coser — Spanish conjugation

to sew

Frequency#203Regular

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
yocosoI sew
cosesyou sew
voscosésyou sew
él/ella/Ud.cosehe/she/it sews
nosotroscosemoswe sew
vosotroscoséisyou (pl.) sew
ellos/ellas/Uds.cosenthey sew

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
yocosíI sewed
cosisteyou sewed
voscosisteyou sewed
él/ella/Ud.cosióhe/she/it sewed
nosotroscosimoswe sewed
vosotroscosisteisyou (pl.) sewed
ellos/ellas/Uds.cosieronthey sewed

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
yocosía
cosías
voscosías
él/ella/Ud.cosía
nosotroscosíamos
vosotroscosíais
ellos/ellas/Uds.cosían

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
yocoseríaI would sew
coseríasyou would sew
voscoseríasyou would sew
él/ella/Ud.coseríahe/she/it would sew
nosotroscoseríamoswe would sew
vosotroscoseríaisyou (pl.) would sew
ellos/ellas/Uds.coseríanthey would sew

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
yocoseréI will sew
coserásyou will sew
voscoserásyou will sew
él/ella/Ud.coseráhe/she/it will sew
nosotroscoseremoswe will sew
vosotroscoseréisyou (pl.) will sew
ellos/ellas/Uds.coseránthey will sew

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 cosidoI have sewn
has cosidoyou have sewn
voshas cosidoyou have sewn
él/ella/Ud.ha cosidohe/she/it has sewn
nosotroshemos cosidowe have sewn
vosotroshabéis cosidoyou (pl.) have sewn
ellos/ellas/Uds.han cosidothey have sewn

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 cosidoI had sewn
habías cosidoyou had sewn
voshabías cosidoyou had sewn
él/ella/Ud.había cosidohe/she/it had sewn
nosotroshabíamos cosidowe had sewn
vosotroshabíais cosidoyou (pl.) had sewn
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían cosidothey had sewn

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

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 cosidoI will have sewn
habrás cosidoyou will have sewn
voshabrás cosidoyou will have sewn
él/ella/Ud.habrá cosidohe/she/it will have sewn
nosotroshabremos cosidowe will have sewn
vosotroshabréis cosidoyou (pl.) will have sewn
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán cosidothey will have sewn

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
yocosa
cosas
voscosas
él/ella/Ud.cosa
nosotroscosamos
vosotroscosáis
ellos/ellas/Uds.cosan

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
yocosiera
cosieras
voscosieras
él/ella/Ud.cosiera
nosotroscosiéramos
vosotroscosierais
ellos/ellas/Uds.cosieran

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
yocosiese
cosieses
voscosieses
él/ella/Ud.cosiese
nosotroscosiésemos
vosotroscosieseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.cosiesen

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

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

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
cose
voscosé
él/ella/Ud.cosa
nosotroscosamos
vosotroscosed
ustedescosan

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 cosas
vosno cosas
él/ella/Ud.no cosa
nosotrosno cosamos
vosotrosno cosáis
ustedesno cosan

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

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

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

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

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