ondular — Spanish conjugation

to wave

Frequency#762Regular

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
yoonduloI wave
ondulasyou wave
vosondulásyou wave
él/ella/Ud.ondulahe/she/it waves
nosotrosondulamoswe wave
vosotrosonduláisyou (pl.) wave
ellos/ellas/Uds.ondulanthey wave

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
yoonduléI waved
ondulasteyou waved
vosondulasteyou waved
él/ella/Ud.ondulóhe/she/it waved
nosotrosondulamoswe waved
vosotrosondulasteisyou (pl.) waved
ellos/ellas/Uds.ondularonthey waved

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
yoondulaba
ondulabas
vosondulabas
él/ella/Ud.ondulaba
nosotrosondulábamos
vosotrosondulabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.ondulaban

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
yoondularíaI would wave
ondularíasyou would wave
vosondularíasyou would wave
él/ella/Ud.ondularíahe/she/it would wave
nosotrosondularíamoswe would wave
vosotrosondularíaisyou (pl.) would wave
ellos/ellas/Uds.ondularíanthey would wave

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
yoondularéI will wave
ondularásyou will wave
vosondularásyou will wave
él/ella/Ud.ondularáhe/she/it will wave
nosotrosondularemoswe will wave
vosotrosondularéisyou (pl.) will wave
ellos/ellas/Uds.ondularánthey will wave

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 onduladoI have waved
has onduladoyou have waved
voshas onduladoyou have waved
él/ella/Ud.ha onduladohe/she/it has waved
nosotroshemos onduladowe have waved
vosotroshabéis onduladoyou (pl.) have waved
ellos/ellas/Uds.han onduladothey have waved

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 onduladoI had waved
habías onduladoyou had waved
voshabías onduladoyou had waved
él/ella/Ud.había onduladohe/she/it had waved
nosotroshabíamos onduladowe had waved
vosotroshabíais onduladoyou (pl.) had waved
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían onduladothey had waved

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

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 onduladoI will have waved
habrás onduladoyou will have waved
voshabrás onduladoyou will have waved
él/ella/Ud.habrá onduladohe/she/it will have waved
nosotroshabremos onduladowe will have waved
vosotroshabréis onduladoyou (pl.) will have waved
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán onduladothey will have waved

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
yoondule
ondules
vosondules
él/ella/Ud.ondule
nosotrosondulemos
vosotrosonduléis
ellos/ellas/Uds.ondulen

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
yoondulara
ondularas
vosondularas
él/ella/Ud.ondulara
nosotrosonduláramos
vosotrosondularais
ellos/ellas/Uds.ondularan

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
yoondulase
ondulases
vosondulases
él/ella/Ud.ondulase
nosotrosondulásemos
vosotrosondulaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.ondulasen

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

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

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
ondula
vosondulá
él/ella/Ud.ondule
nosotrosondulemos
vosotrosondulad
ustedesondulen

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 ondules
vosno ondules
él/ella/Ud.no ondule
nosotrosno ondulemos
vosotrosno onduléis
ustedesno ondulen

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

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

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

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

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