marchar — Spanish conjugation

to march

Frequency#1118Regular

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
yomarchoI march
marchasyou march
vosmarchásyou march
él/ella/Ud.marchahe/she/it marches
nosotrosmarchamoswe march
vosotrosmarcháisyou (pl.) march
ellos/ellas/Uds.marchanthey march

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
yomarchéI marched
marchasteyou marched
vosmarchasteyou marched
él/ella/Ud.marchóhe/she/it marched
nosotrosmarchamoswe marched
vosotrosmarchasteisyou (pl.) marched
ellos/ellas/Uds.marcharonthey marched

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
yomarchaba
marchabas
vosmarchabas
él/ella/Ud.marchaba
nosotrosmarchábamos
vosotrosmarchabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.marchaban

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
yomarcharíaI would march
marcharíasyou would march
vosmarcharíasyou would march
él/ella/Ud.marcharíahe/she/it would march
nosotrosmarcharíamoswe would march
vosotrosmarcharíaisyou (pl.) would march
ellos/ellas/Uds.marcharíanthey would march

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
yomarcharéI will march
marcharásyou will march
vosmarcharásyou will march
él/ella/Ud.marcharáhe/she/it will march
nosotrosmarcharemoswe will march
vosotrosmarcharéisyou (pl.) will march
ellos/ellas/Uds.marcharánthey will march

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 marchadoI have marched
has marchadoyou have marched
voshas marchadoyou have marched
él/ella/Ud.ha marchadohe/she/it has marched
nosotroshemos marchadowe have marched
vosotroshabéis marchadoyou (pl.) have marched
ellos/ellas/Uds.han marchadothey have marched

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 marchadoI had marched
habías marchadoyou had marched
voshabías marchadoyou had marched
él/ella/Ud.había marchadohe/she/it had marched
nosotroshabíamos marchadowe had marched
vosotroshabíais marchadoyou (pl.) had marched
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían marchadothey had marched

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

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 marchadoI will have marched
habrás marchadoyou will have marched
voshabrás marchadoyou will have marched
él/ella/Ud.habrá marchadohe/she/it will have marched
nosotroshabremos marchadowe will have marched
vosotroshabréis marchadoyou (pl.) will have marched
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán marchadothey will have marched

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
yomarche
marches
vosmarches
él/ella/Ud.marche
nosotrosmarchemos
vosotrosmarchéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.marchen

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
yomarchara
marcharas
vosmarcharas
él/ella/Ud.marchara
nosotrosmarcháramos
vosotrosmarcharais
ellos/ellas/Uds.marcharan

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
yomarchase
marchases
vosmarchases
él/ella/Ud.marchase
nosotrosmarchásemos
vosotrosmarchaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.marchasen

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

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

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
marcha
vosmarchá
él/ella/Ud.marche
nosotrosmarchemos
vosotrosmarchad
ustedesmarchen

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 marches
vosno marches
él/ella/Ud.no marche
nosotrosno marchemos
vosotrosno marchéis
ustedesno marchen

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

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

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

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

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