obstruí

Obstrué is a form that appears in discussions of the Spanish verb obstruir, which means to obstruct, block, or hinder. The spelling obstrué is not the standard first-person preterite form in Spanish; the correct form is yo obstruí. As a result, obstrué is generally treated as a nonstandard variant or a common misspelling rather than a separate verb form.

Etymology: Obstruir derives from the Latin obstruere, from ob- “against” and struere “to pile up, build,” reflecting the sense of blocking passage or access.

Conjugation and usage: In the preterite, the standard forms are yo obstruí, tú obstruiste, él obstruyó, nosotros obstruimos, vosotros obstruisteis, ellos obstruyeron. Obstruir belongs to the set of -uir verbs that form a y in the third person singular. Semantically, obstruir covers blocking a passage, impeding a process, or hindering access or function. Common synonyms include bloquear and impedir. Example: Ayer obstruí la entrada con una valla para impedir el paso.

See also: obstruir, bloqueo, obstáculo.