The preterite of picar is used to express when you chopped something or when something stung at a specific moment in the past. For example, “I chopped the onions this morning” – “Piqué las cebollas esta mañana.”

This verb follows the -car spelling-changing pattern in the preterite. The ‘c’ changes to ‘qu’ before ‘e’ to maintain the same sound, which occurs in the yo form (piqué).

Conjugations

Conjugations of Picar (to chop/sting) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Castilian Spanish):

The Preterite of picar indicates specific instances of chopping, stinging, or pricking.

To chop/cut into pieces: Used for food preparation, for example Piqué las cebollas (I chopped the onions), or Picaron la carne para el guiso (They chopped the meat for the stew).

To sting/bite: Describes when an insect or animal stung someone, for example Me picó una abeja (A bee stung me).

To become spicy: Used when food became spicy, for example El chile me picó mucho (The chili was very hot to me).

Examples

Examples of Picar in the Preterite (Past) Tense

La abeja me picó en el brazo. (The bee stung me in the arm.)

Piqué las verduras para la ensalada. (I chopped the vegetables for the salad.)

El mosquito te picó mientras dormías. (The mosquito bit you while you were sleeping.)

Picamos la cebolla muy fina. (We chopped the onion very finely.)

Las hormigas picaron a los niños. (The ants bit the children.)

Picaste demasiado ajo para la salsa. (You chopped too much garlic for the sauce.)

La curiosidad le picó y abrió el regalo. (Curiosity got the better of him and he opened the gift.)

Picamos leña para la chimenea. (We chopped wood for the fireplace.)

Los cocineros picaron el chocolate. (The cooks chopped the chocolate.)

Me picó una araña en el jardín. (A spider bit me in the garden.)

Piqué el hielo para los cócteles. (I crushed the ice for the cocktails.)

El chile me picó mucho. (The chili pepper was very spicy for me.)

Picaron la carne para las hamburguesas. (They ground the meat for the hamburgers.)

La serpiente picó al perro. (The snake bit the dog.)

Picaste el tomate demasiado grueso. (You chopped the tomato too thick.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Picar (to chop/sting) 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.