cifrar — Spanish conjugation

to encode

Frequency#1217Regular

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
yocifroI encode
cifrasyou encode
voscifrásyou encode
él/ella/Ud.cifrahe/she/it encodes
nosotrosciframoswe encode
vosotroscifráisyou (pl.) encode
ellos/ellas/Uds.cifranthey encode

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
yocifréI encoded
cifrasteyou encoded
voscifrasteyou encoded
él/ella/Ud.cifróhe/she/it encoded
nosotrosciframoswe encoded
vosotroscifrasteisyou (pl.) encoded
ellos/ellas/Uds.cifraronthey encoded

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
yocifraba
cifrabas
voscifrabas
él/ella/Ud.cifraba
nosotroscifrábamos
vosotroscifrabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.cifraban

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
yocifraríaI would encode
cifraríasyou would encode
voscifraríasyou would encode
él/ella/Ud.cifraríahe/she/it would encode
nosotroscifraríamoswe would encode
vosotroscifraríaisyou (pl.) would encode
ellos/ellas/Uds.cifraríanthey would encode

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
yocifraréI will encode
cifrarásyou will encode
voscifrarásyou will encode
él/ella/Ud.cifraráhe/she/it will encode
nosotroscifraremoswe will encode
vosotroscifraréisyou (pl.) will encode
ellos/ellas/Uds.cifraránthey will encode

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 cifradoI have encoded
has cifradoyou have encoded
voshas cifradoyou have encoded
él/ella/Ud.ha cifradohe/she/it has encoded
nosotroshemos cifradowe have encoded
vosotroshabéis cifradoyou (pl.) have encoded
ellos/ellas/Uds.han cifradothey have encoded

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 cifradoI had encoded
habías cifradoyou had encoded
voshabías cifradoyou had encoded
él/ella/Ud.había cifradohe/she/it had encoded
nosotroshabíamos cifradowe had encoded
vosotroshabíais cifradoyou (pl.) had encoded
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían cifradothey had encoded

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

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 cifradoI will have encoded
habrás cifradoyou will have encoded
voshabrás cifradoyou will have encoded
él/ella/Ud.habrá cifradohe/she/it will have encoded
nosotroshabremos cifradowe will have encoded
vosotroshabréis cifradoyou (pl.) will have encoded
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán cifradothey will have encoded

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
yocifre
cifres
voscifres
él/ella/Ud.cifre
nosotroscifremos
vosotroscifréis
ellos/ellas/Uds.cifren

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
yocifrara
cifraras
voscifraras
él/ella/Ud.cifrara
nosotroscifráramos
vosotroscifrarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.cifraran

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
yocifrase
cifrases
voscifrases
él/ella/Ud.cifrase
nosotroscifrásemos
vosotroscifraseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.cifrasen

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

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

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
cifra
voscifrá
él/ella/Ud.cifre
nosotroscifremos
vosotroscifrad
ustedescifren

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 cifres
vosno cifres
él/ella/Ud.no cifre
nosotrosno cifremos
vosotrosno cifréis
ustedesno cifren

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

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

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

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

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