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Spanish · Verb Tables · Intermediate

Escribir Conjugation

escribir means "to write" in Spanish. Present: yo escribo, tú escribes, usted / él / ella escribe, nosotros / nosotras escribimos, vosotros / vosotras escribís, ellos / ellas / ustedes escriben. Below: all 17 tenses we teach, with examples.

Present Presente

Habitual actions, general truths, and things happening right now; formed by adding the present endings directly to the stem.

Present continuous Presente continuo / Estar + gerundio

Estar in the present plus the gerund (-ando/-iendo); used for an action happening right at this moment, more emphatic than the simple present.

Simple past Pretérito indefinido (perfecto simple)

A completed action at a specific point in the past, seen as finished, with no connection to the present.

Imperfect Pretérito imperfecto

Ongoing or habitual actions in the past, background description, and things that used to happen; the closest Spanish equivalent to English "used to" / "was -ing".

Present perfect Pretérito perfecto compuesto

Haber in the present plus the past participle; a past action connected to the present or in a period that hasn't ended (today, this week), roughly "have done". Used much more than in English in Spain; in much of Latin America the simple past often replaces it.

Pluperfect Pretérito pluscuamperfecto

Haber in the imperfect plus the past participle; an action completed before another past action or moment, "had done".

Near future Futuro próximo (ir a + infinitivo)

Ir (present) + a + infinitive; the everyday way to talk about the future, especially plans and intentions, much more common in speech than the simple future.

Simple future Futuro simple

Endings added to the whole infinitive (not the stem); used for predictions, promises, and formal plans, and also for guesses about the present ("probably is").

Future perfect Futuro compuesto (perfecto)

Haber in the future plus the past participle; something that will have happened by a future point, or a guess about something already completed.

Conditional Condicional simple

Endings added to the whole infinitive (same set for all three classes); used for hypotheticals, polite requests, and "would" statements.

Conditional perfect Condicional compuesto

Haber in the conditional plus the past participle; what would have happened under different circumstances, "would have done".

Present subjunctive Presente de subjuntivo

Built by "swapping" the vowel of the present-indicative ending (-ar verbs take e-endings, -er/-ir verbs take a-endings); used after triggers of wish, doubt, emotion or necessity.

Present perfect subjunctive Pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo

Haber in the present subjunctive plus the past participle; a completed action, seen with doubt, emotion or wish, connected to the present.

Imperfect subjunctive Pretérito imperfecto de subjuntivo

Formed from the "ellos" form of the simple past (drop -ron, add -ra endings, the form taught first). Used for the same triggers as the present subjunctive but referring to the past, and in hypothetical "if" clauses (si hablara...).

Pluperfect subjunctive Pretérito pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo

Haber in the imperfect subjunctive plus the past participle; a hypothetical or wished-for action that would have happened earlier, common in "if I had..." sentences.

Imperative (affirmative) Imperativo afirmativo

Direct commands. The tú form is usually identical to the él/ella present indicative (irregular for several common verbs); usted, nosotros and ustedes forms are borrowed from the present subjunctive; vosotros has its own form (infinitive with -r changed to -d).

Imperative (negative) Imperativo negativo

Negative commands always use the present subjunctive form (for every person, including tú and vosotros), preceded by no.

Examples

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