comportar — Spanish conjugation

to behave

Frequency#591RegularReflexivecomportarse — to behave

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
yocomportoI behave
comportasyou behave
voscomportásyou behave
él/ella/Ud.comportahe/she/it behaves
nosotroscomportamoswe behave
vosotroscomportáisyou (pl.) behave
ellos/ellas/Uds.comportanthey behave

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
yocomportéI behaved
comportasteyou behaved
voscomportasteyou behaved
él/ella/Ud.comportóhe/she/it behaved
nosotroscomportamoswe behaved
vosotroscomportasteisyou (pl.) behaved
ellos/ellas/Uds.comportaronthey behaved

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
yocomportaba
comportabas
voscomportabas
él/ella/Ud.comportaba
nosotroscomportábamos
vosotroscomportabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.comportaban

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
yocomportaríaI would behave
comportaríasyou would behave
voscomportaríasyou would behave
él/ella/Ud.comportaríahe/she/it would behave
nosotroscomportaríamoswe would behave
vosotroscomportaríaisyou (pl.) would behave
ellos/ellas/Uds.comportaríanthey would behave

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
yocomportaréI will behave
comportarásyou will behave
voscomportarásyou will behave
él/ella/Ud.comportaráhe/she/it will behave
nosotroscomportaremoswe will behave
vosotroscomportaréisyou (pl.) will behave
ellos/ellas/Uds.comportaránthey will behave

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 comportadoI have behaved
has comportadoyou have behaved
voshas comportadoyou have behaved
él/ella/Ud.ha comportadohe/she/it has behaved
nosotroshemos comportadowe have behaved
vosotroshabéis comportadoyou (pl.) have behaved
ellos/ellas/Uds.han comportadothey have behaved

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 comportadoI had behaved
habías comportadoyou had behaved
voshabías comportadoyou had behaved
él/ella/Ud.había comportadohe/she/it had behaved
nosotroshabíamos comportadowe had behaved
vosotroshabíais comportadoyou (pl.) had behaved
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían comportadothey had behaved

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

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 comportadoI will have behaved
habrás comportadoyou will have behaved
voshabrás comportadoyou will have behaved
él/ella/Ud.habrá comportadohe/she/it will have behaved
nosotroshabremos comportadowe will have behaved
vosotroshabréis comportadoyou (pl.) will have behaved
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán comportadothey will have behaved

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
yocomporte
comportes
voscomportes
él/ella/Ud.comporte
nosotroscomportemos
vosotroscomportéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.comporten

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
yocomportara
comportaras
voscomportaras
él/ella/Ud.comportara
nosotroscomportáramos
vosotroscomportarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.comportaran

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
yocomportase
comportases
voscomportases
él/ella/Ud.comportase
nosotroscomportásemos
vosotroscomportaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.comportasen

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

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

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
comporta
voscomportá
él/ella/Ud.comporte
nosotroscomportemos
vosotroscomportad
ustedescomporten

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 comportes
vosno comportes
él/ella/Ud.no comporte
nosotrosno comportemos
vosotrosno comportéis
ustedesno comporten

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

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

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

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

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