Spanish tends to be one of the easier languages for English speakers to learn, but any language has a few challenges to overcome. As you might expect, verbs are one of the harder parts of Spanish to understand, including learning how Spanish verb tenses work. Tenses are what affect verb conjugation in Spanish, so you’ll need to know at least a few of them as you learn to speak Spanish.
You can get comfortable using verb tenses and applying them in real-world conversations when you learn with Dynamic Immersion learning on Rosetta Stone’s app. But for now, you can get an overview of the 18 Spanish verb tenses you’ll need to learn to become a more fluent Spanish speaker.
Table of Contents
What are verb tenses and moods?
Verb tenses express a particular time when an action took place in the past, present, or future. A verb’s tense affects its conjugation, which means the ending of the verb will change—and sometimes the root verb itself when it’s irregular.
Spanish verb forms are also divided into grammatical moods. Moods help specify the speaker’s intention. In Spanish, there are three verb moods:
- Indicative: used for objective statements and facts
- Subjunctive: used for expressing emotions, desires, and possibilities
- Imperative: used for giving commands
You will find that some Spanish verb tenses are similarly named but support different moods. For example, the indicative present tense and the subjunctive present tense serve distinct purposes, and each has its own verb conjugations.
10 Indicative Spanish verb tenses
As you dive into learning verbs in Spanish, you’ll need to learn when you would use each tense, so we’ve put together some example sentences to show you how to conjugate regular verbs used in that tense. For the verbs that don’t follow normal Spanish conjugation rules, you can look them up in a reliable conjugation dictionary, such as Spanish Dictionary, or use our helpful guide about Spanish irregular verbs.
The indicative tenses are how you’ll talk about actions, states, and events. When you make a statement about reality or describe something, you would use an indicative tense. For beginner Spanish speakers, the first tenses you learn to use will probably be indicative ones, which is what we’ll cover first.
Presente (Present)
Like the present tense in English, presente in Spanish is used to talk about facts, current realities, and observable characteristics. It’s also used to talk about actions that are ongoing or habitual.
- Limpia la cocina. = He cleans the kitchen.
- ¿Cómo estás? = How are you doing?
- Me levanto a las seis y media cada mañana. = I get up at half past six every morning.
For each regular verb in Spanish, you’ll follow conjugation patterns for each verb tense. This Spanish verb tenses chart shows what endings you’ll use in the present tense.
| Subject Pronoun | -AR Verb Ending | -ER Verb Ending | -IR Verb Ending |
| Yo I | -o | -o | -o |
| Tú You, informal | -as | -es | -es |
| Él/Ella/Usted He/She/You, formal | -a | -e | -e |
| Nosotros/Nosotras We (m/f) | -amos | -emos | -imos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras* You all, informal | -áis | -éis | -ís |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes They/You all, formal | -an | -en | -en |
*The vosotros form is only used in Spain.
Pretérito imperfecto (imperfect)
Pretérito imperfecto is one of the tenses used to talk about the past in Spanish. You use the imperfect tense in Spanish to talk about past actions generally, without a specific duration. This includes past habitual actions, as well as actions that were not completed in the past.
If you can use the phrase “used to” in English to describe an action, there’s a good chance you would use pretérito imperfecto for it in Spanish.
- Ibas a la piscina todos los domingos. = You went to the pool every Sunday.
- Era baja y tenía pecas cuando era joven. = She was short and had freckles when she was young.
In this chart, you’ll see that -ER verbs in Spanish and -IR verbs in Spanish have the same endings. That makes it easier for you to remember how to conjugate imperfect tense verbs in Spanish.
| Subject Pronoun | -AR Verb Endings | -ER and -IR Verb Endings |
| Yo I | -aba | -ía |
| Tú You, informal | -abas | -ías |
| Él/Ella/Usted He/She/You, formal | -aba | -ía |
| Nosotros/Nosotras We (m/f) | -ábamos | -íamos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras* You all, informal | -abais | -íais |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes They/You all, formal | -aban | -ían |
*The vosotros form is only used in Spain.
