contraatacar — Spanish conjugation

counterattack

Frequency#420Irregular

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

PronounSpanish
yocontraataco
contraatacas
voscontraatacás
él/ella/Ud.contraataca
nosotroscontraatacamos
vosotroscontraatacáis
ellos/ellas/Uds.contraatacan

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

PronounSpanish
yocontraataqué
contraatacaste
voscontraatacaste
él/ella/Ud.contraatacó
nosotroscontraatacamos
vosotroscontraatacasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds.contraatacaron

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
yocontraatacaba
contraatacabas
voscontraatacabas
él/ella/Ud.contraatacaba
nosotroscontraatacábamos
vosotroscontraatacabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.contraatacaban

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?

PronounSpanish
yocontraatacaría
contraatacarías
voscontraatacarías
él/ella/Ud.contraatacaría
nosotroscontraatacaríamos
vosotroscontraatacaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds.contraatacarían

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

PronounSpanish
yocontraatacaré
contraatacarás
voscontraatacarás
él/ella/Ud.contraatacará
nosotroscontraatacaremos
vosotroscontraatacaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds.contraatacarán

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

PronounSpanish
yohe contraatacado
has contraatacado
voshas contraatacado
él/ella/Ud.ha contraatacado
nosotroshemos contraatacado
vosotroshabéis contraatacado
ellos/ellas/Uds.han contraatacado

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

PronounSpanish
yohabía contraatacado
habías contraatacado
voshabías contraatacado
él/ella/Ud.había contraatacado
nosotroshabíamos contraatacado
vosotroshabíais contraatacado
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían contraatacado

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

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

PronounSpanish
yohabré contraatacado
habrás contraatacado
voshabrás contraatacado
él/ella/Ud.habrá contraatacado
nosotroshabremos contraatacado
vosotroshabréis contraatacado
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán contraatacado

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
yocontraataque
contraataques
voscontraataques
él/ella/Ud.contraataque
nosotroscontraataquemos
vosotroscontraataquéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.contraataquen

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
yocontraatacara
contraatacaras
voscontraatacaras
él/ella/Ud.contraatacara
nosotroscontraatacáramos
vosotroscontraatacarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.contraatacaran

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
yocontraatacase
contraatacases
voscontraatacases
él/ella/Ud.contraatacase
nosotroscontraatacásemos
vosotroscontraatacaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.contraatacasen

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

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

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
contraataca
voscontraatacá
él/ella/Ud.contraataque
nosotroscontraataquemos
vosotroscontraatacad
ustedescontraataquen

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 contraataques
vosno contraataques
él/ella/Ud.no contraataque
nosotrosno contraataquemos
vosotrosno contraataquéis
ustedesno contraataquen

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

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

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

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

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