abrir — Spanish conjugation

to open

Indicative

Present (Presente) Regular

The present tense is the most versatile tense in Spanish. It covers actions happening right now, habitual actions, and even near-future plans. One form does the work of three English constructions.

Ella habla inglés — She speaks / is speaking English

PronounSpanishEnglish
yoabroI open
abresyou open
vosabrísyou open
él/ella/Ud.abrehe/she/it opens
nosotrosabrimoswe open
vosotrosabrísyou (pl.) open
ellos/ellas/Uds.abrenthey open

Preterite (Pretérito indefinido) Regular

Used for completed past actions with a defined endpoint — a single event, a series of events, or an action that interrupted another. Common with time expressions like ayer, el lunes, una vez.

Ella habló de ti ayer — She spoke about you yesterday

PronounSpanishEnglish
yoabríI opened
abristeyou opened
vosabristeyou opened
él/ella/Ud.abrióhe/she/it opened
nosotrosabrimoswe opened
vosotrosabristeisyou (pl.) opened
ellos/ellas/Uds.abrieronthey opened

Imperfect (Pretérito imperfecto) Regular

Describes ongoing or habitual past states — what things were like, background context, what used to happen. Contrasts with the preterite which marks completed events.

Cuando era niño vivía en Valencia — When I was a child I lived in Valencia

PronounSpanish
yoabría
abrías
vosabrías
él/ella/Ud.abría
nosotrosabríamos
vosotrosabríais
ellos/ellas/Uds.abrían

Conditional (Condicional) Regular

Expresses hypothetical actions, polite requests, and what would happen under certain conditions. Also used for reported speech about the future from a past perspective.

¿Podrías ayudarme? — Could you help me?

PronounSpanishEnglish
yoabriríaI would open
abriríasyou would open
vosabriríasyou would open
él/ella/Ud.abriríahe/she/it would open
nosotrosabriríamoswe would open
vosotrosabriríaisyou (pl.) would open
ellos/ellas/Uds.abriríanthey would open

Future (Futuro) Regular

Expresses future actions, predictions, and probability about the present. Formed with the full infinitive as stem for most verbs. In spoken Spanish, ir a + infinitive is often preferred for near future.

Ella hablará en conferencia mañana — She will speak at the conference tomorrow

PronounSpanishEnglish
yoabriréI will open
abrirásyou will open
vosabrirásyou will open
él/ella/Ud.abriráhe/she/it will open
nosotrosabriremoswe will open
vosotrosabriréisyou (pl.) will open
ellos/ellas/Uds.abriránthey will open

Present perfect (Pretérito perfecto) Regular

A compound past tense linking a past action to the present moment — something that has happened and still feels recent or relevant. More common in Spain than Latin America where preterite is preferred.

Hoy he hablado con el jefe — Today I have spoken with the boss

PronounSpanishEnglish
yohe abiertoI have opened
has abiertoyou have opened
voshas abiertoyou have opened
él/ella/Ud.ha abiertohe/she/it has opened
nosotroshemos abiertowe have opened
vosotroshabéis abiertoyou (pl.) have opened
ellos/ellas/Uds.han abiertothey have opened

Pluperfect (Pretérito pluscuamperfecto) Regular

The past of the past — describes an action that was already completed before another past event happened. Always implies a reference point in the past.

Ya había hablado cuando llegaste — She had already spoken when you arrived

PronounSpanishEnglish
yohabía abiertoI had opened
habías abiertoyou had opened
voshabías abiertoyou had opened
él/ella/Ud.había abiertohe/she/it had opened
nosotroshabíamos abiertowe had opened
vosotroshabíais abiertoyou (pl.) had opened
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían abiertothey had opened

Conditional perfect (Condicional perfecto) Regular

Expresses what would have happened — actions that were possible but did not occur, or regrets about the past. Formed with conditional of haber + past participle.

Habría hablado, pero no me dejaron — I would have spoken, but they did not let me

PronounSpanish
yohabría abierto
habrías abierto
voshabrías abierto
él/ella/Ud.habría abierto
nosotroshabríamos abierto
vosotroshabríais abierto
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrían abierto

Future perfect (Futuro perfecto) Regular

Describes an action that will have been completed by a certain point in the future, or expresses probability about a recent past action.

Para el lunes habré terminado — By Monday I will have finished

PronounSpanishEnglish
yohabré abiertoI will have opened
habrás abiertoyou will have opened
voshabrás abiertoyou will have opened
él/ella/Ud.habrá abiertohe/she/it will have opened
nosotroshabremos abiertowe will have opened
vosotroshabréis abiertoyou (pl.) will have opened
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán abiertothey will have opened

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjuntivo presente) Regular

Used in subordinate clauses after expressions of desire, doubt, emotion, necessity, or impersonal statements. Triggered by a change of subject between the main and subordinate clause.

Espero que hable — I hope she speaks

PronounSpanish
yoabra
abras
vosabras
él/ella/Ud.abra
nosotrosabramos
vosotrosabráis
ellos/ellas/Uds.abran

Imperfect subjunctive (-ra) (Subjuntivo imperfecto (-ra)) Regular

The past subjunctive used after past main verbs, in if-clauses with conditional, and for polite softening. The -ra form is more common in everyday speech than the -se form.