Pretérito indefinido (indefinite preterite)
Pretérito indefinido is another tense used to talk about the past. You can think of it as a companion of the imperfect tense, since it covers past actions that are not habitual. The preterite tense in Spanish is used to talk about actions that took place at a specific time in the past, as well as completed actions that started and finished in the past.
- Compraron un coche nuevo. = They bought a new car.
- Leíste este libro el mes pasado. = You read this book last month.
In the indefinite preterite tense, the -AR verbs in Spanish have different endings than the -IR and -ER verbs.
| Subject Pronoun | -AR Verb Endings | -ER and -IR Verb Endings |
| Yo I | -é | -í |
| Tú You, informal | -aste | -iste |
| Él/Ella/Usted He/She/You, formal | -ó | -ió |
| Nosotros/Nosotras We (m/f) | -amos | -imos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras* You all, informal | -asteis | -isteis |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes They/You all, formal | -aron | -ieron |
*The vosotros form is only used in Spain.
Futuro simple (simple future)
Futuro simple is used to talk about actions that will or may take place in the future. In English, you would use the word “will” before a verb to indicate a future action: “I will clean my house.” You’d use the futuro simple tense to say that same phrase in Spanish. You can also use the simple future to talk about possibilities in the present.
- Hablaré con mi padre esta noche. = I will talk to my father tonight.
- Encontrará un trabajo bueno. = He will find a good job.
- Los niños tendrán hambre. = The children might be hungry.
The endings for regular futuro simple verbs go on the end of the infinitive form of the verb, rather than the end of the verb’s stem. All regular verbs will use the same endings in the future tense in Spanish.
Let’s look at the verb comer (“to eat”) as an example. Using comer in the present tense to say “I eat” would be conjugated as como. The ending -o goes at the end of comer’s stem which is com. Using comer in the future to say “I will eat” would be conjugated as comeré, with the ending -é going at the end of the verb’s infinitive form.
| Subject Pronoun | Verb Ending |
| Yo I | -é |
| Tú You, informal | -ás |
| Él/Ella/Usted He/She/You, formal | -á |
| Nosotros/Nosotras We (m/f) | -emos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras* You all, informal | -éis |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes They/You all, formal | -án |
*The vosotros form is only used in Spain.
Condicional simple (conditional)
The condicional simple is used to talk about hypothetical situations and make requests.
- Sacaríamos la basura por ti. = We would take out the trash for you.
- ¿Podrías pasar el agua? = Would you pass the water?
Like the future tense above, the verb endings in the conditional tense go at the end of the infinitive form of the verb and not the stem.
| Subject Pronoun | Verb Ending |
| Yo I | -ía |
| Tú You, informal | -ías |
| Él/Ella/Usted He/She/You, formal | -ía |
| Nosotros/Nosotras We (m/f) | -íamos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras* You all, informal | -íais |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes They/You all, formal | -ían |
*The vosotros form is only used in Spain.
Pretérito perfecto (present perfect)
The present perfect tense covers actions that are finished or completed. All perfect tenses use the auxiliary verb haber with a past participle. The past participle of regular verbs is formed by removing the ending of the infinitive and adding “-ado” for -AR verbs or “-ido” for -ER and -IR verbs. Because of this, our conjugation tables for any of the perfect tenses will show you how to conjugate the appropriate tense of haber.
You would use the pretérito perfecto in Spanish when talking about an action that has finished in the recent past, or an action that started in the past and is still ongoing.
- Hemos vuelto para comprar la leche. = We have returned to buy milk.
- Ellas han oído la verdad. = They have heard the truth.
| Subject Pronoun | Haber |
| Yo I | he |
| Tú You, informal | has |
| Él/Ella/Usted He/She/You, formal | ha |
| Nosotros/Nosotras We (m/f) | hemos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras* You all, informal | habéis |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes They/You all, formal | han |
*The vosotros form is only used in Spain.
