples of Matar in the Preterite (Past) Tense
La sequía mató todas las plantas. (The drought killed all the plants.)
El cazador mató al animal en defensa propia. (The hunter killed the animal in self-defense.)
El frío intenso mató los cultivos. (The intense cold killed the crops.)
Matamos el tiempo jugando cartas. (We killed time playing cards.)
Los pesticidas mataron las plagas. (The pesticides killed the pests.)
Mataste la conversación con ese comentario. (You killed the conversation with that comment.)
El ruido mató el momento romántico. (The noise killed the romantic moment.)
La noticia mató sus esperanzas. (The news killed their hopes.)
Mataron el proyecto antes de empezar. (They killed the project before it started.)
El virus mató el sistema operativo. (The virus killed the operating system.)
Maté la batería del celular. (I killed the phone battery.)
El calor mató mi apetito. (The heat killed my appetite.)
Mataste la sorpresa al contarlo. (You killed the surprise by telling it.)
La lluvia mató el partido de fútbol. (The rain killed the soccer game.)
El exceso de trabajo mató su creatividad. (The excess work killed their creativity.)
Conjugation Chart with English Translations
Conjugations of Matar (to kill) in the Preterite (Past) Tense (Castilian Spanish) with English Translations:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Yo maté | I killed |
| Tú mataste | You killed |
| Él / Ella / Usted mató | He / She / You (formal) killed |
| Nosotros / Nosotras matamos | We killed |
| Vosotros / Vosotras matasteis | You all killed |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes mataron | They / You all (formal) killed |
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.