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Conjugation Chart of “Alcanzar” (to reach/catch up) in the Preterite (Past) Tense

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Understanding the Preterite (Past) Tense of “Alcanzar”

The preterite of alcanzar is used to express when someone reached a goal or caught up to something at a specific moment in the past. For example, “I finally caught up to the group” – “Por fin alcancé al grupo.”

This verb follows the -zar spelling-changing pattern in the preterite. The ‘z’ changes to ‘c’ before ‘e’ to maintain the same sound, which happens in the yo form (alcancé).

How to Use Alcanzar in the Preterite (Past) Tense

The Preterite of alcanzar indicates achieving or reaching something.

To reach/catch up: Used for physically or metaphorically reaching something, for example Alcancé la meta (I reached the goal), or Alcanzaron el primer lugar (They reached first place).

To achieve/attain: Describes achieving objectives, for example Alcanzó sus sueños (She achieved her dreams).

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

Alcancé mi meta profesional el año pasado. (I achieved my professional goal last year.)

El equipo alcanzó la victoria en el último momento. (The team achieved victory at the last moment.)

¿Alcanzaste a ver el final de la película? (Did you manage to see the end of the movie?)

Alcanzamos la cima de la montaña al atardecer. (We reached the mountain peak at sunset.)

El precio alcanzó un nuevo récord. (The price reached a new record.)

Por fin alcanzaron un acuerdo. (They finally reached an agreement.)

Alcancé el tren justo a tiempo. (I caught the train just in time.)

La empresa alcanzó sus objetivos anuales. (The company achieved its annual objectives.)

Alcanzaste un nivel muy alto en el idioma. (You reached a very high level in the language.)

Alcanzamos el límite de nuestra capacidad. (We reached our capacity limit.)

El agua alcanzó niveles peligrosos. (The water reached dangerous levels.)

Los científicos alcanzaron un breakthrough importante. (The scientists achieved an important breakthrough.)

Alcancé a terminar justo antes del plazo. (I managed to finish just before the deadline.)

¿Alcanzaste a comprar los boletos? (Did you manage to buy the tickets?)

La noticia alcanzó a millones de personas. (The news reached millions of people.)

Conjugation Chart with English Translations

Conjugations of Alcanzar (to reach/catch up) 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.