Pretérito pluscuamperfecto (past perfect or pluperfect)
Pretérito pluscuamperfecto is used to talk about an action that happened before another action. It’s really useful for clarifying when certain events happened in the past.
- Ella había comido antes de ir al cine. = She had eaten before going to the movies.
- Había visto ya a mi primo. = I had already seen my cousin.
| Subject Pronoun | Haber |
| Yo I | había |
| Tú You, informal | habías |
| Él/Ella/Usted He/She/You, formal | había |
| Nosotros/Nosotras We (m/f) | habíamos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras* You all, informal | habíais |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes They/You all, formal | habían |
*The vosotros form is only used in Spain.
Pretérito anterior (preterite perfect)
This Spanish verb tense is mostly used in formal speech or in literature, so you probably won’t encounter it often in day to day life. The preterite perfect tense in Spanish describes an action in the past that happened immediately before another action in the past.
- Después de que hubimos comido, sirvió el postre. = After we had eaten, he served dessert.
| Subject Pronoun | Haber |
| Yo I | hube |
| Tú You, informal | hubiste |
| Él/Ella/Usted He/She/You, formal | hubo |
| Nosotros/Nosotras We (m/f) | hubimos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras* You all, informal | hubisteis |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes They/You all, formal | hubieron |
*The vosotros form is only used in Spain.
Futuro perfecto (future perfect)
You use the futuro perfecto to talk about actions that will have been completed at some point in the future. You can also use it to talk about conjecture—what might have or could have happened.
- Usted habrá estudiado español por tres años para este mayo. = You will have studied three years of Spanish by this May.
- Ellas habrán ido a otro café. = They must have gone to another cafe.
| Subject Pronoun | Haber |
| Yo I | habré |
| Tú You, informal | habrás |
| Él/Ella/Usted He/She/You, formal | habrá |
| Nosotros/Nosotras We (m/f) | habremos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras* You all, informal | habréis |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes They/You all, formal | habrán |
*The vosotros form is only used in Spain.
Condicional compuesto (conditional perfect)
The condicional compuesto verb tense in Spanish can be tricky. It’s used to talk about actions that would have happened but didn’t due to another event. You can also use it to talk about actions that probably happened or were likely true.
- Él habría leído el libro, pero el teléfono sonó. = He would have read the book, but the phone rang.
- Habrían sido las ocho cuando llegamos. = It would have been eight o’clock when we arrived.
| Subject Pronoun | Haber |
| Yo I | habría |
| Tú You, informal | habrías |
| Él/Ella/Usted He/She/You, formal | habría |
| Nosotros/Nosotras We (m/f) | habríamos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras* You all, informal | habríais |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes They/You all, formal | habrían |
6 Subjunctive moods in Spanish
The Spanish subjunctive mood is used to express most things that aren’t facts, like hopes, feelings, and recommendations. You might use it as you learn how to say “I want” in Spanish. One way to remember what the subjunctive covers is to use the acronym WEIRDO:
- Wishes
- Emotions
- Impersonal expressions
- Recommendations
- Doubts/denials
- Ojalá (“Hopefully/I wish”)
Subjunctive verbs are almost always found within a subordinate clause, which has a subject and verb, but it can’t stand alone as a sentence. There are six different types of subjunctive moods that are covered here.
Presente de subjuntivo (present subjunctive)
The presente de subjuntivo applies to the many subjunctive verbs in the present tense.
- Lamento que tengan que irse. = I’m sorry that they have to leave.
- Él duda que falles tu prueba. = He doubts that you’ll fail your test.
- Ojalá no llueva hoy. = I wish that it wouldn’t rain today.
