decorar — Spanish conjugation

to decorate

Frequency#796Regular

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
yodecoroI decorate
decorasyou decorate
vosdecorásyou decorate
él/ella/Ud.decorahe/she/it decorates
nosotrosdecoramoswe decorate
vosotrosdecoráisyou (pl.) decorate
ellos/ellas/Uds.decoranthey decorate

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
yodecoréI decorated
decorasteyou decorated
vosdecorasteyou decorated
él/ella/Ud.decoróhe/she/it decorated
nosotrosdecoramoswe decorated
vosotrosdecorasteisyou (pl.) decorated
ellos/ellas/Uds.decoraronthey decorated

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
yodecoraba
decorabas
vosdecorabas
él/ella/Ud.decoraba
nosotrosdecorábamos
vosotrosdecorabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.decoraban

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
yodecoraríaI would decorate
decoraríasyou would decorate
vosdecoraríasyou would decorate
él/ella/Ud.decoraríahe/she/it would decorate
nosotrosdecoraríamoswe would decorate
vosotrosdecoraríaisyou (pl.) would decorate
ellos/ellas/Uds.decoraríanthey would decorate

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
yodecoraréI will decorate
decorarásyou will decorate
vosdecorarásyou will decorate
él/ella/Ud.decoraráhe/she/it will decorate
nosotrosdecoraremoswe will decorate
vosotrosdecoraréisyou (pl.) will decorate
ellos/ellas/Uds.decoraránthey will decorate

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 decoradoI have decorated
has decoradoyou have decorated
voshas decoradoyou have decorated
él/ella/Ud.ha decoradohe/she/it has decorated
nosotroshemos decoradowe have decorated
vosotroshabéis decoradoyou (pl.) have decorated
ellos/ellas/Uds.han decoradothey have decorated

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 decoradoI had decorated
habías decoradoyou had decorated
voshabías decoradoyou had decorated
él/ella/Ud.había decoradohe/she/it had decorated
nosotroshabíamos decoradowe had decorated
vosotroshabíais decoradoyou (pl.) had decorated
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían decoradothey had decorated

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

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 decoradoI will have decorated
habrás decoradoyou will have decorated
voshabrás decoradoyou will have decorated
él/ella/Ud.habrá decoradohe/she/it will have decorated
nosotroshabremos decoradowe will have decorated
vosotroshabréis decoradoyou (pl.) will have decorated
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán decoradothey will have decorated

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
yodecore
decores
vosdecores
él/ella/Ud.decore
nosotrosdecoremos
vosotrosdecoréis
ellos/ellas/Uds.decoren

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
yodecorara
decoraras
vosdecoraras
él/ella/Ud.decorara
nosotrosdecoráramos
vosotrosdecorarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.decoraran

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
yodecorase
decorases
vosdecorases
él/ella/Ud.decorase
nosotrosdecorásemos
vosotrosdecoraseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.decorasen

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

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

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
decora
vosdecorá
él/ella/Ud.decore
nosotrosdecoremos
vosotrosdecorad
ustedesdecoren

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 decores
vosno decores
él/ella/Ud.no decore
nosotrosno decoremos
vosotrosno decoréis
ustedesno decoren

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

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

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

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

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