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Conjugation Chart of “Atenerse” (to abide by) in the Preterite (Past) Tense

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Understanding the Preterite (Past) Tense of “Atenerse”

The preterite of atenerse is used to express when someone abided by or stuck to something at a specific moment in the past. For example, “We abided by the rules during the competition” – “Nos atuvimos a las reglas durante la competencia.”

This is an irregular reflexive verb in the preterite tense. Like other -tener verbs, it uses the stem ‘tuv-‘ throughout all conjugations, plus the appropriate reflexive pronouns.

How to Use Atenerse in the Preterite (Past) Tense

The Preterite of atenerse expresses instances of adhering to rules or consequences.

To abide by/stick to: Used for following rules or agreements, for example Me atuve a las instrucciones (I stuck to the instructions).

To face consequences: Describes accepting results, for example Se atuvieron a las consecuencias (They faced the consequences).

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

Me atuve a las reglas del juego. (I stuck to the rules of the game.)

Se atuvo a las consecuencias de sus actos. (He/she faced the consequences of their actions.)

¿Te atuviste al plan original? (Did you stick to the original plan?)

Nos atuvimos al presupuesto establecido. (We stuck to the established budget.)

Se atuvieron a lo acordado en la reunión. (They adhered to what was agreed in the meeting.)

El equipo se atuvo a la estrategia. (The team stuck to the strategy.)

Te atuviste a tu palabra. (You kept your word.)

La empresa se atuvo al contrato. (The company adhered to the contract.)

Nos atuvimos a las instrucciones del manual. (We followed the manual’s instructions strictly.)

Se atuvieron a los plazos establecidos. (They adhered to the established deadlines.)

Me atuve a los hechos al contar la historia. (I stuck to the facts when telling the story.)

El juez se atuvo a la ley. (The judge adhered to the law.)

Se atuvieron a las normas de seguridad. (They followed the safety regulations.)

Te atuviste al protocolo establecido. (You followed the established protocol.)

El estudiante se atuvo a las pautas del ensayo. (The student adhered to the essay guidelines.)

Conjugation Chart with English Translations

Conjugations of Atenerse (to abide by) 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.