cualificar — Spanish conjugation

to qualify

Frequency#362Irregular

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
yocualificoI qualify
cualificasyou qualify
voscualificásyou qualify
él/ella/Ud.cualificahe/she/it qualifies
nosotroscualificamoswe qualify
vosotroscualificáisyou (pl.) qualify
ellos/ellas/Uds.cualificanthey qualify

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
yocualifiquéI qualified
cualificasteyou qualified
voscualificasteyou qualified
él/ella/Ud.cualificóhe/she/it qualified
nosotroscualificamoswe qualified
vosotroscualificasteisyou (pl.) qualified
ellos/ellas/Uds.cualificaronthey qualified

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
yocualificaba
cualificabas
voscualificabas
él/ella/Ud.cualificaba
nosotroscualificábamos
vosotroscualificabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.cualificaban

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
yocualificaríaI would qualify
cualificaríasyou would qualify
voscualificaríasyou would qualify
él/ella/Ud.cualificaríahe/she/it would qualify
nosotroscualificaríamoswe would qualify
vosotroscualificaríaisyou (pl.) would qualify
ellos/ellas/Uds.cualificaríanthey would qualify

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
yocualificaréI will qualify
cualificarásyou will qualify
voscualificarásyou will qualify
él/ella/Ud.cualificaráhe/she/it will qualify
nosotroscualificaremoswe will qualify
vosotroscualificaréisyou (pl.) will qualify
ellos/ellas/Uds.cualificaránthey will qualify

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 cualificadoI have qualified
has cualificadoyou have qualified
voshas cualificadoyou have qualified
él/ella/Ud.ha cualificadohe/she/it has qualified
nosotroshemos cualificadowe have qualified
vosotroshabéis cualificadoyou (pl.) have qualified
ellos/ellas/Uds.han cualificadothey have qualified

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 cualificadoI had qualified
habías cualificadoyou had qualified
voshabías cualificadoyou had qualified
él/ella/Ud.había cualificadohe/she/it had qualified
nosotroshabíamos cualificadowe had qualified
vosotroshabíais cualificadoyou (pl.) had qualified
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían cualificadothey had qualified

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

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 cualificadoI will have qualified
habrás cualificadoyou will have qualified
voshabrás cualificadoyou will have qualified
él/ella/Ud.habrá cualificadohe/she/it will have qualified
nosotroshabremos cualificadowe will have qualified
vosotroshabréis cualificadoyou (pl.) will have qualified
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán cualificadothey will have qualified

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
yocualifique
cualifiques
voscualifiques
él/ella/Ud.cualifique
nosotroscualifiquemos
vosotroscualifiquéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.cualifiquen

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
yocualificara
cualificaras
voscualificaras
él/ella/Ud.cualificara
nosotroscualificáramos
vosotroscualificarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.cualificaran

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
yocualificase
cualificases
voscualificases
él/ella/Ud.cualificase
nosotroscualificásemos
vosotroscualificaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.cualificasen

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

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

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
cualifica
voscualificá
él/ella/Ud.cualifique
nosotroscualifiquemos
vosotroscualificad
ustedescualifiquen

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 cualifiques
vosno cualifiques
él/ella/Ud.no cualifique
nosotrosno cualifiquemos
vosotrosno cualifiquéis
ustedesno cualifiquen

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

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

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

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

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