acudió

Acudió is the third person singular preterite tense of the Spanish verb acudir, which means to go to or to attend, and can also mean to resort to or to appeal to. In narrative past tense, it denotes that someone went to a place, attended an event, or answered a call or invitation. It commonly appears in contexts such as acudir a un lugar, acudir a una cita, or acudir a la justicia to seek legal recourse.

Etymology and form: acudir comes from Latin accurrere, literally “to run toward.” The form acudió follows regular preterite endings for -ir verbs in the third person singular. The full conjugation in the preterite is acudí, acudiste, acudió, acudimos, acudisteis, acudieron. Other forms include present acudo, acudes, acude, acudimos, acudís, acuden; participle acudido; gerund acudiendo.

Usage notes: Acudió can imply a concrete act of attendance or response to a summons, as well as the act of seeking help or turning to a source (acudir a alguien). The choice of preposition is usually a or to indicate the destination or target of the action. The imperfect form acudía expresses habitual past action (he/she used to attend) or background, contrasting with the definite past event indicated by acudió.

Examples:

- El alcalde acudió a la reunión.

- Muchos vecinos acudieron al llamado de emergencia.

- Ante el problema, decidió acudir a la justicia.

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