evitar — Spanish conjugation

to avoid

Frequency#109Regular

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
yoevitoI avoid
evitasyou avoid
vosevitásyou avoid
él/ella/Ud.evitahe/she/it avoids
nosotrosevitamoswe avoid
vosotrosevitáisyou (pl.) avoid
ellos/ellas/Uds.evitanthey avoid

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
yoevitéI avoided
evitasteyou avoided
vosevitasteyou avoided
él/ella/Ud.evitóhe/she/it avoided
nosotrosevitamoswe avoided
vosotrosevitasteisyou (pl.) avoided
ellos/ellas/Uds.evitaronthey avoided

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
yoevitaba
evitabas
vosevitabas
él/ella/Ud.evitaba
nosotrosevitábamos
vosotrosevitabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.evitaban

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
yoevitaríaI would avoid
evitaríasyou would avoid
vosevitaríasyou would avoid
él/ella/Ud.evitaríahe/she/it would avoid
nosotrosevitaríamoswe would avoid
vosotrosevitaríaisyou (pl.) would avoid
ellos/ellas/Uds.evitaríanthey would avoid

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
yoevitaréI will avoid
evitarásyou will avoid
vosevitarásyou will avoid
él/ella/Ud.evitaráhe/she/it will avoid
nosotrosevitaremoswe will avoid
vosotrosevitaréisyou (pl.) will avoid
ellos/ellas/Uds.evitaránthey will avoid

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 evitadoI have avoided
has evitadoyou have avoided
voshas evitadoyou have avoided
él/ella/Ud.ha evitadohe/she/it has avoided
nosotroshemos evitadowe have avoided
vosotroshabéis evitadoyou (pl.) have avoided
ellos/ellas/Uds.han evitadothey have avoided

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 evitadoI had avoided
habías evitadoyou had avoided
voshabías evitadoyou had avoided
él/ella/Ud.había evitadohe/she/it had avoided
nosotroshabíamos evitadowe had avoided
vosotroshabíais evitadoyou (pl.) had avoided
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían evitadothey had avoided

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

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 evitadoI will have avoided
habrás evitadoyou will have avoided
voshabrás evitadoyou will have avoided
él/ella/Ud.habrá evitadohe/she/it will have avoided
nosotroshabremos evitadowe will have avoided
vosotroshabréis evitadoyou (pl.) will have avoided
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán evitadothey will have avoided

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
yoevite
evites
vosevites
él/ella/Ud.evite
nosotrosevitemos
vosotrosevitéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.eviten

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
yoevitara
evitaras
vosevitaras
él/ella/Ud.evitara
nosotrosevitáramos
vosotrosevitarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.evitaran

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
yoevitase
evitases
vosevitases
él/ella/Ud.evitase
nosotrosevitásemos
vosotrosevitaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.evitasen

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

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

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
evita
vosevitá
él/ella/Ud.evite
nosotrosevitemos
vosotrosevitad
ustedeseviten

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 evites
vosno evites
él/ella/Ud.no evite
nosotrosno evitemos
vosotrosno evitéis
ustedesno eviten

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

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

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

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

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