adquirir — Spanish conjugation

to acquire

Frequency#495Irregular

Indicative

Present (Presente) Irregular

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
yoadquieroI acquire
adquieresyou acquire
vosadquirísyou acquire
él/ella/Ud.adquierehe/she/it acquires
nosotrosadquirimoswe acquire
vosotrosadquirísyou (pl.) acquire
ellos/ellas/Uds.adquierenthey acquire

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
yoadquiríI acquired
adquiristeyou acquired
vosadquiristeyou acquired
él/ella/Ud.adquirióhe/she/it acquired
nosotrosadquirimoswe acquired
vosotrosadquiristeisyou (pl.) acquired
ellos/ellas/Uds.adquirieronthey acquired

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
yoadquiría
adquirías
vosadquirías
él/ella/Ud.adquiría
nosotrosadquiríamos
vosotrosadquiríais
ellos/ellas/Uds.adquirían

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
yoadquiriríaI would acquire
adquiriríasyou would acquire
vosadquiriríasyou would acquire
él/ella/Ud.adquiriríahe/she/it would acquire
nosotrosadquiriríamoswe would acquire
vosotrosadquiriríaisyou (pl.) would acquire
ellos/ellas/Uds.adquiriríanthey would acquire

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
yoadquiriréI will acquire
adquirirásyou will acquire
vosadquirirásyou will acquire
él/ella/Ud.adquiriráhe/she/it will acquire
nosotrosadquiriremoswe will acquire
vosotrosadquiriréisyou (pl.) will acquire
ellos/ellas/Uds.adquiriránthey will acquire

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 adquiridoI have acquired
has adquiridoyou have acquired
voshas adquiridoyou have acquired
él/ella/Ud.ha adquiridohe/she/it has acquired
nosotroshemos adquiridowe have acquired
vosotroshabéis adquiridoyou (pl.) have acquired
ellos/ellas/Uds.han adquiridothey have acquired

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 adquiridoI had acquired
habías adquiridoyou had acquired
voshabías adquiridoyou had acquired
él/ella/Ud.había adquiridohe/she/it had acquired
nosotroshabíamos adquiridowe had acquired
vosotroshabíais adquiridoyou (pl.) had acquired
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían adquiridothey had acquired

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

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 adquiridoI will have acquired
habrás adquiridoyou will have acquired
voshabrás adquiridoyou will have acquired
él/ella/Ud.habrá adquiridohe/she/it will have acquired
nosotroshabremos adquiridowe will have acquired
vosotroshabréis adquiridoyou (pl.) will have acquired
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán adquiridothey will have acquired

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjuntivo presente) Irregular

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
yoadquiera
adquieras
vosadquieras
él/ella/Ud.adquiera
nosotrosadquiramos
vosotrosadquiráis
ellos/ellas/Uds.adquieran

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
yoadquiriera
adquirieras
vosadquirieras
él/ella/Ud.adquiriera
nosotrosadquiriéramos
vosotrosadquirierais
ellos/ellas/Uds.adquirieran

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
yoadquiriese
adquirieses
vosadquirieses
él/ella/Ud.adquiriese
nosotrosadquiriésemos
vosotrosadquirieseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.adquiriesen

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

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

Other forms

Imperative (affirmative) (Imperativo afirmativo) Irregular

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
adquiere
vosadquirí
él/ella/Ud.adquiera
nosotrosadquiramos
vosotrosadquirid
ustedesadquieran

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 adquieras
vosno adquieras
él/ella/Ud.no adquiera
nosotrosno adquiramos
vosotrosno adquiráis
ustedesno adquieran

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

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

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

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

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