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Conjugation Chart

“Colocar” (to place) in the Preterite (Past) Tense

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Understanding the Preterite (Past) Tense of “Colocar”

The preterite of colocar is used to express when you placed something at a specific moment in the past. For example, “I placed the books on the shelf yesterday” – “Coloqué los libros en el estante ayer.”

This verb follows the -car spelling-changing pattern in the preterite. The ‘c’ changes to ‘qu’ before ‘e’ to maintain the same sound, which occurs in the yo form (coloqué).

How to Use Colocar in the Preterite (Past) Tense

The Preterite of colocar expresses completed acts of placing or positioning.

To place/position: Describes putting something in a specific location, for example Coloqué el libro en el estante (I placed the book on the shelf), or Colocaron los muebles (They positioned the furniture).

To arrange: Indicates organizing items in place, for example Colocamos las sillas en círculo (We arranged the chairs in a circle).

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

Coloqué los libros en el estante. (I placed the books on the shelf.)

¿Dónde colocaste mis llaves? (Where did you put my keys?)

El artista colocó la escultura en el centro. (The artist placed the sculpture in the center.)

Colocamos las decoraciones navideñas. (We put up the Christmas decorations.)

Los técnicos colocaron la nueva antena. (The technicians installed the new antenna.)

Coloqué el jarrón sobre la mesa. (I placed the vase on the table.)

Colocaste el cuadro perfectamente. (You placed the painting perfectly.)

El jardinero colocó las plantas nuevas. (The gardener placed the new plants.)

Colocamos los muebles en su lugar. (We placed the furniture in its place.)

Ellos colocaron señales de advertencia. (They placed warning signs.)

Coloqué la lámpara en la esquina. (I placed the lamp in the corner.)

¿Por qué colocaste esto aquí? (Why did you place this here?)

La secretaria colocó los documentos en orden. (The secretary placed the documents in order.)

Colocamos carteles por toda la ciudad. (We placed posters throughout the city.)

Los bomberos colocaron la escalera. (The firefighters positioned the ladder.)

Conjugation Chart with English Translations

Conjugations of Colocar (to place) 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.