desarrollar — Spanish conjugation

to develop

Frequency#211Regular

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
yodesarrolloI develop
desarrollasyou develop
vosdesarrollásyou develop
él/ella/Ud.desarrollahe/she/it develops
nosotrosdesarrollamoswe develop
vosotrosdesarrolláisyou (pl.) develop
ellos/ellas/Uds.desarrollanthey develop

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
yodesarrolléI developed
desarrollasteyou developed
vosdesarrollasteyou developed
él/ella/Ud.desarrollóhe/she/it developed
nosotrosdesarrollamoswe developed
vosotrosdesarrollasteisyou (pl.) developed
ellos/ellas/Uds.desarrollaronthey developed

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
yodesarrollaba
desarrollabas
vosdesarrollabas
él/ella/Ud.desarrollaba
nosotrosdesarrollábamos
vosotrosdesarrollabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.desarrollaban

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
yodesarrollaríaI would develop
desarrollaríasyou would develop
vosdesarrollaríasyou would develop
él/ella/Ud.desarrollaríahe/she/it would develop
nosotrosdesarrollaríamoswe would develop
vosotrosdesarrollaríaisyou (pl.) would develop
ellos/ellas/Uds.desarrollaríanthey would develop

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
yodesarrollaréI will develop
desarrollarásyou will develop
vosdesarrollarásyou will develop
él/ella/Ud.desarrollaráhe/she/it will develop
nosotrosdesarrollaremoswe will develop
vosotrosdesarrollaréisyou (pl.) will develop
ellos/ellas/Uds.desarrollaránthey will develop

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 desarrolladoI have developed
has desarrolladoyou have developed
voshas desarrolladoyou have developed
él/ella/Ud.ha desarrolladohe/she/it has developed
nosotroshemos desarrolladowe have developed
vosotroshabéis desarrolladoyou (pl.) have developed
ellos/ellas/Uds.han desarrolladothey have developed

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 desarrolladoI had developed
habías desarrolladoyou had developed
voshabías desarrolladoyou had developed
él/ella/Ud.había desarrolladohe/she/it had developed
nosotroshabíamos desarrolladowe had developed
vosotroshabíais desarrolladoyou (pl.) had developed
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían desarrolladothey had developed

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

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 desarrolladoI will have developed
habrás desarrolladoyou will have developed
voshabrás desarrolladoyou will have developed
él/ella/Ud.habrá desarrolladohe/she/it will have developed
nosotroshabremos desarrolladowe will have developed
vosotroshabréis desarrolladoyou (pl.) will have developed
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán desarrolladothey will have developed

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
yodesarrolle
desarrolles
vosdesarrolles
él/ella/Ud.desarrolle
nosotrosdesarrollemos
vosotrosdesarrolléis
ellos/ellas/Uds.desarrollen

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
yodesarrollara
desarrollaras
vosdesarrollaras
él/ella/Ud.desarrollara
nosotrosdesarrolláramos
vosotrosdesarrollarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.desarrollaran

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
yodesarrollase
desarrollases
vosdesarrollases
él/ella/Ud.desarrollase
nosotrosdesarrollásemos
vosotrosdesarrollaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.desarrollasen

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

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

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
desarrolla
vosdesarrollá
él/ella/Ud.desarrolle
nosotrosdesarrollemos
vosotrosdesarrollad
ustedesdesarrollen

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 desarrolles
vosno desarrolles
él/ella/Ud.no desarrolle
nosotrosno desarrollemos
vosotrosno desarrolléis
ustedesno desarrollen

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

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

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

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

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