aterricé

Aterr icé is the first-person singular form of the Spanish verb aterrizar in the pretérito indefinido (simple past). It corresponds to the English “I landed” and is used to describe a completed landing of an aircraft, spacecraft, or other vehicle, as well as a figurative landing in a place or situation. The form is distinguished by the orthographic change required for verbs ending in -zar, where the yo form uses -qué or -cé depending on the verb; for aterrizar the correct yo form is aterr icé.

Etymology and formation: Aterrizar is formed from a base meaning related to the ground or earth, with the directional prefix a- and the -izar suffix that creates verbs meaning “to make or become.” The word shares its core with other verbs that express bringing something to ground or reaching land. The yo past form aterr icé reflects standard Spanish orthography rules for -zar verbs, which insert a soft c before the -é in the first-person past tense, rather than the z that appears in other persons.

Usage: Aterr icé is used in narrative or descriptive past tense to report a completed landing. It can describe literal landings of planes or rockets, and it can appear in metaphorical uses, such as “landing a plan or idea in a city or organization.” In everyday speech, it is common in travel reporting and news, as well as in personal recollections.

Conjugation note: As a regular -ar verb with a zar-ending stem, aterrizar follows standard patterns in other tenses. The present tense forms include aterrizo, aterrizas, aterriza, etc.; the pretérito indefinido forms center on aterr icé for yo, with tú aterr izaste, él aterr izó, nosotros aterr izamos, vosotros aterr izasteis, ellos aterr izaron. The noun aterrizaje refers to the act or result of a landing.