complicar — Spanish conjugation

to complicate

Frequency#261Irregular

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
yocomplicoI complicate
complicasyou complicate
voscomplicásyou complicate
él/ella/Ud.complicahe/she/it complicates
nosotroscomplicamoswe complicate
vosotroscomplicáisyou (pl.) complicate
ellos/ellas/Uds.complicanthey complicate

Preterite (Pretérito indefinido) Irregular

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
yocompliquéI complicated
complicasteyou complicated
voscomplicasteyou complicated
él/ella/Ud.complicóhe/she/it complicated
nosotroscomplicamoswe complicated
vosotroscomplicasteisyou (pl.) complicated
ellos/ellas/Uds.complicaronthey complicated

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
yocomplicaba
complicabas
voscomplicabas
él/ella/Ud.complicaba
nosotroscomplicábamos
vosotroscomplicabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.complicaban

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
yocomplicaríaI would complicate
complicaríasyou would complicate
voscomplicaríasyou would complicate
él/ella/Ud.complicaríahe/she/it would complicate
nosotroscomplicaríamoswe would complicate
vosotroscomplicaríaisyou (pl.) would complicate
ellos/ellas/Uds.complicaríanthey would complicate

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
yocomplicaréI will complicate
complicarásyou will complicate
voscomplicarásyou will complicate
él/ella/Ud.complicaráhe/she/it will complicate
nosotroscomplicaremoswe will complicate
vosotroscomplicaréisyou (pl.) will complicate
ellos/ellas/Uds.complicaránthey will complicate

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 complicadoI have complicated
has complicadoyou have complicated
voshas complicadoyou have complicated
él/ella/Ud.ha complicadohe/she/it has complicated
nosotroshemos complicadowe have complicated
vosotroshabéis complicadoyou (pl.) have complicated
ellos/ellas/Uds.han complicadothey have complicated

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 complicadoI had complicated
habías complicadoyou had complicated
voshabías complicadoyou had complicated
él/ella/Ud.había complicadohe/she/it had complicated
nosotroshabíamos complicadowe had complicated
vosotroshabíais complicadoyou (pl.) had complicated
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían complicadothey had complicated

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

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 complicadoI will have complicated
habrás complicadoyou will have complicated
voshabrás complicadoyou will have complicated
él/ella/Ud.habrá complicadohe/she/it will have complicated
nosotroshabremos complicadowe will have complicated
vosotroshabréis complicadoyou (pl.) will have complicated
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán complicadothey will have complicated

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
yocomplique
compliques
voscompliques
él/ella/Ud.complique
nosotroscompliquemos
vosotroscompliquéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.compliquen

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
yocomplicara
complicaras
voscomplicaras
él/ella/Ud.complicara
nosotroscomplicáramos
vosotroscomplicarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.complicaran

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
yocomplicase
complicases
voscomplicases
él/ella/Ud.complicase
nosotroscomplicásemos
vosotroscomplicaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.complicasen

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

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

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
complica
voscomplicá
él/ella/Ud.complique
nosotroscompliquemos
vosotroscomplicad
ustedescompliquen

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 compliques
vosno compliques
él/ella/Ud.no complique
nosotrosno compliquemos
vosotrosno compliquéis
ustedesno compliquen

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

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

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

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

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