The preterite of contestar is used to express when you answered or responded to something at a specific moment in the past. For example, when you want to say “She answered the email this morning” – “Ella contestó el correo esta mañana.”

This verb follows the regular -ar conjugation pattern in the preterite tense. The conjugation is straightforward with no irregular forms.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Contestar (to answer) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Castilian Spanish):

The Preterite of contestar expresses completed acts of answering or responding.

To answer/reply: Used for specific instances of responding, for example Contesté el teléfono inmediatamente (I answered the phone immediately), or No contestaron mis mensajes (They didn’t answer my messages).

To talk back: In informal usage, refers to responding disrespectfully, for example Le contestó a su madre (They talked back to their mother).

Examples

Examples of Contestar in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Contesté el teléfono inmediatamente. (I answered the phone immediately.)

¿Por qué no me contestaste el mensaje? (Why didn’t you answer my message?)

Ella contestó todas las preguntas correctamente. (She answered all the questions correctly.)

Contestamos la encuesta juntos. (We answered the survey together.)

Los estudiantes contestaron el examen en una hora. (The students answered the exam in an hour.)

¿Cuándo contestaste el correo electrónico? (When did you answer the email?)

Le contesté de manera educada. (I answered him/her politely.)

Nadie contestó a la puerta. (Nobody answered the door.)

Contestaron a nuestra invitación ayer. (They responded to our invitation yesterday.)

Contestamos todas las llamadas perdidas. (We returned all the missed calls.)

¿Le contestaste al profesor? (Did you answer the teacher?)

El abogado contestó a las acusaciones. (The lawyer responded to the accusations.)

Contesté mal a esa pregunta. (I answered that question incorrectly.)

Los políticos contestaron a los periodistas. (The politicians answered the journalists.)

Contestamos a la carta la semana pasada. (We responded to the letter last week.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Contestar (to answer) in the Preterite (Past) Tense 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.