atentar — Spanish conjugation

to attempt

Frequency#826Regular

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
yoatentoI attempt
atentasyou attempt
vosatentásyou attempt
él/ella/Ud.atentahe/she/it attempts
nosotrosatentamoswe attempt
vosotrosatentáisyou (pl.) attempt
ellos/ellas/Uds.atentanthey attempt

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
yoatentéI attempted
atentasteyou attempted
vosatentasteyou attempted
él/ella/Ud.atentóhe/she/it attempted
nosotrosatentamoswe attempted
vosotrosatentasteisyou (pl.) attempted
ellos/ellas/Uds.atentaronthey attempted

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
yoatentaba
atentabas
vosatentabas
él/ella/Ud.atentaba
nosotrosatentábamos
vosotrosatentabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.atentaban

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
yoatentaríaI would attempt
atentaríasyou would attempt
vosatentaríasyou would attempt
él/ella/Ud.atentaríahe/she/it would attempt
nosotrosatentaríamoswe would attempt
vosotrosatentaríaisyou (pl.) would attempt
ellos/ellas/Uds.atentaríanthey would attempt

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
yoatentaréI will attempt
atentarásyou will attempt
vosatentarásyou will attempt
él/ella/Ud.atentaráhe/she/it will attempt
nosotrosatentaremoswe will attempt
vosotrosatentaréisyou (pl.) will attempt
ellos/ellas/Uds.atentaránthey will attempt

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 atentadoI have attempted
has atentadoyou have attempted
voshas atentadoyou have attempted
él/ella/Ud.ha atentadohe/she/it has attempted
nosotroshemos atentadowe have attempted
vosotroshabéis atentadoyou (pl.) have attempted
ellos/ellas/Uds.han atentadothey have attempted

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 atentadoI had attempted
habías atentadoyou had attempted
voshabías atentadoyou had attempted
él/ella/Ud.había atentadohe/she/it had attempted
nosotroshabíamos atentadowe had attempted
vosotroshabíais atentadoyou (pl.) had attempted
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían atentadothey had attempted

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

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 atentadoI will have attempted
habrás atentadoyou will have attempted
voshabrás atentadoyou will have attempted
él/ella/Ud.habrá atentadohe/she/it will have attempted
nosotroshabremos atentadowe will have attempted
vosotroshabréis atentadoyou (pl.) will have attempted
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán atentadothey will have attempted

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
yoatente
atentes
vosatentes
él/ella/Ud.atente
nosotrosatentemos
vosotrosatentéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.atenten

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
yoatentara
atentaras
vosatentaras
él/ella/Ud.atentara
nosotrosatentáramos
vosotrosatentarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.atentaran

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
yoatentase
atentases
vosatentases
él/ella/Ud.atentase
nosotrosatentásemos
vosotrosatentaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.atentasen

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

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

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
atenta
vosatentá
él/ella/Ud.atente
nosotrosatentemos
vosotrosatentad
ustedesatenten

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 atentes
vosno atentes
él/ella/Ud.no atente
nosotrosno atentemos
vosotrosno atentéis
ustedesno atenten

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

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

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

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

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