The preterite of prevenir is used to express a specific instance of preventing or warning about something in the past, for example El doctor me previno sobre los riesgos (The doctor warned me about the risks). This tense emphasizes the completed action of preventing at a particular moment.

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

Conjugations

Conjugations of Prevenir (to prevent) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

The preterite of prevenir describes a completed action of preventing or warning in the past.

To prevent: Describes stopping something from happening, for example El medicamento previno la infección (The medicine prevented the infection) or Previnieron el accidente (They prevented the accident).

To warn/advise: Used for alerting someone about something, for example Me previno sobre los riesgos (He/she warned me about the risks).

Examples

Examples of Prevenir in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Previne a todos sobre el peligro. (I warned everyone about the danger.)

Previniste el accidente a tiempo. (You prevented the accident in time.)

El doctor previno la enfermedad. (The doctor prevented the disease.)

Previnimos el robo con alarmas. (We prevented the theft with alarms.)

Los guardias previnieron el desastre. (The guards prevented the disaster.)

Previne los errores comunes. (I prevented the common mistakes.)

Previniste a tus amigos del fraude. (You warned your friends about the fraud.)

La empresa previno una crisis financiera. (The company prevented a financial crisis.)

Previnimos el conflicto con diálogo. (We prevented the conflict through dialogue.)

Los expertos previnieron el colapso. (The experts prevented the collapse.)

Previne la corrosión del metal. (I prevented the metal corrosion.)

Previniste muchos problemas futuros. (You prevented many future problems.)

El sistema previno el ataque informático. (The system prevented the cyber attack.)

Previnimos la contaminación del agua. (We prevented water pollution.)

Los científicos previnieron la epidemia. (The scientists prevented the epidemic.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Prevenir (to prevent) 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.