Conjugating a verb in the presente de subjuntivo requires knowing what the yo form of the verb is in the present tense. Verb endings go at the end of the first person singular of the present tense, rather than at the end of a verb’s stem.
| Subject Pronoun | -AR Verb Endings | -ER and -IR Verb Endings |
| Yo I | -e | -a |
| Tú You, informal | -es | -as |
| Él/Ella/Usted He/She/You, formal | -e | -a |
| Nosotros/Nosotras We (m/f) | -emos | -amos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras* You all, informal | -éis | -áis |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes They/You all, formal | -en | -an |
*The vosotros form is only used in Spain.
Imperfecto de subjuntivo (imperfect subjunctive)
The imperfecto de subjuntivo is used to talk about feelings related to past events, as well as hypothetical situations. When you conjugate imperfecto de subjuntivo verbs, there are two different endings you can use. Both are correct, though different Spanish-speaking cultures may favor one ending or the other. Ending 2 is occasionally found in Spain, but ending 1 is more common overall.
- Quería que vinieras/vinieses a mi fiesta. = I wanted you to come to my party.
- Pintaría más seguido si tuviera/tuviese más tiempo. = I would paint more often if I had more time.
Imperfecto de subjuntivo conjugation is unique. Endings are not added to verb stems or infinitive forms. Instead, they are added to the third person plural (ellos/ellas and ustedes) forms of the preterite tense, minus the -ron. As a result, it helps to be very familiar with the preterite before using the imperfecto de subjuntivo.
| Subject Pronoun | Most Common Verb Ending | Alternate Verb Ending |
| Yo I | -ra | -se |
| Tú You, informal | -ras | -ses |
| Él/Ella/Usted He/She/You, formal | -ra | -se |
| Nosotros/Nosotras We (m/f) | -ramos | -semos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras* You all, informal | -rais | -seis |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes They/You all, formal | -ran | -sen |
*The vosotros form is only used in Spain.
Futuro de subjuntivo (future subjunctive)
The futuro de subjuntivo is rarely found in modern Spanish, and its uses are largely covered by the present subjunctive. You can still find the futuro de subjuntivo in legal documents, literature, and proverbs, so advanced Spanish speakers may be more inclined to learn it.
- Sea lo que fuere el origen de los productos, serán gravados. = Whatever the origin of the products may be, they will be subject to taxation.
- Adonde fueres, haz lo que vieres. = Wherever you go, do what you see.
| Subject Pronoun | Verb Ending |
| Yo I | -re |
| Tú You, informal | -res |
| Él/Ella/Usted He/She/You, formal | -re |
| Nosotros/Nosotras We (m/f) | -remos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras* You all, informal | -reis |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes They/You all, formal | -ren |
Pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo (present perfect subjunctive)
The pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo is similar to the present subjunctive, except that it covers past actions that are connected to the present, as well as actions that will have happened at a certain point in the future.
As a reminder, any verb tenses in Spanish with the perfect aspect use the auxiliary verb haber with a verb participle, so the perfect subjunctive tenses will show conjugations for haber.
- Mi profesor duda que yo haya leído el libro. = My teacher doubts that I have read the book.
- Es posible que ustedes hayan regresado para junio. = It’s possible that you will have returned by June.
| Subject Pronoun | Haber |
| Yo I | haya |
| Tú You, informal | hayas |
| Él/Ella/Usted He/She/You, formal | haya |
| Nosotros/Nosotras We (m/f) | hayamos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras* You all, informal | hayáis |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes They/You all, formal | hayan |
*The vosotros form is only used in Spain.
Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo (past perfect, or pluperfect, subjunctive)
You use the pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo to describe hypothetical situations in the past, conditional situations in the past, and past actions that preceded other actions. Like the imperfect subjunctive, it has two different endings you can use during conjugation.
- Si hubiera/hubiese sabido, habría venido. = If I had known, I would have come.
- ¿Y si el psíquico hubiera/hubiese tenido razón sobre el futuro? = What if the psychic had been right about the future?
