exprimir — Spanish conjugation

to express

Frequency#349Regular

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
yoexprimoI express
exprimesyou express
vosexprimísyou express
él/ella/Ud.exprimehe/she/it expresses
nosotrosexprimimoswe express
vosotrosexprimísyou (pl.) express
ellos/ellas/Uds.exprimenthey express

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
yoexprimíI expressed
exprimisteyou expressed
vosexprimisteyou expressed
él/ella/Ud.exprimióhe/she/it expressed
nosotrosexprimimoswe expressed
vosotrosexprimisteisyou (pl.) expressed
ellos/ellas/Uds.exprimieronthey expressed

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
yoexprimía
exprimías
vosexprimías
él/ella/Ud.exprimía
nosotrosexprimíamos
vosotrosexprimíais
ellos/ellas/Uds.exprimían

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
yoexprimiríaI would express
exprimiríasyou would express
vosexprimiríasyou would express
él/ella/Ud.exprimiríahe/she/it would express
nosotrosexprimiríamoswe would express
vosotrosexprimiríaisyou (pl.) would express
ellos/ellas/Uds.exprimiríanthey would express

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
yoexprimiréI will express
exprimirásyou will express
vosexprimirásyou will express
él/ella/Ud.exprimiráhe/she/it will express
nosotrosexprimiremoswe will express
vosotrosexprimiréisyou (pl.) will express
ellos/ellas/Uds.exprimiránthey will express

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 exprimidoI have expressed
has exprimidoyou have expressed
voshas exprimidoyou have expressed
él/ella/Ud.ha exprimidohe/she/it has expressed
nosotroshemos exprimidowe have expressed
vosotroshabéis exprimidoyou (pl.) have expressed
ellos/ellas/Uds.han exprimidothey have expressed

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 exprimidoI had expressed
habías exprimidoyou had expressed
voshabías exprimidoyou had expressed
él/ella/Ud.había exprimidohe/she/it had expressed
nosotroshabíamos exprimidowe had expressed
vosotroshabíais exprimidoyou (pl.) had expressed
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían exprimidothey had expressed

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

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 exprimidoI will have expressed
habrás exprimidoyou will have expressed
voshabrás exprimidoyou will have expressed
él/ella/Ud.habrá exprimidohe/she/it will have expressed
nosotroshabremos exprimidowe will have expressed
vosotroshabréis exprimidoyou (pl.) will have expressed
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán exprimidothey will have expressed

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
yoexprima
exprimas
vosexprimas
él/ella/Ud.exprima
nosotrosexprimamos
vosotrosexprimáis
ellos/ellas/Uds.expriman

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
yoexprimiera
exprimieras
vosexprimieras
él/ella/Ud.exprimiera
nosotrosexprimiéramos
vosotrosexprimierais
ellos/ellas/Uds.exprimieran

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
yoexprimiese
exprimieses
vosexprimieses
él/ella/Ud.exprimiese
nosotrosexprimiésemos
vosotrosexprimieseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.exprimiesen

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

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

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
exprime
vosexprimí
él/ella/Ud.exprima
nosotrosexprimamos
vosotrosexprimid
ustedesexpriman

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 exprimas
vosno exprimas
él/ella/Ud.no exprima
nosotrosno exprimamos
vosotrosno exprimáis
ustedesno expriman

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

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

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

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

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