adoptar — Spanish conjugation

to adopt

Frequency#97Regular

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
yoadoptoI adopt
adoptasyou adopt
vosadoptásyou adopt
él/ella/Ud.adoptahe/she/it adopts
nosotrosadoptamoswe adopt
vosotrosadoptáisyou (pl.) adopt
ellos/ellas/Uds.adoptanthey adopt

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
yoadoptéI adopted
adoptasteyou adopted
vosadoptasteyou adopted
él/ella/Ud.adoptóhe/she/it adopted
nosotrosadoptamoswe adopted
vosotrosadoptasteisyou (pl.) adopted
ellos/ellas/Uds.adoptaronthey adopted

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
yoadoptaba
adoptabas
vosadoptabas
él/ella/Ud.adoptaba
nosotrosadoptábamos
vosotrosadoptabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.adoptaban

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
yoadoptaríaI would adopt
adoptaríasyou would adopt
vosadoptaríasyou would adopt
él/ella/Ud.adoptaríahe/she/it would adopt
nosotrosadoptaríamoswe would adopt
vosotrosadoptaríaisyou (pl.) would adopt
ellos/ellas/Uds.adoptaríanthey would adopt

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
yoadoptaréI will adopt
adoptarásyou will adopt
vosadoptarásyou will adopt
él/ella/Ud.adoptaráhe/she/it will adopt
nosotrosadoptaremoswe will adopt
vosotrosadoptaréisyou (pl.) will adopt
ellos/ellas/Uds.adoptaránthey will adopt

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 adoptadoI have adopted
has adoptadoyou have adopted
voshas adoptadoyou have adopted
él/ella/Ud.ha adoptadohe/she/it has adopted
nosotroshemos adoptadowe have adopted
vosotroshabéis adoptadoyou (pl.) have adopted
ellos/ellas/Uds.han adoptadothey have adopted

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 adoptadoI had adopted
habías adoptadoyou had adopted
voshabías adoptadoyou had adopted
él/ella/Ud.había adoptadohe/she/it had adopted
nosotroshabíamos adoptadowe had adopted
vosotroshabíais adoptadoyou (pl.) had adopted
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían adoptadothey had adopted

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

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 adoptadoI will have adopted
habrás adoptadoyou will have adopted
voshabrás adoptadoyou will have adopted
él/ella/Ud.habrá adoptadohe/she/it will have adopted
nosotroshabremos adoptadowe will have adopted
vosotroshabréis adoptadoyou (pl.) will have adopted
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán adoptadothey will have adopted

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
yoadopte
adoptes
vosadoptes
él/ella/Ud.adopte
nosotrosadoptemos
vosotrosadoptéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.adopten

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
yoadoptara
adoptaras
vosadoptaras
él/ella/Ud.adoptara
nosotrosadoptáramos
vosotrosadoptarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.adoptaran

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
yoadoptase
adoptases
vosadoptases
él/ella/Ud.adoptase
nosotrosadoptásemos
vosotrosadoptaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.adoptasen

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

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

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
adopta
vosadoptá
él/ella/Ud.adopte
nosotrosadoptemos
vosotrosadoptad
ustedesadopten

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 adoptes
vosno adoptes
él/ella/Ud.no adopte
nosotrosno adoptemos
vosotrosno adoptéis
ustedesno adopten

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

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

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

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

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