instar — Spanish conjugation

to urge

Frequency#765Regular

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
yoinstoI urge
instasyou urge
vosinstásyou urge
él/ella/Ud.instahe/she/it urges
nosotrosinstamoswe urge
vosotrosinstáisyou (pl.) urge
ellos/ellas/Uds.instanthey urge

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
yoinstéI urged
instasteyou urged
vosinstasteyou urged
él/ella/Ud.instóhe/she/it urged
nosotrosinstamoswe urged
vosotrosinstasteisyou (pl.) urged
ellos/ellas/Uds.instaronthey urged

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
yoinstaba
instabas
vosinstabas
él/ella/Ud.instaba
nosotrosinstábamos
vosotrosinstabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.instaban

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
yoinstaríaI would urge
instaríasyou would urge
vosinstaríasyou would urge
él/ella/Ud.instaríahe/she/it would urge
nosotrosinstaríamoswe would urge
vosotrosinstaríaisyou (pl.) would urge
ellos/ellas/Uds.instaríanthey would urge

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
yoinstaréI will urge
instarásyou will urge
vosinstarásyou will urge
él/ella/Ud.instaráhe/she/it will urge
nosotrosinstaremoswe will urge
vosotrosinstaréisyou (pl.) will urge
ellos/ellas/Uds.instaránthey will urge

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 instadoI have urged
has instadoyou have urged
voshas instadoyou have urged
él/ella/Ud.ha instadohe/she/it has urged
nosotroshemos instadowe have urged
vosotroshabéis instadoyou (pl.) have urged
ellos/ellas/Uds.han instadothey have urged

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 instadoI had urged
habías instadoyou had urged
voshabías instadoyou had urged
él/ella/Ud.había instadohe/she/it had urged
nosotroshabíamos instadowe had urged
vosotroshabíais instadoyou (pl.) had urged
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían instadothey had urged

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

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 instadoI will have urged
habrás instadoyou will have urged
voshabrás instadoyou will have urged
él/ella/Ud.habrá instadohe/she/it will have urged
nosotroshabremos instadowe will have urged
vosotroshabréis instadoyou (pl.) will have urged
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán instadothey will have urged

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
yoinste
instes
vosinstes
él/ella/Ud.inste
nosotrosinstemos
vosotrosinstéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.insten

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
yoinstara
instaras
vosinstaras
él/ella/Ud.instara
nosotrosinstáramos
vosotrosinstarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.instaran

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
yoinstase
instases
vosinstases
él/ella/Ud.instase
nosotrosinstásemos
vosotrosinstaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.instasen

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

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

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
insta
vosinstá
él/ella/Ud.inste
nosotrosinstemos
vosotrosinstad
ustedesinsten

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 instes
vosno instes
él/ella/Ud.no inste
nosotrosno instemos
vosotrosno instéis
ustedesno insten

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

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

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

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

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