costear — Spanish conjugation

to cover the cost.

Frequency#1367RegularReflexivecostearse — to pay for oneself

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
yocosteo
costeas
voscosteás
él/ella/Ud.costea
nosotroscosteamos
vosotroscosteáis
ellos/ellas/Uds.costean

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

PronounSpanish
yocosteé
costeaste
voscosteaste
él/ella/Ud.costeó
nosotroscosteamos
vosotroscosteasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds.costearon

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
yocosteaba
costeabas
voscosteabas
él/ella/Ud.costeaba
nosotroscosteábamos
vosotroscosteabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.costeaban

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
yocostearía
costearías
voscostearías
él/ella/Ud.costearía
nosotroscostearíamos
vosotroscostearíais
ellos/ellas/Uds.costearían

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
yocostearé
costearás
voscostearás
él/ella/Ud.costeará
nosotroscostearemos
vosotroscostearéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.costearán

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 costeado
has costeado
voshas costeado
él/ella/Ud.ha costeado
nosotroshemos costeado
vosotroshabéis costeado
ellos/ellas/Uds.han costeado

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 costeado
habías costeado
voshabías costeado
él/ella/Ud.había costeado
nosotroshabíamos costeado
vosotroshabíais costeado
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían costeado

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

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 costeado
habrás costeado
voshabrás costeado
él/ella/Ud.habrá costeado
nosotroshabremos costeado
vosotroshabréis costeado
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán costeado

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
yocostee
costees
voscostees
él/ella/Ud.costee
nosotroscosteemos
vosotroscosteéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.costeen

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
yocosteara
costearas
voscostearas
él/ella/Ud.costeara
nosotroscosteáramos
vosotroscostearais
ellos/ellas/Uds.costearan

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
yocostease
costeases
voscosteases
él/ella/Ud.costease
nosotroscosteásemos
vosotroscosteaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.costeasen

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

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

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
costea
voscosteá
él/ella/Ud.costee
nosotroscosteemos
vosotroscostead
ustedescosteen

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 costees
vosno costees
él/ella/Ud.no costee
nosotrosno costeemos
vosotrosno costeéis
ustedesno costeen

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

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

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

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

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