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Conjugation Chart of “Cobrar” (to charge/collect) in the Preterite (Past) Tense

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Understanding the Preterite (Past) Tense of “Cobrar”

The preterite of cobrar is used to express when someone charged or collected payment at a specific moment in the past. For example, “I charged them for the service” – “Les cobré por el servicio.”

This verb follows the regular -ar conjugation pattern in the preterite tense. The stem remains unchanged throughout all conjugations.

How to Use Cobrar in the Preterite (Past) Tense

The Preterite of cobrar expresses completed actions of charging or collecting payment.

To charge/collect payment: Describes specific instances of receiving money, for example Cobré mi primer sueldo (I collected my first paycheck), or Cobraron la deuda completa (They collected the entire debt).

To gain/acquire: In figurative usage, indicates gaining something, for example Cobró sentido después (It made sense afterwards).

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

Cobré mi primer sueldo la semana pasada. (I collected my first paycheck last week.)

¿Cuándo cobraste la factura? (When did you collect the invoice payment?)

El banco cobró una comisión extra. (The bank charged an extra fee.)

Cobramos el seguro después del accidente. (We collected the insurance after the accident.)

Los empleados cobraron el bono navideño. (The employees collected their Christmas bonus.)

¿Por qué me cobraste tanto? (Why did you charge me so much?)

La empresa cobró por los servicios adicionales. (The company charged for additional services.)

Cobré el cheque en efectivo. (I cashed the check.)

Finalmente cobraron la deuda pendiente. (They finally collected the pending debt.)

Cobramos menos de lo esperado. (We charged less than expected.)

El restaurante cobró el servicio aparte. (The restaurant charged the service separately.)

Cobraste demasiado por el trabajo. (You charged too much for the job.)

La historia cobró vida en el escenario. (The story came to life on stage.)

Cobraron el alquiler por adelantado. (They collected the rent in advance.)

El proyecto cobró importancia con el tiempo. (The project gained importance over time.)

Conjugation Chart with English Translations

Conjugations of Cobrar (to charge/collect) 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.