The preterite of recoger is used to express a specific instance of picking up or collecting something in the past. For example, you might say “I picked up the package from the post office,” indicating when the action was completed.

This is a regular -er verb that follows the standard preterite conjugation pattern. The endings are predictable and consistent with other regular -er verbs.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Recoger (to pick up/collect) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

The Preterite of recoger describes completed actions of collecting or picking up.

Collecting: Used for gathering items, for example recogí las hojas (I picked up the leaves).

Picking Up: Describes retrieving someone/something, for example recogimos a los niños (we picked up the children).

Examples

Examples of Recoger in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Recogí las llaves del suelo. (I picked up the keys from the floor.)

Recogió todas sus pertenencias. (He picked up all his belongings.)

¿Recogiste el paquete de la oficina? (Did you pick up the package from the office?)

Recogimos muchas conchas en la playa. (We collected many shells at the beach.)

Los niños recogieron sus juguetes. (The children picked up their toys.)

Recogí a mi hermana del aeropuerto. (I picked up my sister from the airport.)

¿Quién recogió el correo hoy? (Who collected the mail today?)

Recogimos fruta fresca del jardín. (We picked fresh fruit from the garden.)

Los voluntarios recogieron la basura del parque. (The volunteers picked up the trash from the park.)

Recogí los documentos de la impresora. (I collected the documents from the printer.)

¿Recogiste tu vestido de la tintorería? (Did you pick up your dress from the dry cleaner?)

Recogió el premio en la ceremonia. (She collected the award at the ceremony.)

Recogimos firmas para la petición. (We collected signatures for the petition.)

Los estudiantes recogieron donaciones. (The students collected donations.)

Recogí mi nuevo celular de la tienda. (I picked up my new phone from the store.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Recoger (to pick up/collect) 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.