The preterite of quitarse is used to express when someone took something off at a specific moment in the past. For example, when you want to say “I took off my shoes when I entered the house” – “Me quité los zapatos cuando entré en la casa.”

This is a regular -ar verb that uses reflexive pronouns. Remember to include the appropriate reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos) before the conjugated verb form to indicate that the action reflects back on the subject.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Quitarse (to take off) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Castilian Spanish):

The Preterite of quitarse indicates completed actions of removing or taking off.

To take off: Used for removing clothing or accessories, for example Me quité los zapatos (I took off my shoes), or Se quitó el sombrero (He took off his hat).

To remove oneself: Indicates moving away from a position or situation, for example Me quité del camino (I got out of the way).

Examples

Examples of Quitarse in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Me quité los zapatos al entrar. (I took off my shoes when entering.)

Te quitaste el abrigo por el calor. (You took off your coat because of the heat.)

Se quitó las gafas para limpiarlas. (He/she took off their glasses to clean them.)

Nos quitamos la ropa mojada. (We took off our wet clothes.)

Se quitaron los sombreros por respeto. (They took off their hats out of respect.)

Me quité el anillo para lavar los platos. (I took off my ring to wash the dishes.)

Te quitaste el maquillaje antes de dormir. (You removed your makeup before sleeping.)

Se quitó la venda después de la ducha. (He/she removed the bandage after the shower.)

Nos quitamos el barro de los zapatos. (We removed the mud from our shoes.)

Se quitaron las máscaras al terminar la obra. (They took off their masks when the play ended.)

Me quité el reloj para nadar. (I took off my watch to swim.)

Te quitaste la bufanda al entrar al café. (You took off your scarf when entering the café.)

Se quitó el sombrero al entrar a la iglesia. (He/she took off his/her hat when entering the church.)

Nos quitamos los guantes para tocar el piano. (We took off our gloves to play the piano.)

Se quitaron las joyas antes del examen médico. (They took off their jewelry before the medical exam.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Quitarse (to take off) 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.