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Conjugation Chart

“Pagar” (to pay) in the Preterite (Past) Tense

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Understanding the Preterite (Past) Tense of “Pagar”

The preterite of pagar is used to express when someone paid for something at a specific moment in the past. For example, when you want to say “I paid the bill yesterday” – “Pagué la cuenta ayer.”

This is a -gar spelling-changing verb in the preterite tense. The ‘g’ changes to ‘gu’ before ‘e’ to maintain the same sound, which happens in the yo form (pagué).

How to Use Pagar in the Preterite (Past) Tense

The Preterite of pagar indicates completed payments or settlements.

To pay (completed transaction): Describes finishing a payment, for example Pagué la cuenta del restaurante (I paid the restaurant bill), or Pagaron la hipoteca (They paid off the mortgage).

To suffer consequences: Metaphorically used for facing consequences, for example Pagué por mis errores (I paid for my mistakes).

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

Pagué la cuenta del restaurante. (I paid the restaurant bill.)

¿Cuánto pagaste por el nuevo teléfono? (How much did you pay for the new phone?)

Ella pagó en efectivo. (She paid in cash.)

Pagamos la hipoteca ayer. (We paid the mortgage yesterday.)

Los clientes pagaron por adelantado. (The clients paid in advance.)

Pagué demasiado por este servicio. (I paid too much for this service.)

¿Pagaste las facturas a tiempo? (Did you pay the bills on time?)

La empresa pagó los bonos en diciembre. (The company paid the bonuses in December.)

Pagamos el alquiler esta mañana. (We paid the rent this morning.)

Ellos pagaron la multa inmediatamente. (They paid the fine immediately.)

Pagué mis deudas el mes pasado. (I paid my debts last month.)

¿Por qué pagaste tanto? (Why did you pay so much?)

Mi hermano pagó la cena. (My brother paid for dinner.)

Pagamos el curso por adelantado. (We paid for the course in advance.)

Los estudiantes pagaron la matrícula. (The students paid the tuition.)

Conjugation Chart with English Translations

Conjugations of Pagar (to pay) 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.