compraste

Compraste is the second-person singular form of the Spanish verb comprar in the preterite tense, meaning “you bought.” It is used with the subject pronoun tú to describe a completed action in the past.

Grammatical overview: Compraste is part of the regular -ar verb conjugation in the preterite, which is also known as the pretérito indefinido or pretérito simple. The full set for comprar is: yo compré, tú compraste, él/ella/usted compró, nosotros compramos, vosotros comprasteis, ellos/ustedes compraron. In regions that use the informal plural, the vosotros form would be comprasteis.

Usage: The preterite tense expresses actions that were completed at a definite time in the past or that moved the narrative forward. Compraste indicates a specific act of buying carried out by the you of the sentence. It contrasts with the imperfect tense, comprabas, which would describe a past habit or ongoing action without defining its completion.

Examples:

- Ayer compraste pan en la tienda. (Yesterday you bought bread at the store.)

- ¿Cuándo compraste ese libro? (When did you buy that book?)

Notes: The form adapts for different regional pronouns in plural contexts—tú forms become vosotros comprasteis in Spain for informal plural, while in Latin America the second-person plural is ustedes and their preterite is compraron. As with other -ar verbs, the spelling is straightforward and tends to follow standard stress patterns without requiring accent marks on compraste.