alistar — Spanish conjugation

to enlist

Frequency#1116Regular

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
yoalistoI enlist
alistasyou enlist
vosalistásyou enlist
él/ella/Ud.alistahe/she/it enlists
nosotrosalistamoswe enlist
vosotrosalistáisyou (pl.) enlist
ellos/ellas/Uds.alistanthey enlist

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
yoalistéI enlisted
alistasteyou enlisted
vosalistasteyou enlisted
él/ella/Ud.alistóhe/she/it enlisted
nosotrosalistamoswe enlisted
vosotrosalistasteisyou (pl.) enlisted
ellos/ellas/Uds.alistaronthey enlisted

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
yoalistaba
alistabas
vosalistabas
él/ella/Ud.alistaba
nosotrosalistábamos
vosotrosalistabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.alistaban

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
yoalistaríaI would enlist
alistaríasyou would enlist
vosalistaríasyou would enlist
él/ella/Ud.alistaríahe/she/it would enlist
nosotrosalistaríamoswe would enlist
vosotrosalistaríaisyou (pl.) would enlist
ellos/ellas/Uds.alistaríanthey would enlist

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
yoalistaréI will enlist
alistarásyou will enlist
vosalistarásyou will enlist
él/ella/Ud.alistaráhe/she/it will enlist
nosotrosalistaremoswe will enlist
vosotrosalistaréisyou (pl.) will enlist
ellos/ellas/Uds.alistaránthey will enlist

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 alistadoI have enlisted
has alistadoyou have enlisted
voshas alistadoyou have enlisted
él/ella/Ud.ha alistadohe/she/it has enlisted
nosotroshemos alistadowe have enlisted
vosotroshabéis alistadoyou (pl.) have enlisted
ellos/ellas/Uds.han alistadothey have enlisted

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 alistadoI had enlisted
habías alistadoyou had enlisted
voshabías alistadoyou had enlisted
él/ella/Ud.había alistadohe/she/it had enlisted
nosotroshabíamos alistadowe had enlisted
vosotroshabíais alistadoyou (pl.) had enlisted
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían alistadothey had enlisted

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

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 alistadoI will have enlisted
habrás alistadoyou will have enlisted
voshabrás alistadoyou will have enlisted
él/ella/Ud.habrá alistadohe/she/it will have enlisted
nosotroshabremos alistadowe will have enlisted
vosotroshabréis alistadoyou (pl.) will have enlisted
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán alistadothey will have enlisted

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
yoaliste
alistes
vosalistes
él/ella/Ud.aliste
nosotrosalistemos
vosotrosalistéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.alisten

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
yoalistara
alistaras
vosalistaras
él/ella/Ud.alistara
nosotrosalistáramos
vosotrosalistarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.alistaran

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
yoalistase
alistases
vosalistases
él/ella/Ud.alistase
nosotrosalistásemos
vosotrosalistaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.alistasen

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

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

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
alista
vosalistá
él/ella/Ud.aliste
nosotrosalistemos
vosotrosalistad
ustedesalisten

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 alistes
vosno alistes
él/ella/Ud.no aliste
nosotrosno alistemos
vosotrosno alistéis
ustedesno alisten

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

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

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

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

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