posponer — Spanish conjugation

to postpone

Frequency#74Irregular

Indicative

Present (Presente) Irregular

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
yopospongoI postpone
posponesyou postpone
vosposponésyou postpone
él/ella/Ud.posponehe/she/it postpones
nosotrosposponemoswe postpone
vosotrosposponéisyou (pl.) postpone
ellos/ellas/Uds.posponenthey postpone

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
yopospuseI postponed
pospusisteyou postponed
vospospusisteyou postponed
él/ella/Ud.pospusohe/she/it postponed
nosotrospospusimoswe postponed
vosotrospospusisteisyou (pl.) postponed
ellos/ellas/Uds.pospusieronthey postponed

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
yoposponía
posponías
vosposponías
él/ella/Ud.posponía
nosotrosposponíamos
vosotrosposponíais
ellos/ellas/Uds.posponían

Conditional (Condicional) Irregular

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
yopospondríaI would postpone
pospondríasyou would postpone
vospospondríasyou would postpone
él/ella/Ud.pospondríahe/she/it would postpone
nosotrospospondríamoswe would postpone
vosotrospospondríaisyou (pl.) would postpone
ellos/ellas/Uds.pospondríanthey would postpone

Future (Futuro) Irregular

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
yopospondréI will postpone
pospondrásyou will postpone
vospospondrásyou will postpone
él/ella/Ud.pospondráhe/she/it will postpone
nosotrospospondremoswe will postpone
vosotrospospondréisyou (pl.) will postpone
ellos/ellas/Uds.pospondránthey will postpone

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 pospuestoI have postponed
has pospuestoyou have postponed
voshas pospuestoyou have postponed
él/ella/Ud.ha pospuestohe/she/it has postponed
nosotroshemos pospuestowe have postponed
vosotroshabéis pospuestoyou (pl.) have postponed
ellos/ellas/Uds.han pospuestothey have postponed

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 pospuestoI had postponed
habías pospuestoyou had postponed
voshabías pospuestoyou had postponed
él/ella/Ud.había pospuestohe/she/it had postponed
nosotroshabíamos pospuestowe had postponed
vosotroshabíais pospuestoyou (pl.) had postponed
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían pospuestothey had postponed

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

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 pospuestoI will have postponed
habrás pospuestoyou will have postponed
voshabrás pospuestoyou will have postponed
él/ella/Ud.habrá pospuestohe/she/it will have postponed
nosotroshabremos pospuestowe will have postponed
vosotroshabréis pospuestoyou (pl.) will have postponed
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán pospuestothey will have postponed

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
yoposponga
pospongas
vospospongas
él/ella/Ud.posponga
nosotrospospongamos
vosotrospospongáis
ellos/ellas/Uds.pospongan

Imperfect subjunctive (-ra) (Subjuntivo imperfecto (-ra)) Irregular

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
yopospusiera
pospusieras
vospospusieras
él/ella/Ud.pospusiera
nosotrospospusiéramos
vosotrospospusierais
ellos/ellas/Uds.pospusieran

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
yopospusiese
pospusieses
vospospusieses
él/ella/Ud.pospusiese
nosotrospospusiésemos
vosotrospospusieseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.pospusiesen

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

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

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
pospón
vosposponé
él/ella/Ud.posponga
nosotrospospongamos
vosotrosposponed
ustedespospongan

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 pospongas
vosno pospongas
él/ella/Ud.no posponga
nosotrosno pospongamos
vosotrosno pospongáis
ustedesno pospongan

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

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

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

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

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