educar — Spanish conjugation

to educate

Frequency#351Irregular

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
yoeducoI educate
educasyou educate
voseducásyou educate
él/ella/Ud.educahe/she/it educates
nosotroseducamoswe educate
vosotroseducáisyou (pl.) educate
ellos/ellas/Uds.educanthey educate

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
yoeduquéI educated
educasteyou educated
voseducasteyou educated
él/ella/Ud.educóhe/she/it educated
nosotroseducamoswe educated
vosotroseducasteisyou (pl.) educated
ellos/ellas/Uds.educaronthey educated

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
yoeducaba
educabas
voseducabas
él/ella/Ud.educaba
nosotroseducábamos
vosotroseducabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.educaban

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
yoeducaríaI would educate
educaríasyou would educate
voseducaríasyou would educate
él/ella/Ud.educaríahe/she/it would educate
nosotroseducaríamoswe would educate
vosotroseducaríaisyou (pl.) would educate
ellos/ellas/Uds.educaríanthey would educate

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
yoeducaréI will educate
educarásyou will educate
voseducarásyou will educate
él/ella/Ud.educaráhe/she/it will educate
nosotroseducaremoswe will educate
vosotroseducaréisyou (pl.) will educate
ellos/ellas/Uds.educaránthey will educate

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 educadoI have educated
has educadoyou have educated
voshas educadoyou have educated
él/ella/Ud.ha educadohe/she/it has educated
nosotroshemos educadowe have educated
vosotroshabéis educadoyou (pl.) have educated
ellos/ellas/Uds.han educadothey have educated

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 educadoI had educated
habías educadoyou had educated
voshabías educadoyou had educated
él/ella/Ud.había educadohe/she/it had educated
nosotroshabíamos educadowe had educated
vosotroshabíais educadoyou (pl.) had educated
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían educadothey had educated

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

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 educadoI will have educated
habrás educadoyou will have educated
voshabrás educadoyou will have educated
él/ella/Ud.habrá educadohe/she/it will have educated
nosotroshabremos educadowe will have educated
vosotroshabréis educadoyou (pl.) will have educated
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán educadothey will have educated

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
yoeduque
eduques
voseduques
él/ella/Ud.eduque
nosotroseduquemos
vosotroseduquéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.eduquen

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
yoeducara
educaras
voseducaras
él/ella/Ud.educara
nosotroseducáramos
vosotroseducarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.educaran

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
yoeducase
educases
voseducases
él/ella/Ud.educase
nosotroseducásemos
vosotroseducaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.educasen

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

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

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
educa
voseducá
él/ella/Ud.eduque
nosotroseduquemos
vosotroseducad
ustedeseduquen

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 eduques
vosno eduques
él/ella/Ud.no eduque
nosotrosno eduquemos
vosotrosno eduquéis
ustedesno eduquen

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

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

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

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

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