fallecer — Spanish conjugation

to pass away

Frequency#413Irregular

Indicative

Present (Presente) Irregular

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
yofallezcoI pass away
fallecesyou pass away
vosfallecésyou pass away
él/ella/Ud.fallecehe/she/it passes away
nosotrosfallecemoswe pass away
vosotrosfallecéisyou (pl.) pass away
ellos/ellas/Uds.fallecenthey pass away

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
yofallecíI passed away
fallecisteyou passed away
vosfallecisteyou passed away
él/ella/Ud.fallecióhe/she/it passed away
nosotrosfallecimoswe passed away
vosotrosfallecisteisyou (pl.) passed away
ellos/ellas/Uds.fallecieronthey passed away

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
yofallecía
fallecías
vosfallecías
él/ella/Ud.fallecía
nosotrosfallecíamos
vosotrosfallecíais
ellos/ellas/Uds.fallecían

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
yofalleceríaI would pass away
falleceríasyou would pass away
vosfalleceríasyou would pass away
él/ella/Ud.falleceríahe/she/it would pass away
nosotrosfalleceríamoswe would pass away
vosotrosfalleceríaisyou (pl.) would pass away
ellos/ellas/Uds.falleceríanthey would pass away

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
yofalleceréI will pass away
fallecerásyou will pass away
vosfallecerásyou will pass away
él/ella/Ud.falleceráhe/she/it will pass away
nosotrosfalleceremoswe will pass away
vosotrosfalleceréisyou (pl.) will pass away
ellos/ellas/Uds.falleceránthey will pass away

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 fallecidoI have passed away
has fallecidoyou have passed away
voshas fallecidoyou have passed away
él/ella/Ud.ha fallecidohe/she/it has passed away
nosotroshemos fallecidowe have passed away
vosotroshabéis fallecidoyou (pl.) have passed away
ellos/ellas/Uds.han fallecidothey have passed away

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 fallecidoI had passed away
habías fallecidoyou had passed away
voshabías fallecidoyou had passed away
él/ella/Ud.había fallecidohe/she/it had passed away
nosotroshabíamos fallecidowe had passed away
vosotroshabíais fallecidoyou (pl.) had passed away
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían fallecidothey had passed away

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

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 fallecidoI will have passed away
habrás fallecidoyou will have passed away
voshabrás fallecidoyou will have passed away
él/ella/Ud.habrá fallecidohe/she/it will have passed away
nosotroshabremos fallecidowe will have passed away
vosotroshabréis fallecidoyou (pl.) will have passed away
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán fallecidothey will have passed away

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
yofallezca
fallezcas
vosfallezcas
él/ella/Ud.fallezca
nosotrosfallezcamos
vosotrosfallezcáis
ellos/ellas/Uds.fallezcan

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
yofalleciera
fallecieras
vosfallecieras
él/ella/Ud.falleciera
nosotrosfalleciéramos
vosotrosfallecierais
ellos/ellas/Uds.fallecieran

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
yofalleciese
fallecieses
vosfallecieses
él/ella/Ud.falleciese
nosotrosfalleciésemos
vosotrosfallecieseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.falleciesen

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

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

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
fallece
vosfallecé
él/ella/Ud.fallezca
nosotrosfallezcamos
vosotrosfalleced
ustedesfallezcan

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 fallezcas
vosno fallezcas
él/ella/Ud.no fallezca
nosotrosno fallezcamos
vosotrosno fallezcáis
ustedesno fallezcan

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

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

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

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

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