copar — Spanish conjugation

to take over

Frequency#59Regular

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
yocopoI take over
copasyou take over
voscopásyou take over
él/ella/Ud.copahe/she/it takes over
nosotroscopamoswe take over
vosotroscopáisyou (pl.) take over
ellos/ellas/Uds.copanthey take over

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
yocopéI took over
copasteyou took over
voscopasteyou took over
él/ella/Ud.copóhe/she/it took over
nosotroscopamoswe took over
vosotroscopasteisyou (pl.) took over
ellos/ellas/Uds.coparonthey took over

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
yocopaba
copabas
voscopabas
él/ella/Ud.copaba
nosotroscopábamos
vosotroscopabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.copaban

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
yocoparíaI would take over
coparíasyou would take over
voscoparíasyou would take over
él/ella/Ud.coparíahe/she/it would take over
nosotroscoparíamoswe would take over
vosotroscoparíaisyou (pl.) would take over
ellos/ellas/Uds.coparíanthey would take over

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
yocoparéI will take over
coparásyou will take over
voscoparásyou will take over
él/ella/Ud.coparáhe/she/it will take over
nosotroscoparemoswe will take over
vosotroscoparéisyou (pl.) will take over
ellos/ellas/Uds.coparánthey will take over

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 copadoI have taken over
has copadoyou have taken over
voshas copadoyou have taken over
él/ella/Ud.ha copadohe/she/it has taken over
nosotroshemos copadowe have taken over
vosotroshabéis copadoyou (pl.) have taken over
ellos/ellas/Uds.han copadothey have taken over

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 copadoI had taken over
habías copadoyou had taken over
voshabías copadoyou had taken over
él/ella/Ud.había copadohe/she/it had taken over
nosotroshabíamos copadowe had taken over
vosotroshabíais copadoyou (pl.) had taken over
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían copadothey had taken over

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

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 copadoI will have taken over
habrás copadoyou will have taken over
voshabrás copadoyou will have taken over
él/ella/Ud.habrá copadohe/she/it will have taken over
nosotroshabremos copadowe will have taken over
vosotroshabréis copadoyou (pl.) will have taken over
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán copadothey will have taken over

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
yocope
copes
voscopes
él/ella/Ud.cope
nosotroscopemos
vosotroscopéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.copen

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
yocopara
coparas
voscoparas
él/ella/Ud.copara
nosotroscopáramos
vosotroscoparais
ellos/ellas/Uds.coparan

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
yocopase
copases
voscopases
él/ella/Ud.copase
nosotroscopásemos
vosotroscopaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.copasen

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

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

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
copa
voscopá
él/ella/Ud.cope
nosotroscopemos
vosotroscopad
ustedescopen

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 copes
vosno copes
él/ella/Ud.no cope
nosotrosno copemos
vosotrosno copéis
ustedesno copen

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

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

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

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

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