comunicar — Spanish conjugation

to communicate

Frequency#189Irregular

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
yocomunicoI communicate
comunicasyou communicate
voscomunicásyou communicate
él/ella/Ud.comunicahe/she/it communicates
nosotroscomunicamoswe communicate
vosotroscomunicáisyou (pl.) communicate
ellos/ellas/Uds.comunicanthey communicate

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
yocomuniquéI communicated
comunicasteyou communicated
voscomunicasteyou communicated
él/ella/Ud.comunicóhe/she/it communicated
nosotroscomunicamoswe communicated
vosotroscomunicasteisyou (pl.) communicated
ellos/ellas/Uds.comunicaronthey communicated

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
yocomunicaba
comunicabas
voscomunicabas
él/ella/Ud.comunicaba
nosotroscomunicábamos
vosotroscomunicabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.comunicaban

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
yocomunicaríaI would communicate
comunicaríasyou would communicate
voscomunicaríasyou would communicate
él/ella/Ud.comunicaríahe/she/it would communicate
nosotroscomunicaríamoswe would communicate
vosotroscomunicaríaisyou (pl.) would communicate
ellos/ellas/Uds.comunicaríanthey would communicate

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
yocomunicaréI will communicate
comunicarásyou will communicate
voscomunicarásyou will communicate
él/ella/Ud.comunicaráhe/she/it will communicate
nosotroscomunicaremoswe will communicate
vosotroscomunicaréisyou (pl.) will communicate
ellos/ellas/Uds.comunicaránthey will communicate

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 comunicadoI have communicated
has comunicadoyou have communicated
voshas comunicadoyou have communicated
él/ella/Ud.ha comunicadohe/she/it has communicated
nosotroshemos comunicadowe have communicated
vosotroshabéis comunicadoyou (pl.) have communicated
ellos/ellas/Uds.han comunicadothey have communicated

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 comunicadoI had communicated
habías comunicadoyou had communicated
voshabías comunicadoyou had communicated
él/ella/Ud.había comunicadohe/she/it had communicated
nosotroshabíamos comunicadowe had communicated
vosotroshabíais comunicadoyou (pl.) had communicated
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían comunicadothey had communicated

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

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 comunicadoI will have communicated
habrás comunicadoyou will have communicated
voshabrás comunicadoyou will have communicated
él/ella/Ud.habrá comunicadohe/she/it will have communicated
nosotroshabremos comunicadowe will have communicated
vosotroshabréis comunicadoyou (pl.) will have communicated
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán comunicadothey will have communicated

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
yocomunique
comuniques
voscomuniques
él/ella/Ud.comunique
nosotroscomuniquemos
vosotroscomuniquéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.comuniquen

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
yocomunicara
comunicaras
voscomunicaras
él/ella/Ud.comunicara
nosotroscomunicáramos
vosotroscomunicarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.comunicaran

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
yocomunicase
comunicases
voscomunicases
él/ella/Ud.comunicase
nosotroscomunicásemos
vosotroscomunicaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.comunicasen

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

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

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
comunica
voscomunicá
él/ella/Ud.comunique
nosotroscomuniquemos
vosotroscomunicad
ustedescomuniquen

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 comuniques
vosno comuniques
él/ella/Ud.no comunique
nosotrosno comuniquemos
vosotrosno comuniquéis
ustedesno comuniquen

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

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

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

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

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