cargué

Cargué is the first-person singular form of the Spanish verb cargar in the pretérito perfecto simple (preterite). The basic meaning is “I loaded” or “I charged,” and it is used to describe a completed action in the past, such as loading cargo, filling a container, or charging a device or account.

Form and orthography

Cargar is a regular -ar verb, but its yo form in the preterite takes a spelling change to preserve the hard g before the vowel e. Therefore, the preterite conjugation is: cargué, cargaste, cargó, cargamos, cargasteis, cargaron. The accent on cargué marks the stressed syllable and distinguishes it from other forms such as cargó (él/ella form in the same tense) or cargue (present subjunctive or formal imperative).

Etymology

Cargar derives from the Latin carricare, formed from carrus “cart” and the -icare suffix, reflecting the sense of placing a load onto a vehicle or carrier. The word has developed into the modern Spanish form cargar, with cargué as its past tense first-person singular.

Usage notes

Cargué is used in narrative and descriptive past contexts: Ayer cargué las cajas en el camión. It can also apply to charging devices or accounts: Cargué la batería del teléfono; Cargué dinero a mi tarjeta. It is distinct from other tenses and moods like cargó (third person singular preterite) and cargue (present subjunctive or formal imperative).

Related forms

Other forms of the same verb include: cargo, cargas, carga, cargamos, cargáis, cargan (present); cargaba, cargabas, cargaba, etc. The related noun is carga; related verbs include descargar (to unload) and recargar (to recharge).