limitar — Spanish conjugation

to limit

Frequency#263Regular

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
yolimitoI limit
limitasyou limit
voslimitásyou limit
él/ella/Ud.limitahe/she/it limits
nosotroslimitamoswe limit
vosotroslimitáisyou (pl.) limit
ellos/ellas/Uds.limitanthey limit

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
yolimitéI limited
limitasteyou limited
voslimitasteyou limited
él/ella/Ud.limitóhe/she/it limited
nosotroslimitamoswe limited
vosotroslimitasteisyou (pl.) limited
ellos/ellas/Uds.limitaronthey limited

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
yolimitaba
limitabas
voslimitabas
él/ella/Ud.limitaba
nosotroslimitábamos
vosotroslimitabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.limitaban

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
yolimitaríaI would limit
limitaríasyou would limit
voslimitaríasyou would limit
él/ella/Ud.limitaríahe/she/it would limit
nosotroslimitaríamoswe would limit
vosotroslimitaríaisyou (pl.) would limit
ellos/ellas/Uds.limitaríanthey would limit

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
yolimitaréI will limit
limitarásyou will limit
voslimitarásyou will limit
él/ella/Ud.limitaráhe/she/it will limit
nosotroslimitaremoswe will limit
vosotroslimitaréisyou (pl.) will limit
ellos/ellas/Uds.limitaránthey will limit

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 limitadoI have limited
has limitadoyou have limited
voshas limitadoyou have limited
él/ella/Ud.ha limitadohe/she/it has limited
nosotroshemos limitadowe have limited
vosotroshabéis limitadoyou (pl.) have limited
ellos/ellas/Uds.han limitadothey have limited

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 limitadoI had limited
habías limitadoyou had limited
voshabías limitadoyou had limited
él/ella/Ud.había limitadohe/she/it had limited
nosotroshabíamos limitadowe had limited
vosotroshabíais limitadoyou (pl.) had limited
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían limitadothey had limited

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

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 limitadoI will have limited
habrás limitadoyou will have limited
voshabrás limitadoyou will have limited
él/ella/Ud.habrá limitadohe/she/it will have limited
nosotroshabremos limitadowe will have limited
vosotroshabréis limitadoyou (pl.) will have limited
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán limitadothey will have limited

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
yolimite
limites
voslimites
él/ella/Ud.limite
nosotroslimitemos
vosotroslimitéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.limiten

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
yolimitara
limitaras
voslimitaras
él/ella/Ud.limitara
nosotroslimitáramos
vosotroslimitarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.limitaran

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
yolimitase
limitases
voslimitases
él/ella/Ud.limitase
nosotroslimitásemos
vosotroslimitaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.limitasen

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

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

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
limita
voslimitá
él/ella/Ud.limite
nosotroslimitemos
vosotroslimitad
ustedeslimiten

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 limites
vosno limites
él/ella/Ud.no limite
nosotrosno limitemos
vosotrosno limitéis
ustedesno limiten

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

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

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

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

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