distanciar — Spanish conjugation

to distance

Frequency#213RegularReflexivedistanciarse — to distance 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

PronounSpanishEnglish
yodistancioI distance
distanciasyou distance
vosdistanciásyou distance
él/ella/Ud.distanciahe/she/it distances
nosotrosdistanciamoswe distance
vosotrosdistanciáisyou (pl.) distance
ellos/ellas/Uds.distancianthey distance

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
yodistanciéI distanced
distanciasteyou distanced
vosdistanciasteyou distanced
él/ella/Ud.distancióhe/she/it distanced
nosotrosdistanciamoswe distanced
vosotrosdistanciasteisyou (pl.) distanced
ellos/ellas/Uds.distanciaronthey distanced

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
yodistanciaba
distanciabas
vosdistanciabas
él/ella/Ud.distanciaba
nosotrosdistanciábamos
vosotrosdistanciabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.distanciaban

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
yodistanciaríaI would distance
distanciaríasyou would distance
vosdistanciaríasyou would distance
él/ella/Ud.distanciaríahe/she/it would distance
nosotrosdistanciaríamoswe would distance
vosotrosdistanciaríaisyou (pl.) would distance
ellos/ellas/Uds.distanciaríanthey would distance

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
yodistanciaréI will distance
distanciarásyou will distance
vosdistanciarásyou will distance
él/ella/Ud.distanciaráhe/she/it will distance
nosotrosdistanciaremoswe will distance
vosotrosdistanciaréisyou (pl.) will distance
ellos/ellas/Uds.distanciaránthey will distance

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 distanciadoI have distanced
has distanciadoyou have distanced
voshas distanciadoyou have distanced
él/ella/Ud.ha distanciadohe/she/it has distanced
nosotroshemos distanciadowe have distanced
vosotroshabéis distanciadoyou (pl.) have distanced
ellos/ellas/Uds.han distanciadothey have distanced

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 distanciadoI had distanced
habías distanciadoyou had distanced
voshabías distanciadoyou had distanced
él/ella/Ud.había distanciadohe/she/it had distanced
nosotroshabíamos distanciadowe had distanced
vosotroshabíais distanciadoyou (pl.) had distanced
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían distanciadothey had distanced

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

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 distanciadoI will have distanced
habrás distanciadoyou will have distanced
voshabrás distanciadoyou will have distanced
él/ella/Ud.habrá distanciadohe/she/it will have distanced
nosotroshabremos distanciadowe will have distanced
vosotroshabréis distanciadoyou (pl.) will have distanced
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán distanciadothey will have distanced

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
yodistancie
distancies
vosdistancies
él/ella/Ud.distancie
nosotrosdistanciemos
vosotrosdistanciéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.distancien

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
yodistanciara
distanciaras
vosdistanciaras
él/ella/Ud.distanciara
nosotrosdistanciáramos
vosotrosdistanciarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.distanciaran

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
yodistanciase
distanciases
vosdistanciases
él/ella/Ud.distanciase
nosotrosdistanciásemos
vosotrosdistanciaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.distanciasen

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

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

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
distancia
vosdistanciá
él/ella/Ud.distancie
nosotrosdistanciemos
vosotrosdistanciad
ustedesdistancien

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 distancies
vosno distancies
él/ella/Ud.no distancie
nosotrosno distanciemos
vosotrosno distanciéis
ustedesno distancien

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

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

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

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

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