Acercó

Acercó is the third-person singular preterite indicative form of the Spanish verb acercar, meaning that someone or something moved closer or brought something nearer in the past. It can describe a physical approach as well as the act of bringing an object nearer to another.

In usage, acercar can be transitive or intransitive. Transitive examples include “El vendedor acercó el teléfono para que el cliente lo viera” (the seller brought the phone closer so the customer could see it) or “Ella acercó la silla al escritorio.” Intransitive usage expresses an approach or arrival, as in “El tren se acercó a la estación” (the train approached the station). The corresponding reflexive form “se acercó” is common when the subject itself is the one moving toward something or someone.

Morphology and conjugation: acercar is a regular -ar verb. In the preterite, the forms are: yo acerqué, tú acercaste, él/ella/usted acercó, nosotros acercamos, vosotros acercasteis, ellos acercaron. The accent on acerqué reflects orthographic rules for verbs ending in -car in the first-person singular; acercó retains the accent on the last syllable as the third-person form.

Etymology: acercar derives from Romance language roots built around the idea of bringing closer or approaching; the exact historical path involves the development of the Latin and Iberian Romance verb systems, with acercar forming part of standard contemporary Spanish.

See also: acercar, acercarse, acercamiento.