detuve

Detuve is the first-person singular preterite indicative form of the Spanish verb detener, meaning to stop or to detain. In narrative or recounting past events, detuve is used to indicate a completed action in the past, either physically stopping movement or taking someone into custody, depending on context.

Conjugation and morphology: Detener is an -er verb with irregular preterite forms. The full preterite forms are detuve, detuviste, detuvo, detuvimos, detuvisteis, detuvieron. In most forms, the stem changes from deten- to detuv-, producing the irregular preterite pattern common to detener in this tense. The endings follow the standard preterite for -er verbs.

Etymology: Detener comes from Latin detinēre, formed from de- (bit of separation or reversal) and tenēre (to hold). Over time, it evolved into the modern Spanish detener, with detuve as one of its past-tense forms.

Usage notes: Detuve can describe a physical stop, such as halting a vehicle or interrupting a process, or the act of detaining a person. The precise meaning depends on the object that follows: detuve el coche (I stopped the car) versus detuve al sospechoso (I detained the suspect). The form is common in journalism, literature, and everyday speech when narrating past actions. Like other preterite forms of detener, detuve is not used for ongoing or habitual past actions (that would require the imperfect form detenía).

See also: detener, detención, pretérito indefinido (preterite tense), irregular Spanish verbs.