cansar — Spanish conjugation

to tire

Frequency#272RegularReflexivecansarse — to get tired (oneself)

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
yocansoI tire
cansasyou tire
voscansásyou tire
él/ella/Ud.cansahe/she/it tires
nosotroscansamoswe tire
vosotroscansáisyou (pl.) tire
ellos/ellas/Uds.cansanthey tire

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
yocanséI tired
cansasteyou tired
voscansasteyou tired
él/ella/Ud.cansóhe/she/it tired
nosotroscansamoswe tired
vosotroscansasteisyou (pl.) tired
ellos/ellas/Uds.cansaronthey tired

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
yocansaba
cansabas
voscansabas
él/ella/Ud.cansaba
nosotroscansábamos
vosotroscansabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.cansaban

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
yocansaríaI would tire
cansaríasyou would tire
voscansaríasyou would tire
él/ella/Ud.cansaríahe/she/it would tire
nosotroscansaríamoswe would tire
vosotroscansaríaisyou (pl.) would tire
ellos/ellas/Uds.cansaríanthey would tire

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
yocansaréI will tire
cansarásyou will tire
voscansarásyou will tire
él/ella/Ud.cansaráhe/she/it will tire
nosotroscansaremoswe will tire
vosotroscansaréisyou (pl.) will tire
ellos/ellas/Uds.cansaránthey will tire

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 cansadoI have tired
has cansadoyou have tired
voshas cansadoyou have tired
él/ella/Ud.ha cansadohe/she/it has tired
nosotroshemos cansadowe have tired
vosotroshabéis cansadoyou (pl.) have tired
ellos/ellas/Uds.han cansadothey have tired

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 cansadoI had tired
habías cansadoyou had tired
voshabías cansadoyou had tired
él/ella/Ud.había cansadohe/she/it had tired
nosotroshabíamos cansadowe had tired
vosotroshabíais cansadoyou (pl.) had tired
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían cansadothey had tired

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

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 cansadoI will have tired
habrás cansadoyou will have tired
voshabrás cansadoyou will have tired
él/ella/Ud.habrá cansadohe/she/it will have tired
nosotroshabremos cansadowe will have tired
vosotroshabréis cansadoyou (pl.) will have tired
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán cansadothey will have tired

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
yocanse
canses
voscanses
él/ella/Ud.canse
nosotroscansemos
vosotroscanséis
ellos/ellas/Uds.cansen

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
yocansara
cansaras
voscansaras
él/ella/Ud.cansara
nosotroscansáramos
vosotroscansarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.cansaran

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
yocansase
cansases
voscansases
él/ella/Ud.cansase
nosotroscansásemos
vosotroscansaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.cansasen

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

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

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
cansa
voscansá
él/ella/Ud.canse
nosotroscansemos
vosotroscansad
ustedescansen

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 canses
vosno canses
él/ella/Ud.no canse
nosotrosno cansemos
vosotrosno canséis
ustedesno cansen

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

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

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

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

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