The preterite of cerrar is used to express a completed action of closing something in the past. For example, you might say “Cerré la puerta cuando salí.” (I closed the door when I left), indicating a specific moment when the action of closing was completed.

This is a regular -ar verb that follows the standard preterite conjugation pattern. The conjugations are formed by adding the regular preterite endings to the verb stem ‘cerr-‘.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Cerrar (to close) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

The Preterite of cerrar expresses completed actions of closing or shutting something.

To close/shut: Used for specific instances of closing something, for example, Cerré la puerta con llave (I locked the door).

To close down/shut down: Used for closures of businesses or operations, for example, Cerraron la tienda temprano (They closed the store early).

Examples

Examples of Cerrar in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Cerré la puerta con llave antes de salir. (I locked the door before leaving.)

¿Por qué cerraste todas las ventanas? (Why did you close all the windows?)

La tienda cerró temprano por el mal tiempo. (The store closed early due to bad weather.)

Cerramos el negocio después de veinte años. (We closed the business after twenty years.)

Los bancos cerraron durante el feriado. (The banks closed during the holiday.)

Cerré mi cuenta bancaria ayer. (I closed my bank account yesterday.)

Cerraste el trato con un apretón de manos. (You closed the deal with a handshake.)

El restaurante cerró sus puertas definitivamente. (The restaurant closed its doors permanently.)

Cerramos el capítulo con una conclusión breve. (We closed the chapter with a brief conclusion.)

Ellos cerraron el contrato con buenas condiciones. (They closed the contract with good terms.)

Cerré los ojos por el fuerte viento. (I closed my eyes due to the strong wind.)

¿A qué hora cerraste la oficina? (What time did you close the office?)

El museo cerró por renovaciones. (The museum closed for renovations.)

Cerramos todas las ventanas antes de la tormenta. (We closed all the windows before the storm.)

Las tiendas cerraron durante la emergencia. (The stores closed during the emergency.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Cerrar (to close) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Latin American Spanish. For Castilian 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.