mandar — Spanish conjugation

to send

Frequency#1492Regular

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
yomandoI send
mandasyou send
vosmandásyou send
él/ella/Ud.mandahe/she/it sends
nosotrosmandamoswe send
vosotrosmandáisyou (pl.) send
ellos/ellas/Uds.mandanthey send

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
yomandéI sent
mandasteyou sent
vosmandasteyou sent
él/ella/Ud.mandóhe/she/it sent
nosotrosmandamoswe sent
vosotrosmandasteisyou (pl.) sent
ellos/ellas/Uds.mandaronthey sent

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
yomandaba
mandabas
vosmandabas
él/ella/Ud.mandaba
nosotrosmandábamos
vosotrosmandabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.mandaban

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
yomandaríaI would send
mandaríasyou would send
vosmandaríasyou would send
él/ella/Ud.mandaríahe/she/it would send
nosotrosmandaríamoswe would send
vosotrosmandaríaisyou (pl.) would send
ellos/ellas/Uds.mandaríanthey would send

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
yomandaréI will send
mandarásyou will send
vosmandarásyou will send
él/ella/Ud.mandaráhe/she/it will send
nosotrosmandaremoswe will send
vosotrosmandaréisyou (pl.) will send
ellos/ellas/Uds.mandaránthey will send

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 mandadoI have sent
has mandadoyou have sent
voshas mandadoyou have sent
él/ella/Ud.ha mandadohe/she/it has sent
nosotroshemos mandadowe have sent
vosotroshabéis mandadoyou (pl.) have sent
ellos/ellas/Uds.han mandadothey have sent

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 mandadoI had sent
habías mandadoyou had sent
voshabías mandadoyou had sent
él/ella/Ud.había mandadohe/she/it had sent
nosotroshabíamos mandadowe had sent
vosotroshabíais mandadoyou (pl.) had sent
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían mandadothey had sent

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

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 mandadoI will have sent
habrás mandadoyou will have sent
voshabrás mandadoyou will have sent
él/ella/Ud.habrá mandadohe/she/it will have sent
nosotroshabremos mandadowe will have sent
vosotroshabréis mandadoyou (pl.) will have sent
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán mandadothey will have sent

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
yomande
mandes
vosmandes
él/ella/Ud.mande
nosotrosmandemos
vosotrosmandéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.manden

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
yomandara
mandaras
vosmandaras
él/ella/Ud.mandara
nosotrosmandáramos
vosotrosmandarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.mandaran

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
yomandase
mandases
vosmandases
él/ella/Ud.mandase
nosotrosmandásemos
vosotrosmandaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.mandasen

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

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

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
manda
vosmandá
él/ella/Ud.mande
nosotrosmandemos
vosotrosmandad
ustedesmanden

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 mandes
vosno mandes
él/ella/Ud.no mande
nosotrosno mandemos
vosotrosno mandéis
ustedesno manden

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

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

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

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

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