aparecí

Aparecí is the first-person singular form of the pretérito indefinido (simple past) of the Spanish verb aparecer, meaning to appear or to turn up. It is used to indicate that the subject appeared or arrived at a specific moment in the past, whether physically present or suddenly evident.

Grammatically, aparecí follows the regular pattern of -er verbs in the pretérito indefinido. The full conjugation of this tense for aparecer is: yo aparecí, tú apareciste, él/ella apareció, nosotros aparecimos, vosotros aparecisteis, ellos aparecieron. The accent on the í marks the word stress in the yo form.

Etymology: the verb aparecer comes from Latin apparēre, meaning to appear, and entered Spanish through the evolution of the Romance languages. The form aparecí preserves the root aparec- with the standard pretérito indefinido endings.

Usage notes: appear as a past action or event in narratives, reports, or personal recollections. It can denote physical arrival, discovery, or the emergence of something (for example, a solution or a clue) after some event. It is common to find phrases like “aparecí en la puerta,” “apareció de repente,” or broader expressions such as “apareció una oportunidad.”

See also: aparecer, aparición, aparición inicial.