alumbrar — Spanish conjugation

to illuminate

Frequency#668Regular

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
yoalumbroI illuminate
alumbrasyou illuminate
vosalumbrásyou illuminate
él/ella/Ud.alumbrahe/she/it illuminates
nosotrosalumbramoswe illuminate
vosotrosalumbráisyou (pl.) illuminate
ellos/ellas/Uds.alumbranthey illuminate

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
yoalumbréI illuminated
alumbrasteyou illuminated
vosalumbrasteyou illuminated
él/ella/Ud.alumbróhe/she/it illuminated
nosotrosalumbramoswe illuminated
vosotrosalumbrasteisyou (pl.) illuminated
ellos/ellas/Uds.alumbraronthey illuminated

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
yoalumbraba
alumbrabas
vosalumbrabas
él/ella/Ud.alumbraba
nosotrosalumbrábamos
vosotrosalumbrabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.alumbraban

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
yoalumbraríaI would illuminate
alumbraríasyou would illuminate
vosalumbraríasyou would illuminate
él/ella/Ud.alumbraríahe/she/it would illuminate
nosotrosalumbraríamoswe would illuminate
vosotrosalumbraríaisyou (pl.) would illuminate
ellos/ellas/Uds.alumbraríanthey would illuminate

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
yoalumbraréI will illuminate
alumbrarásyou will illuminate
vosalumbrarásyou will illuminate
él/ella/Ud.alumbraráhe/she/it will illuminate
nosotrosalumbraremoswe will illuminate
vosotrosalumbraréisyou (pl.) will illuminate
ellos/ellas/Uds.alumbraránthey will illuminate

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 alumbradoI have illuminated
has alumbradoyou have illuminated
voshas alumbradoyou have illuminated
él/ella/Ud.ha alumbradohe/she/it has illuminated
nosotroshemos alumbradowe have illuminated
vosotroshabéis alumbradoyou (pl.) have illuminated
ellos/ellas/Uds.han alumbradothey have illuminated

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 alumbradoI had illuminated
habías alumbradoyou had illuminated
voshabías alumbradoyou had illuminated
él/ella/Ud.había alumbradohe/she/it had illuminated
nosotroshabíamos alumbradowe had illuminated
vosotroshabíais alumbradoyou (pl.) had illuminated
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían alumbradothey had illuminated

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

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 alumbradoI will have illuminated
habrás alumbradoyou will have illuminated
voshabrás alumbradoyou will have illuminated
él/ella/Ud.habrá alumbradohe/she/it will have illuminated
nosotroshabremos alumbradowe will have illuminated
vosotroshabréis alumbradoyou (pl.) will have illuminated
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán alumbradothey will have illuminated

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
yoalumbre
alumbres
vosalumbres
él/ella/Ud.alumbre
nosotrosalumbremos
vosotrosalumbréis
ellos/ellas/Uds.alumbren

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
yoalumbrara
alumbraras
vosalumbraras
él/ella/Ud.alumbrara
nosotrosalumbráramos
vosotrosalumbrarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.alumbraran

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
yoalumbrase
alumbrases
vosalumbrases
él/ella/Ud.alumbrase
nosotrosalumbrásemos
vosotrosalumbraseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.alumbrasen

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

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

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
alumbra
vosalumbrá
él/ella/Ud.alumbre
nosotrosalumbremos
vosotrosalumbrad
ustedesalumbren

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 alumbres
vosno alumbres
él/ella/Ud.no alumbre
nosotrosno alumbremos
vosotrosno alumbréis
ustedesno alumbren

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

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

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

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

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