examinar — Spanish conjugation

to examine

Frequency#583Regular

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
yoexaminoI examine
examinasyou examine
vosexaminásyou examine
él/ella/Ud.examinahe/she/it examines
nosotrosexaminamoswe examine
vosotrosexamináisyou (pl.) examine
ellos/ellas/Uds.examinanthey examine

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
yoexaminéI examined
examinasteyou examined
vosexaminasteyou examined
él/ella/Ud.examinóhe/she/it examined
nosotrosexaminamoswe examined
vosotrosexaminasteisyou (pl.) examined
ellos/ellas/Uds.examinaronthey examined

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
yoexaminaba
examinabas
vosexaminabas
él/ella/Ud.examinaba
nosotrosexaminábamos
vosotrosexaminabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.examinaban

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
yoexaminaríaI would examine
examinaríasyou would examine
vosexaminaríasyou would examine
él/ella/Ud.examinaríahe/she/it would examine
nosotrosexaminaríamoswe would examine
vosotrosexaminaríaisyou (pl.) would examine
ellos/ellas/Uds.examinaríanthey would examine

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
yoexaminaréI will examine
examinarásyou will examine
vosexaminarásyou will examine
él/ella/Ud.examinaráhe/she/it will examine
nosotrosexaminaremoswe will examine
vosotrosexaminaréisyou (pl.) will examine
ellos/ellas/Uds.examinaránthey will examine

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 examinadoI have examined
has examinadoyou have examined
voshas examinadoyou have examined
él/ella/Ud.ha examinadohe/she/it has examined
nosotroshemos examinadowe have examined
vosotroshabéis examinadoyou (pl.) have examined
ellos/ellas/Uds.han examinadothey have examined

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 examinadoI had examined
habías examinadoyou had examined
voshabías examinadoyou had examined
él/ella/Ud.había examinadohe/she/it had examined
nosotroshabíamos examinadowe had examined
vosotroshabíais examinadoyou (pl.) had examined
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían examinadothey had examined

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

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 examinadoI will have examined
habrás examinadoyou will have examined
voshabrás examinadoyou will have examined
él/ella/Ud.habrá examinadohe/she/it will have examined
nosotroshabremos examinadowe will have examined
vosotroshabréis examinadoyou (pl.) will have examined
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán examinadothey will have examined

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
yoexamine
examines
vosexamines
él/ella/Ud.examine
nosotrosexaminemos
vosotrosexaminéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.examinen

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
yoexaminara
examinaras
vosexaminaras
él/ella/Ud.examinara
nosotrosexamináramos
vosotrosexaminarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.examinaran

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
yoexaminase
examinases
vosexaminases
él/ella/Ud.examinase
nosotrosexaminásemos
vosotrosexaminaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.examinasen

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

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

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
examina
vosexaminá
él/ella/Ud.examine
nosotrosexaminemos
vosotrosexaminad
ustedesexaminen

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 examines
vosno examines
él/ella/Ud.no examine
nosotrosno examinemos
vosotrosno examinéis
ustedesno examinen

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

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

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

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

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