The preterite of asustar is used to express a specific instance of frightening someone in the past, for example El ruido me asustó (The noise frightened me). This tense emphasizes the completed action of frightening at a particular moment.

This is a regular -ar verb that follows the standard preterite conjugation pattern. It’s often used with indirect object pronouns to indicate who was frightened.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Asustar (to frighten) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

The preterite of asustar indicates a completed action of frightening or getting scared in the past.

To frighten/scare: Describes causing fear in someone, for example El ruido me asustó (The noise frightened me) or La película asustó a los niños (The movie scared the children).

To get scared: Used reflexively to express being frightened, for example Me asusté cuando vi la araña (I got scared when I saw the spider).

Examples

Examples of Asustar in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Asusté sin querer al gato. (I accidentally frightened the cat.)

Asustaste a tu hermano menor con la máscara. (You frightened your younger brother with the mask.)

El trueno asustó a los niños. (The thunder frightened the children.)

Asustamos a todos con la noticia. (We frightened everyone with the news.)

Las explosiones asustaron a los animales. (The explosions frightened the animals.)

Asusté a mi madre al llegar tarde. (I frightened my mother by arriving late.)

Asustaste a los pájaros en el parque. (You frightened the birds in the park.)

La película asustó al público. (The movie frightened the audience.)

Asustamos a las palomas en la plaza. (We frightened the pigeons in the square.)

Los ruidos asustaron a los bebés. (The noises frightened the babies.)

Asusté a mi amigo con una broma. (I frightened my friend with a joke.)

Asustaste al perro con los fuegos artificiales. (You frightened the dog with the fireworks.)

El ladrón asustó a los vecinos. (The thief frightened the neighbors.)

Asustamos a los visitantes en la casa embrujada. (We frightened the visitors in the haunted house.)

Las sombras asustaron a los campistas. (The shadows frightened the campers.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Asustar (to frighten) 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.