pintar — Spanish conjugation

to paint

Frequency#698Regular

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
yopintoI paint
pintasyou paint
vospintásyou paint
él/ella/Ud.pintahe/she/it paints
nosotrospintamoswe paint
vosotrospintáisyou (pl.) paint
ellos/ellas/Uds.pintanthey paint

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
yopintéI painted
pintasteyou painted
vospintasteyou painted
él/ella/Ud.pintóhe/she/it painted
nosotrospintamoswe painted
vosotrospintasteisyou (pl.) painted
ellos/ellas/Uds.pintaronthey painted

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
yopintaba
pintabas
vospintabas
él/ella/Ud.pintaba
nosotrospintábamos
vosotrospintabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.pintaban

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
yopintaríaI would paint
pintaríasyou would paint
vospintaríasyou would paint
él/ella/Ud.pintaríahe/she/it would paint
nosotrospintaríamoswe would paint
vosotrospintaríaisyou (pl.) would paint
ellos/ellas/Uds.pintaríanthey would paint

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
yopintaréI will paint
pintarásyou will paint
vospintarásyou will paint
él/ella/Ud.pintaráhe/she/it will paint
nosotrospintaremoswe will paint
vosotrospintaréisyou (pl.) will paint
ellos/ellas/Uds.pintaránthey will paint

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 pintadoI have painted
has pintadoyou have painted
voshas pintadoyou have painted
él/ella/Ud.ha pintadohe/she/it has painted
nosotroshemos pintadowe have painted
vosotroshabéis pintadoyou (pl.) have painted
ellos/ellas/Uds.han pintadothey have painted

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 pintadoI had painted
habías pintadoyou had painted
voshabías pintadoyou had painted
él/ella/Ud.había pintadohe/she/it had painted
nosotroshabíamos pintadowe had painted
vosotroshabíais pintadoyou (pl.) had painted
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían pintadothey had painted

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

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 pintadoI will have painted
habrás pintadoyou will have painted
voshabrás pintadoyou will have painted
él/ella/Ud.habrá pintadohe/she/it will have painted
nosotroshabremos pintadowe will have painted
vosotroshabréis pintadoyou (pl.) will have painted
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán pintadothey will have painted

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
yopinte
pintes
vospintes
él/ella/Ud.pinte
nosotrospintemos
vosotrospintéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.pinten

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
yopintara
pintaras
vospintaras
él/ella/Ud.pintara
nosotrospintáramos
vosotrospintarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.pintaran

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
yopintase
pintases
vospintases
él/ella/Ud.pintase
nosotrospintásemos
vosotrospintaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.pintasen

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

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

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
pinta
vospintá
él/ella/Ud.pinte
nosotrospintemos
vosotrospintad
ustedespinten

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 pintes
vosno pintes
él/ella/Ud.no pinte
nosotrosno pintemos
vosotrosno pintéis
ustedesno pinten

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

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

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

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

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