fruncir — Spanish conjugation

to frown

Frequency#682Irregular

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
yofrunzoI frown
fruncesyou frown
vosfruncísyou frown
él/ella/Ud.fruncehe/she/it frowns
nosotrosfruncimoswe frown
vosotrosfruncísyou (pl.) frown
ellos/ellas/Uds.fruncenthey frown

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
yofruncíI frowned
fruncisteyou frowned
vosfruncisteyou frowned
él/ella/Ud.fruncióhe/she/it frowned
nosotrosfruncimoswe frowned
vosotrosfruncisteisyou (pl.) frowned
ellos/ellas/Uds.fruncieronthey frowned

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
yofruncía
fruncías
vosfruncías
él/ella/Ud.fruncía
nosotrosfruncíamos
vosotrosfruncíais
ellos/ellas/Uds.fruncían

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
yofrunciríaI would frown
frunciríasyou would frown
vosfrunciríasyou would frown
él/ella/Ud.frunciríahe/she/it would frown
nosotrosfrunciríamoswe would frown
vosotrosfrunciríaisyou (pl.) would frown
ellos/ellas/Uds.frunciríanthey would frown

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
yofrunciréI will frown
fruncirásyou will frown
vosfruncirásyou will frown
él/ella/Ud.frunciráhe/she/it will frown
nosotrosfrunciremoswe will frown
vosotrosfrunciréisyou (pl.) will frown
ellos/ellas/Uds.frunciránthey will frown

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 fruncidoI have frowned
has fruncidoyou have frowned
voshas fruncidoyou have frowned
él/ella/Ud.ha fruncidohe/she/it has frowned
nosotroshemos fruncidowe have frowned
vosotroshabéis fruncidoyou (pl.) have frowned
ellos/ellas/Uds.han fruncidothey have frowned

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 fruncidoI had frowned
habías fruncidoyou had frowned
voshabías fruncidoyou had frowned
él/ella/Ud.había fruncidohe/she/it had frowned
nosotroshabíamos fruncidowe had frowned
vosotroshabíais fruncidoyou (pl.) had frowned
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían fruncidothey had frowned

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

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 fruncidoI will have frowned
habrás fruncidoyou will have frowned
voshabrás fruncidoyou will have frowned
él/ella/Ud.habrá fruncidohe/she/it will have frowned
nosotroshabremos fruncidowe will have frowned
vosotroshabréis fruncidoyou (pl.) will have frowned
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán fruncidothey will have frowned

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
yofrunza
frunzas
vosfrunzas
él/ella/Ud.frunza
nosotrosfrunzamos
vosotrosfrunzáis
ellos/ellas/Uds.frunzan

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
yofrunciera
fruncieras
vosfruncieras
él/ella/Ud.frunciera
nosotrosfrunciéramos
vosotrosfruncierais
ellos/ellas/Uds.fruncieran

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
yofrunciese
fruncieses
vosfruncieses
él/ella/Ud.frunciese
nosotrosfrunciésemos
vosotrosfruncieseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.frunciesen

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

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

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
frunce
vosfruncí
él/ella/Ud.frunza
nosotrosfrunzamos
vosotrosfruncid
ustedesfrunzan

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 frunzas
vosno frunzas
él/ella/Ud.no frunza
nosotrosno frunzamos
vosotrosno frunzáis
ustedesno frunzan

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

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

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

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

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