- Mamá no creyó que hubieras/hubieses limpiado las sábanas. = Mom did not believe that you had cleaned the sheets.
| Subject Pronoun | Most Common Conjugation | Alternative Conjugation |
| Yo I | hubiera | hubiese |
| Tú You, informal | hubieras | hubieses |
| Él/Ella/Usted He/She/You, formal | hubiera | hubiese |
| Nosotros/Nosotras We (m/f) | hubiéramos | hubiésemos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras* You all, informal | hubierais | hubieseis |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes They/You all, formal | hubieran | hubiesen |
*The vosotros form is only used in Spain.
Futuro perfecto de subjuntivo (future perfect subjunctive)
Like the futuro de subjuntivo, modern Spanish speakers rarely use the futuro perfecto de subjuntivo. It’s also a Spanish verb tense mostly found in legal documents and literature. You would use it to talk about actions that will have happened at a specific point in the future, but people usually use the past perfect subjunctive tense for this instead.
- Los asuntos que se hubiere acordado tramitar por el procedimiento de urgencia tendrán prioridad. = Priority will be given to those matters that fall under the emergency procedures provision.
| Subject Pronoun | Haber |
| Yo I | hubiere |
| Tú You, informal | hubieres |
| Él/Ella/Usted He/She/You, formal | hubiere |
| Nosotros/Nosotras We (m/f) | hubiéremos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras* You all, informal | hubiereis |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes They/You all, formal | hubieren |
*The vosotros form is only used in Spain.
2 Imperative verb tenses in Spanish
Tenses in the imperative mood are used to communicate direct commands. Be careful using the imperative mood, as it can come across as blunt or even impolite.
There are only two tenses in this mood. Also, the imperative tenses only include conjugations for the Spanish pronouns tú, usted, ustedes, vosotros and nosotros, since they’re just used to give others instructions.
Imperativo positivo (affirmative imperative)
Compared to the subjunctive tenses, the imperativo positivo is refreshingly straightforward: it’s used to tell people what to do.
- Comed más verduras. = Eat more vegetables.
- Vive tu vida. = Live your life.
Be aware that some of the most frequent affirmative commands in Spanish, such as ser, ir, and hacer, are irregular verbs that don’t follow the normal conjugation rules laid out in this table.
| Subject Pronoun | -AR Verb Endings | -ER and -IR Verb Endings |
| Yo I | -a | -e |
| Tú You, informal | -e | -a |
| Él/Ella/Usted He/She/You, formal | -emos | -amos |
| Nosotros/Nosotras We (m/f) | -ad | -ed |
| Vosotros/Vosotras* You all, informal | -en | -an |
*The vosotros form is only used in Spain.
Imperativo negativo (negative imperative)
As the name might imply, the imperativo negativo is the opposite of the imperativo positivo. You use it to ask or tell people what not to do.
- Por favor, no llores. = Please don’t cry.
- No hagáis eso. = Don’t do that.
If you’ve mastered conjugation for the present subjunctive tense, that pays off here. The imperativo negativo uses the same forms. Just make sure you put a negative word in front of the verb, such as no or nunca (never).
| Subject Pronoun | -AR Verb Endings | -ER and -IR Verb Endings |
| Yo I | -es | -as |
| Tú You, informal | -e | -a |
| Él/Ella/Usted He/She/You, formal | -emos | -amos |
| Nosotros/Nosotras We (m/f) | -éis | -áis |
| Vosotros/Vosotras* You all, informal | -en | -an |
*The vosotros form is only used in Spain.
Learn more than just Spanish verb tenses with Rosetta Stone
Spanish verb tenses may be tricky, but there’s no need to worry. You can learn present, future, and past tense verb endings in Spanish quickly and confidently with the Rosetta Stone app. You’ll It’s a flexible program that fits into your life with 10-minute lessons that you can access anywhere, making it easy to practice verb conjugations or learn some of the most popular action verbs in Spanish.
