Justificamos

Justificamos is a conjugated form of the Spanish verb justificar, meaning to justify or to vindicate. As a verb, it can appear in two common tenses for the first-person plural: in present indicative, we justify; and in preterite indicative, we justified. The pronunciation is jus-ti-fi-CA-mos, with the stress on the fourth syllable. The verb derives from Latin iustificare, from iustus “just, lawful” and -ficare “to make,” and it is closely related to the noun justificación (justification) and the adjective justo (just).

Usage and meaning: justifying a action or decision involves presenting reasons or arguments that make it seem legitimate or acceptable. In everyday language, one might say “justificamos nuestra elección ante el comité” to mean we explained why we chose that option. In professional or legal contexts, justificar is used to provide grounds, to defend, or to prove the validity of something. The preterite form “justificamos” often refers to a completed act in the past, such as “ayer justificamos las ausencias” in the sense of having provided justification for absences. Note that in many contexts, the related phrase “se justificaron” describes processes where reasons or excuses were provided or accepted.

Other uses: in typography, justificar means to adjust sign or spacing so that text lines align evenly; this is expressed with the noun la justificación or the verb phrase justificar el texto.

Translations and related terms: English equivalents include “we justify” and “we justified.” Related terms are justificar, justificación, justificante (a justificatory document), and justo (just, fair).