pinchar — Spanish conjugation

to prick

Frequency#929Regular

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
yopinchoI prick
pinchasyou prick
vospinchásyou prick
él/ella/Ud.pinchahe/she/it pricks
nosotrospinchamoswe prick
vosotrospincháisyou (pl.) prick
ellos/ellas/Uds.pinchanthey prick

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
yopinchéI pricked
pinchasteyou pricked
vospinchasteyou pricked
él/ella/Ud.pinchóhe/she/it pricked
nosotrospinchamoswe pricked
vosotrospinchasteisyou (pl.) pricked
ellos/ellas/Uds.pincharonthey pricked

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
yopinchaba
pinchabas
vospinchabas
él/ella/Ud.pinchaba
nosotrospinchábamos
vosotrospinchabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.pinchaban

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
yopincharíaI would prick
pincharíasyou would prick
vospincharíasyou would prick
él/ella/Ud.pincharíahe/she/it would prick
nosotrospincharíamoswe would prick
vosotrospincharíaisyou (pl.) would prick
ellos/ellas/Uds.pincharíanthey would prick

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
yopincharéI will prick
pincharásyou will prick
vospincharásyou will prick
él/ella/Ud.pincharáhe/she/it will prick
nosotrospincharemoswe will prick
vosotrospincharéisyou (pl.) will prick
ellos/ellas/Uds.pincharánthey will prick

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 pinchadoI have pricked
has pinchadoyou have pricked
voshas pinchadoyou have pricked
él/ella/Ud.ha pinchadohe/she/it has pricked
nosotroshemos pinchadowe have pricked
vosotroshabéis pinchadoyou (pl.) have pricked
ellos/ellas/Uds.han pinchadothey have pricked

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 pinchadoI had pricked
habías pinchadoyou had pricked
voshabías pinchadoyou had pricked
él/ella/Ud.había pinchadohe/she/it had pricked
nosotroshabíamos pinchadowe had pricked
vosotroshabíais pinchadoyou (pl.) had pricked
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían pinchadothey had pricked

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

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 pinchadoI will have pricked
habrás pinchadoyou will have pricked
voshabrás pinchadoyou will have pricked
él/ella/Ud.habrá pinchadohe/she/it will have pricked
nosotroshabremos pinchadowe will have pricked
vosotroshabréis pinchadoyou (pl.) will have pricked
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán pinchadothey will have pricked

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
yopinche
pinches
vospinches
él/ella/Ud.pinche
nosotrospinchemos
vosotrospinchéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.pinchen

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
yopinchara
pincharas
vospincharas
él/ella/Ud.pinchara
nosotrospincháramos
vosotrospincharais
ellos/ellas/Uds.pincharan

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
yopinchase
pinchases
vospinchases
él/ella/Ud.pinchase
nosotrospinchásemos
vosotrospinchaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.pinchasen

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

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

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
pincha
vospinchá
él/ella/Ud.pinche
nosotrospinchemos
vosotrospinchad
ustedespinchen

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 pinches
vosno pinches
él/ella/Ud.no pinche
nosotrosno pinchemos
vosotrosno pinchéis
ustedesno pinchen

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

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

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

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

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