caíste

Caíste is the second-person singular form of the verb caer in the pretérito imperfecto? No, in the pretérito simple (past simple) of caer, meaning “you fell.” It describes a completed fall in the past and is commonly used in everyday Spanish to report a physical descent. The base verb caer is irregular in the pretérito: caí, caíste, cayó, caímos, caísteis, cayeron. When used as a pronominal verb, caerse, the corresponding forms are me caí, te caíste, se cayó, nos caímos, os caísteis, se cayeron, with the reflexive pronoun marking the action as occurring to the subject.

In addition to its literal sense, caíste can appear in figurative expressions, indicating that someone was fooled or fell into a trap. Common phrases include caíste en la trampa or caíste en la mentira, both meaning that you fell for it or were deceived.

Usage and style notes:

- Caíste typically refers to a single past event and is often used in narrative or conversational contexts.

- The verb can be used without a reflexive pronoun in informal speech to denote a simple fall, while caerse is commonly used when emphasizing the subject’s involvement in the falling action.

Etymology: caer derives from Latin cadere, meaning to fall. Caíste inherits the accent pattern of the stem-changing preterite of caer in Spanish.

See also: caer, caerse, caída, pretérito.