The preterite of distraer is used to express a specific instance of distracting someone in the past, for example El ruido me distrajo de mi trabajo (The noise distracted me from my work). This tense emphasizes the completed action of distracting at a particular moment.

This is an irregular verb that follows the same pattern as ‘traer’ in the preterite. The stem changes to ‘distraj-‘ throughout its conjugation, maintaining consistency with other verbs in the ‘traer’ family.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Distraer (to distract) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

The preterite of distraer describes a completed action of distracting or entertaining in the past.

To distract: Describes drawing attention away from something, for example El ruido me distrajo del trabajo (The noise distracted me from work) or La música los distrajo de sus preocupaciones (The music distracted them from their worries).

To entertain: Used for keeping someone occupied or amused, for example Los juegos distrajeron a los niños toda la tarde (The games kept the children entertained all afternoon).

Examples

Examples of Distraer in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Distraje a mi hermano mientras preparaban su fiesta sorpresa. (I distracted my brother while they prepared his surprise party.)

Distrajiste al guardia en el momento preciso. (You distracted the guard at the precise moment.)

El ruido distrajo a los estudiantes durante el examen. (The noise distracted the students during the exam.)

Distrajimos a los niños con juegos. (We distracted the children with games.)

Las redes sociales distrajeron a los empleados. (Social media distracted the employees.)

Distraje mi mente con un buen libro. (I distracted my mind with a good book.)

Distrajiste al público con tu presentación. (You distracted the audience with your presentation.)

La música distrajo su atención. (The music distracted their attention.)

Distrajimos a los invitados con actividades. (We distracted the guests with activities.)

Los payasos distrajeron a los pacientes del hospital. (The clowns distracted the hospital patients.)

Distraje al perro con un juguete. (I distracted the dog with a toy.)

Distrajiste al conductor con tus preguntas. (You distracted the driver with your questions.)

El celular distrajo su concentración. (The cell phone distracted their concentration.)

Distrajimos nuestras preocupaciones con trabajo. (We distracted our worries with work.)

Las obras distrajeron el tráfico. (The construction works distracted the traffic.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Distraer (to distract) 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.