Lubriqué el piñón oxidado con grasa antes de poner el candado.

I lubricated the rusty sprocket with grease before putting on the lock.

Breakdown of Lubriqué el piñón oxidado con grasa antes de poner el candado.

• con: with
• antes de: before
• poner: to put
• el piñón: the sprocket

Questions & Answers about Lubriqué el piñón oxidado con grasa antes de poner el candado.

Why is it lubriqué and not lubricé?

Because lubricar is a verb ending in -car, and in the yo form of the preterite, Spanish changes c to qu before é to keep the hard k sound.

So:

• lubricar → lubriqué
• just like buscar → busqué
• practicar → practiqué

If you wrote lubricé, it would sound like lubrisé, which is not the pronunciation Spanish wants here.

Why isn’t yo included?

Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns because the verb ending already tells you who the subject is. Lubriqué clearly means I lubricated, so yo is unnecessary unless you want emphasis, contrast, or extra clarity.

For example:

• Lubriqué el piñón... = normal
• Yo lubriqué el piñón... = I lubricated it, not someone else

Why is it oxidado? Why not oxidada or oxidados?