prestar — Spanish conjugation

to lend

Frequency#134Regular

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
yoprestoI lend
prestasyou lend
vosprestásyou lend
él/ella/Ud.prestahe/she/it lends
nosotrosprestamoswe lend
vosotrosprestáisyou (pl.) lend
ellos/ellas/Uds.prestanthey lend

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
yoprestéI lent
prestasteyou lent
vosprestasteyou lent
él/ella/Ud.prestóhe/she/it lent
nosotrosprestamoswe lent
vosotrosprestasteisyou (pl.) lent
ellos/ellas/Uds.prestaronthey lent

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
yoprestaba
prestabas
vosprestabas
él/ella/Ud.prestaba
nosotrosprestábamos
vosotrosprestabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.prestaban

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
yoprestaríaI would lend
prestaríasyou would lend
vosprestaríasyou would lend
él/ella/Ud.prestaríahe/she/it would lend
nosotrosprestaríamoswe would lend
vosotrosprestaríaisyou (pl.) would lend
ellos/ellas/Uds.prestaríanthey would lend

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
yoprestaréI will lend
prestarásyou will lend
vosprestarásyou will lend
él/ella/Ud.prestaráhe/she/it will lend
nosotrosprestaremoswe will lend
vosotrosprestaréisyou (pl.) will lend
ellos/ellas/Uds.prestaránthey will lend

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 prestadoI have lent
has prestadoyou have lent
voshas prestadoyou have lent
él/ella/Ud.ha prestadohe/she/it has lent
nosotroshemos prestadowe have lent
vosotroshabéis prestadoyou (pl.) have lent
ellos/ellas/Uds.han prestadothey have lent

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 prestadoI had lent
habías prestadoyou had lent
voshabías prestadoyou had lent
él/ella/Ud.había prestadohe/she/it had lent
nosotroshabíamos prestadowe had lent
vosotroshabíais prestadoyou (pl.) had lent
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían prestadothey had lent

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

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 prestadoI will have lent
habrás prestadoyou will have lent
voshabrás prestadoyou will have lent
él/ella/Ud.habrá prestadohe/she/it will have lent
nosotroshabremos prestadowe will have lent
vosotroshabréis prestadoyou (pl.) will have lent
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán prestadothey will have lent

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
yopreste
prestes
vosprestes
él/ella/Ud.preste
nosotrosprestemos
vosotrosprestéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.presten

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
yoprestara
prestaras
vosprestaras
él/ella/Ud.prestara
nosotrosprestáramos
vosotrosprestarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.prestaran

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
yoprestase
prestases
vosprestases
él/ella/Ud.prestase
nosotrosprestásemos
vosotrosprestaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.prestasen

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

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

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
presta
vosprestá
él/ella/Ud.preste
nosotrosprestemos
vosotrosprestad
ustedespresten

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 prestes
vosno prestes
él/ella/Ud.no preste
nosotrosno prestemos
vosotrosno prestéis
ustedesno presten

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

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

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

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

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