Extinguió

Extinguió is the third-person singular preterite indicative form of the Spanish verb extinguir. It translates as “he extinguished” or “she extinguished,” and in formal address corresponds to “you extinguished” (usted extinguió). The form signals a completed action in the past and is commonly used to describe putting out a light, fire, or flame, as well as figurative extinguishing of hopes, plans, or arguments. Example: Él extinguió el incendio. La vela se extinguió con el viento.

Origin and form: Extinguir derives from Latin extinguere, formed with a prefix indicating out or away and a root related to quenching. In the preterite, extinguir follows the regular -ir verb endings, with the third-person forms extinguió and extinguieron used in standard narration. The singular extinguió carries an accent on the í to mark the stressed syllable.

Usage notes: Extinguir is typically transitive when referring to something that can be put out (for example, un incendio, una vela). It can also appear in reflexive form as extinguirse to indicate cessation or going out, as in la lámpara se extinguió. In everyday Spanish, extinguió is a common verb form encountered in narratives, news reports, and descriptive writing.

See also: Extinción, extinguidor, extinguir-se (reflexive usage). The related noun extinguir is extinction or quenching, while the verb extinguír is not used; the standard spelling is extinguir.