musicar — Spanish conjugation

to set to music

Frequency#843Irregular

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

PronounSpanish
yomusico
musicas
vosmusicás
él/ella/Ud.musica
nosotrosmusicamos
vosotrosmusicáis
ellos/ellas/Uds.musican

Preterite (Pretérito indefinido) Irregular

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

PronounSpanish
yomusiqué
musicaste
vosmusicaste
él/ella/Ud.musicó
nosotrosmusicamos
vosotrosmusicasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds.musicaron

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
yomusicaba
musicabas
vosmusicabas
él/ella/Ud.musicaba
nosotrosmusicábamos
vosotrosmusicabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.musicaban

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?

PronounSpanish
yomusicaría
musicarías
vosmusicarías
él/ella/Ud.musicaría
nosotrosmusicaríamos
vosotrosmusicaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds.musicarían

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

PronounSpanish
yomusicaré
musicarás
vosmusicarás
él/ella/Ud.musicará
nosotrosmusicaremos
vosotrosmusicaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds.musicarán

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

PronounSpanish
yohe musicado
has musicado
voshas musicado
él/ella/Ud.ha musicado
nosotroshemos musicado
vosotroshabéis musicado
ellos/ellas/Uds.han musicado

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

PronounSpanish
yohabía musicado
habías musicado
voshabías musicado
él/ella/Ud.había musicado
nosotroshabíamos musicado
vosotroshabíais musicado
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían musicado

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

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

PronounSpanish
yohabré musicado
habrás musicado
voshabrás musicado
él/ella/Ud.habrá musicado
nosotroshabremos musicado
vosotroshabréis musicado
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán musicado

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjuntivo presente) Irregular

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
yomusique
musiques
vosmusiques
él/ella/Ud.musique
nosotrosmusiquemos
vosotrosmusiquéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.musiquen

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
yomusicara
musicaras
vosmusicaras
él/ella/Ud.musicara
nosotrosmusicáramos
vosotrosmusicarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.musicaran

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
yomusicase
musicases
vosmusicases
él/ella/Ud.musicase
nosotrosmusicásemos
vosotrosmusicaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.musicasen

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

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

Other forms

Imperative (affirmative) (Imperativo afirmativo) Irregular

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
musica
vosmusicá
él/ella/Ud.musique
nosotrosmusiquemos
vosotrosmusicad
ustedesmusiquen

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 musiques
vosno musiques
él/ella/Ud.no musique
nosotrosno musiquemos
vosotrosno musiquéis
ustedesno musiquen

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

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

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

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

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