llorar — Spanish conjugation

to cry

Frequency#140Regular

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
yolloroI cry
llorasyou cry
vosllorásyou cry
él/ella/Ud.llorahe/she/it cries
nosotroslloramoswe cry
vosotroslloráisyou (pl.) cry
ellos/ellas/Uds.lloranthey cry

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
yolloréI cried
llorasteyou cried
vosllorasteyou cried
él/ella/Ud.lloróhe/she/it cried
nosotroslloramoswe cried
vosotrosllorasteisyou (pl.) cried
ellos/ellas/Uds.lloraronthey cried

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
yolloraba
llorabas
vosllorabas
él/ella/Ud.lloraba
nosotrosllorábamos
vosotrosllorabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.lloraban

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
yolloraríaI would cry
lloraríasyou would cry
voslloraríasyou would cry
él/ella/Ud.lloraríahe/she/it would cry
nosotroslloraríamoswe would cry
vosotroslloraríaisyou (pl.) would cry
ellos/ellas/Uds.lloraríanthey would cry

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
yolloraréI will cry
llorarásyou will cry
vosllorarásyou will cry
él/ella/Ud.lloraráhe/she/it will cry
nosotroslloraremoswe will cry
vosotroslloraréisyou (pl.) will cry
ellos/ellas/Uds.lloraránthey will cry

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 lloradoI have cried
has lloradoyou have cried
voshas lloradoyou have cried
él/ella/Ud.ha lloradohe/she/it has cried
nosotroshemos lloradowe have cried
vosotroshabéis lloradoyou (pl.) have cried
ellos/ellas/Uds.han lloradothey have cried

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 lloradoI had cried
habías lloradoyou had cried
voshabías lloradoyou had cried
él/ella/Ud.había lloradohe/she/it had cried
nosotroshabíamos lloradowe had cried
vosotroshabíais lloradoyou (pl.) had cried
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían lloradothey had cried

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

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 lloradoI will have cried
habrás lloradoyou will have cried
voshabrás lloradoyou will have cried
él/ella/Ud.habrá lloradohe/she/it will have cried
nosotroshabremos lloradowe will have cried
vosotroshabréis lloradoyou (pl.) will have cried
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán lloradothey will have cried

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
yollore
llores
vosllores
él/ella/Ud.llore
nosotroslloremos
vosotroslloréis
ellos/ellas/Uds.lloren

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
yollorara
lloraras
voslloraras
él/ella/Ud.llorara
nosotroslloráramos
vosotrosllorarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.lloraran

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
yollorase
llorases
vosllorases
él/ella/Ud.llorase
nosotrosllorásemos
vosotroslloraseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.llorasen

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

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

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
llora
vosllorá
él/ella/Ud.llore
nosotroslloremos
vosotrosllorad
ustedeslloren

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 llores
vosno llores
él/ella/Ud.no llore
nosotrosno lloremos
vosotrosno lloréis
ustedesno lloren

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

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

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

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

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