circunscribir — Spanish conjugation

to circumscribe

Frequency#61Regular

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
yocircunscriboI circumscribe
circunscribesyou circumscribe
voscircunscribísyou circumscribe
él/ella/Ud.circunscribehe/she/it circumscribes
nosotroscircunscribimoswe circumscribe
vosotroscircunscribísyou (pl.) circumscribe
ellos/ellas/Uds.circunscribenthey circumscribe

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
yocircunscribíI circumscribed
circunscribisteyou circumscribed
voscircunscribisteyou circumscribed
él/ella/Ud.circunscribióhe/she/it circumscribed
nosotroscircunscribimoswe circumscribed
vosotroscircunscribisteisyou (pl.) circumscribed
ellos/ellas/Uds.circunscribieronthey circumscribed

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
yocircunscribía
circunscribías
voscircunscribías
él/ella/Ud.circunscribía
nosotroscircunscribíamos
vosotroscircunscribíais
ellos/ellas/Uds.circunscribían

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
yocircunscribiríaI would circumscribe
circunscribiríasyou would circumscribe
voscircunscribiríasyou would circumscribe
él/ella/Ud.circunscribiríahe/she/it would circumscribe
nosotroscircunscribiríamoswe would circumscribe
vosotroscircunscribiríaisyou (pl.) would circumscribe
ellos/ellas/Uds.circunscribiríanthey would circumscribe

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
yocircunscribiréI will circumscribe
circunscribirásyou will circumscribe
voscircunscribirásyou will circumscribe
él/ella/Ud.circunscribiráhe/she/it will circumscribe
nosotroscircunscribiremoswe will circumscribe
vosotroscircunscribiréisyou (pl.) will circumscribe
ellos/ellas/Uds.circunscribiránthey will circumscribe

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 circunscritoI have circumscribed
has circunscritoyou have circumscribed
voshas circunscritoyou have circumscribed
él/ella/Ud.ha circunscritohe/she/it has circumscribed
nosotroshemos circunscritowe have circumscribed
vosotroshabéis circunscritoyou (pl.) have circumscribed
ellos/ellas/Uds.han circunscritothey have circumscribed

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 circunscritoI had circumscribed
habías circunscritoyou had circumscribed
voshabías circunscritoyou had circumscribed
él/ella/Ud.había circunscritohe/she/it had circumscribed
nosotroshabíamos circunscritowe had circumscribed
vosotroshabíais circunscritoyou (pl.) had circumscribed
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían circunscritothey had circumscribed

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

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 circunscritoI will have circumscribed
habrás circunscritoyou will have circumscribed
voshabrás circunscritoyou will have circumscribed
él/ella/Ud.habrá circunscritohe/she/it will have circumscribed
nosotroshabremos circunscritowe will have circumscribed
vosotroshabréis circunscritoyou (pl.) will have circumscribed
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán circunscritothey will have circumscribed

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
yocircunscriba
circunscribas
voscircunscribas
él/ella/Ud.circunscriba
nosotroscircunscribamos
vosotroscircunscribáis
ellos/ellas/Uds.circunscriban

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
yocircunscribiera
circunscribieras
voscircunscribieras
él/ella/Ud.circunscribiera
nosotroscircunscribiéramos
vosotroscircunscribierais
ellos/ellas/Uds.circunscribieran

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
yocircunscribiese
circunscribieses
voscircunscribieses
él/ella/Ud.circunscribiese
nosotroscircunscribiésemos
vosotroscircunscribieseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.circunscribiesen

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

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

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
circunscribe
voscircunscribí
él/ella/Ud.circunscriba
nosotroscircunscribamos
vosotroscircunscribid
ustedescircunscriban

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 circunscribas
vosno circunscribas
él/ella/Ud.no circunscriba
nosotrosno circunscribamos
vosotrosno circunscribáis
ustedesno circunscriban

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

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

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

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

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