Si pudiera, lo haría — If I could, I would do it

PronounSpanish
yoabriera
abrieras
vosabrieras
él/ella/Ud.abriera
nosotrosabriéramos
vosotrosabrierais
ellos/ellas/Uds.abrieran

Imperfect subjunctive (-se) (Subjuntivo imperfecto (-se)) Regular

The alternative past subjunctive form. Interchangeable with -ra in most contexts but slightly more literary or formal. Both forms are grammatically correct in all regions.

Si pudiese, lo haría — If I could, I would do it

PronounSpanish
yoabriese
abrieses
vosabrieses
él/ella/Ud.abriese
nosotrosabriésemos
vosotrosabrieseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.abriesen

Perfect subjunctive (Pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo) Regular

A compound subjunctive that expresses completed actions in a subjunctive context — used after present or future main verbs expressing doubt, emotion or desire.

Dudo que ya haya llegado — I doubt she has already arrived

PronounSpanish
yohaya abierto
hayas abierto
voshayas abierto
él/ella/Ud.haya abierto
nosotroshayamos abierto
vosotroshayáis abierto
ellos/ellas/Uds.hayan abierto

Pluperfect subjunctive (Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo) Regular

Expresses what had happened in hypothetical or unreal past contexts — the subjunctive equivalent of the pluperfect. Common in contrary-to-fact past conditions.

Si hubiera hablado, lo habrían creído — If she had spoken, they would have believed her

PronounSpanish
yohubiera abierto
hubieras abierto
voshubieras abierto
él/ella/Ud.hubiera abierto
nosotroshubiéramos abierto
vosotroshubierais abierto
ellos/ellas/Uds.hubieran abierto

Other forms

Imperative (affirmative) (Imperativo afirmativo) Regular

Direct commands and instructions. The imperative only exists for tú, usted, nosotros, vosotros and ustedes — yo has no command form. Affirmative and negative forms use different conjugations.

Habla más despacio — Speak more slowly

PronounSpanish
abre
vosabrí
él/ella/Ud.abra
nosotrosabramos
vosotrosabrid
ustedesabran

Imperative (negative) (Imperativo negativo) Regular

Negative commands use the subjunctive forms for all persons. Formed with no + present subjunctive. This applies to all persons including tú where the affirmative uses a different form.

No hables tan rápido — Do not speak so fast

PronounSpanish
no abras
vosno abras
él/ella/Ud.no abra
nosotrosno abramos
vosotrosno abráis
ustedesno abran

Present progressive (Presente progresivo) Regular

Emphasises that an action is happening right now at this very moment. Less common than in English since the present tense already covers ongoing actions in Spanish.

Estoy hablando contigo — I am speaking with you

PronounSpanish
yoestoy abriendo
estás abriendo
vosestás abriendo
él/ella/Ud.está abriendo
nosotrosestamos abriendo
vosotrosestáis abriendo
ellos/ellas/Uds.están abriendo

Preterite progressive (Pretérito indefinido progresivo) Regular

Describes an action that was in progress throughout a completed past period. Uses the preterite of estar + gerund to emphasise the ongoing nature within a defined timeframe.

Estuvo hablando toda la tarde — He was talking all afternoon

PronounSpanish
yoestuve abriendo
estuviste abriendo
vosestuviste abriendo
él/ella/Ud.estuvo abriendo
nosotrosestuvimos abriendo
vosotrosestuvisteis abriendo
ellos/ellas/Uds.estuvieron abriendo

Imperfect progressive (Pretérito imperfecto progresivo) Regular

Emphasises an ongoing background action using the imperfect of estar + gerund. Layered on top of the imperfect which already conveys continuity — used for extra emphasis on the progressive nature.

Estaba hablando cuando entró — I was speaking when he came in

PronounSpanish
yoestaba abriendo
estabas abriendo
vosestabas abriendo
él/ella/Ud.estaba abriendo
nosotrosestábamos abriendo
vosotrosestabais abriendo
ellos/ellas/Uds.estaban abriendo

Conditional progressive (Condicional progresivo) Regular

Expresses what would be in progress under hypothetical conditions. Uses the conditional of estar + gerund. Less common but used for emphasis on the ongoing nature of a hypothetical action.

Estaría hablando ahora si pudiera — I would be speaking now if I could

PronounSpanish
yoestaría abriendo
estarías abriendo
vosestarías abriendo
él/ella/Ud.estaría abriendo
nosotrosestaríamos abriendo
vosotrosestaríais abriendo
ellos/ellas/Uds.estarían abriendo

Future progressive (Futuro progresivo) Regular

Describes an action that will be in progress at a future point, or expresses probability about an ongoing present action. Uses the future of estar + gerund.

Mañana a esta hora estaré viajando — At this time tomorrow I will be travelling

PronounSpanish
yoestaré abriendo
estarás abriendo
vosestarás abriendo
él/ella/Ud.estará abriendo
nosotrosestaremos abriendo
vosotrosestaréis abriendo
ellos/ellas/Uds.estarán abriendo