rastreaste

Rastreaste is the second-person singular preterite (past) form of the Portuguese verb rastrear, meaning to track, trace, or locate by following clues, tracks, or data. The verb derives from rastro, meaning track or trace, with the suffix -ear, forming rastrear.

Usage and regional variation: In European Portuguese, rastrear is conjugated as tu rastreaste for the preterite, and this form is standard when the informal subject tu is used. In Brazilian Portuguese, the pronoun você is more common, and the corresponding past tense is você rastreou; thus rastreaste is relatively rare in everyday Brazilian speech and tends to appear in regional, poetic, or historic contexts. The verb can refer to physical tracking (following footprints, routes) or to digital or administrative tracing (tracing a shipment, tracing a user’s activity).

Conjugation notes and examples: Rastreaste is one example of the preterite tense for the tu form. Other forms include eu rastreei, tu rastreaste, ele rastreou, nós rastreamos, vós rastreastes, eles rastrearam. Examples: “Tu rastreaste as pegadas até a clareira.” “Rastreaste o paradeiro dele ontem?” In modern Portuguese, similar meaning is conveyed with “você rastreou” in Brazil or “tu rastreaste” in Portugal.

See also: rastrear, rastreio, rastreável.