acumular — Spanish conjugation

to accumulate (to heap up in a mass)

Frequency#157Regular

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
yoacumuloI accumulate
acumulasyou accumulate
vosacumulásyou accumulate
él/ella/Ud.acumulahe/she/it accumulates
nosotrosacumulamoswe accumulate
vosotrosacumuláisyou (pl.) accumulate
ellos/ellas/Uds.acumulanthey accumulate

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
yoacumuléI accumulated
acumulasteyou accumulated
vosacumulasteyou accumulated
él/ella/Ud.acumulóhe/she/it accumulated
nosotrosacumulamoswe accumulated
vosotrosacumulasteisyou (pl.) accumulated
ellos/ellas/Uds.acumularonthey accumulated

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
yoacumulaba
acumulabas
vosacumulabas
él/ella/Ud.acumulaba
nosotrosacumulábamos
vosotrosacumulabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.acumulaban

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
yoacumularíaI would accumulate
acumularíasyou would accumulate
vosacumularíasyou would accumulate
él/ella/Ud.acumularíahe/she/it would accumulate
nosotrosacumularíamoswe would accumulate
vosotrosacumularíaisyou (pl.) would accumulate
ellos/ellas/Uds.acumularíanthey would accumulate

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
yoacumularéI will accumulate
acumularásyou will accumulate
vosacumularásyou will accumulate
él/ella/Ud.acumularáhe/she/it will accumulate
nosotrosacumularemoswe will accumulate
vosotrosacumularéisyou (pl.) will accumulate
ellos/ellas/Uds.acumularánthey will accumulate

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 acumuladoI have accumulated
has acumuladoyou have accumulated
voshas acumuladoyou have accumulated
él/ella/Ud.ha acumuladohe/she/it has accumulated
nosotroshemos acumuladowe have accumulated
vosotroshabéis acumuladoyou (pl.) have accumulated
ellos/ellas/Uds.han acumuladothey have accumulated

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 acumuladoI had accumulated
habías acumuladoyou had accumulated
voshabías acumuladoyou had accumulated
él/ella/Ud.había acumuladohe/she/it had accumulated
nosotroshabíamos acumuladowe had accumulated
vosotroshabíais acumuladoyou (pl.) had accumulated
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían acumuladothey had accumulated

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 acumulado
habrías acumulado
voshabrías acumulado
él/ella/Ud.habría acumulado
nosotroshabríamos acumulado
vosotroshabríais acumulado
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrían acumulado

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 acumuladoI will have accumulated
habrás acumuladoyou will have accumulated
voshabrás acumuladoyou will have accumulated
él/ella/Ud.habrá acumuladohe/she/it will have accumulated
nosotroshabremos acumuladowe will have accumulated
vosotroshabréis acumuladoyou (pl.) will have accumulated
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán acumuladothey will have accumulated

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
yoacumule
acumules
vosacumules
él/ella/Ud.acumule
nosotrosacumulemos
vosotrosacumuléis
ellos/ellas/Uds.acumulen

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
yoacumulara
acumularas
vosacumularas
él/ella/Ud.acumulara
nosotrosacumuláramos
vosotrosacumularais
ellos/ellas/Uds.acumularan

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
yoacumulase
acumulases
vosacumulases
él/ella/Ud.acumulase
nosotrosacumulásemos
vosotrosacumulaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.acumulasen

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 acumulado
hayas acumulado
voshayas acumulado
él/ella/Ud.haya acumulado
nosotroshayamos acumulado
vosotroshayáis acumulado
ellos/ellas/Uds.hayan acumulado

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 acumulado
hubieras acumulado
voshubieras acumulado
él/ella/Ud.hubiera acumulado
nosotroshubiéramos acumulado
vosotroshubierais acumulado
ellos/ellas/Uds.hubieran acumulado

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
acumula
vosacumulá
él/ella/Ud.acumule
nosotrosacumulemos
vosotrosacumulad
ustedesacumulen

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 acumules
vosno acumules
él/ella/Ud.no acumule
nosotrosno acumulemos
vosotrosno acumuléis
ustedesno acumulen

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 acumulando
estás acumulando
vosestás acumulando
él/ella/Ud.está acumulando
nosotrosestamos acumulando
vosotrosestáis acumulando
ellos/ellas/Uds.están acumulando

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 acumulando
estuviste acumulando
vosestuviste acumulando
él/ella/Ud.estuvo acumulando
nosotrosestuvimos acumulando
vosotrosestuvisteis acumulando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estuvieron acumulando

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 acumulando
estabas acumulando
vosestabas acumulando
él/ella/Ud.estaba acumulando
nosotrosestábamos acumulando
vosotrosestabais acumulando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estaban acumulando

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 acumulando
estarías acumulando
vosestarías acumulando
él/ella/Ud.estaría acumulando
nosotrosestaríamos acumulando
vosotrosestaríais acumulando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estarían acumulando

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 acumulando
estarás acumulando
vosestarás acumulando
él/ella/Ud.estará acumulando
nosotrosestaremos acumulando
vosotrosestaréis acumulando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estarán acumulando