atender — Spanish conjugation

to attend (to)

Frequency#190Irregular

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
yoatiendoI attend
atiendesyou attend
vosatendésyou attend
él/ella/Ud.atiendehe/she/it attends
nosotrosatendemoswe attend
vosotrosatendéisyou (pl.) attend
ellos/ellas/Uds.atiendenthey attend

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
yoatendíI attended
atendisteyou attended
vosatendisteyou attended
él/ella/Ud.atendióhe/she/it attended
nosotrosatendimoswe attended
vosotrosatendisteisyou (pl.) attended
ellos/ellas/Uds.atendieronthey attended

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
yoatendía
atendías
vosatendías
él/ella/Ud.atendía
nosotrosatendíamos
vosotrosatendíais
ellos/ellas/Uds.atendían

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
yoatenderíaI would attend
atenderíasyou would attend
vosatenderíasyou would attend
él/ella/Ud.atenderíahe/she/it would attend
nosotrosatenderíamoswe would attend
vosotrosatenderíaisyou (pl.) would attend
ellos/ellas/Uds.atenderíanthey would attend

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
yoatenderéI will attend
atenderásyou will attend
vosatenderásyou will attend
él/ella/Ud.atenderáhe/she/it will attend
nosotrosatenderemoswe will attend
vosotrosatenderéisyou (pl.) will attend
ellos/ellas/Uds.atenderánthey will attend

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 atendidoI have attended
has atendidoyou have attended
voshas atendidoyou have attended
él/ella/Ud.ha atendidohe/she/it has attended
nosotroshemos atendidowe have attended
vosotroshabéis atendidoyou (pl.) have attended
ellos/ellas/Uds.han atendidothey have attended

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 atendidoI had attended
habías atendidoyou had attended
voshabías atendidoyou had attended
él/ella/Ud.había atendidohe/she/it had attended
nosotroshabíamos atendidowe had attended
vosotroshabíais atendidoyou (pl.) had attended
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían atendidothey had attended

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

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 atendidoI will have attended
habrás atendidoyou will have attended
voshabrás atendidoyou will have attended
él/ella/Ud.habrá atendidohe/she/it will have attended
nosotroshabremos atendidowe will have attended
vosotroshabréis atendidoyou (pl.) will have attended
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán atendidothey will have attended

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
yoatienda
atiendas
vosatiendas
él/ella/Ud.atienda
nosotrosatendamos
vosotrosatendáis
ellos/ellas/Uds.atiendan

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
yoatendiera
atendieras
vosatendieras
él/ella/Ud.atendiera
nosotrosatendiéramos
vosotrosatendierais
ellos/ellas/Uds.atendieran

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
yoatendiese
atendieses
vosatendieses
él/ella/Ud.atendiese
nosotrosatendiésemos
vosotrosatendieseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.atendiesen

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

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

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
atiende
vosatendé
él/ella/Ud.atienda
nosotrosatendamos
vosotrosatended
ustedesatiendan

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 atiendas
vosno atiendas
él/ella/Ud.no atienda
nosotrosno atendamos
vosotrosno atendáis
ustedesno atiendan

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

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

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

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

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