provocar — Spanish conjugation

to provoke

Frequency#216Irregular

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
yoprovocoI provoke
provocasyou provoke
vosprovocásyou provoke
él/ella/Ud.provocahe/she/it provokes
nosotrosprovocamoswe provoke
vosotrosprovocáisyou (pl.) provoke
ellos/ellas/Uds.provocanthey provoke

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
yoprovoquéI provoked
provocasteyou provoked
vosprovocasteyou provoked
él/ella/Ud.provocóhe/she/it provoked
nosotrosprovocamoswe provoked
vosotrosprovocasteisyou (pl.) provoked
ellos/ellas/Uds.provocaronthey provoked

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
yoprovocaba
provocabas
vosprovocabas
él/ella/Ud.provocaba
nosotrosprovocábamos
vosotrosprovocabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.provocaban

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
yoprovocaríaI would provoke
provocaríasyou would provoke
vosprovocaríasyou would provoke
él/ella/Ud.provocaríahe/she/it would provoke
nosotrosprovocaríamoswe would provoke
vosotrosprovocaríaisyou (pl.) would provoke
ellos/ellas/Uds.provocaríanthey would provoke

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
yoprovocaréI will provoke
provocarásyou will provoke
vosprovocarásyou will provoke
él/ella/Ud.provocaráhe/she/it will provoke
nosotrosprovocaremoswe will provoke
vosotrosprovocaréisyou (pl.) will provoke
ellos/ellas/Uds.provocaránthey will provoke

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 provocadoI have provoked
has provocadoyou have provoked
voshas provocadoyou have provoked
él/ella/Ud.ha provocadohe/she/it has provoked
nosotroshemos provocadowe have provoked
vosotroshabéis provocadoyou (pl.) have provoked
ellos/ellas/Uds.han provocadothey have provoked

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 provocadoI had provoked
habías provocadoyou had provoked
voshabías provocadoyou had provoked
él/ella/Ud.había provocadohe/she/it had provoked
nosotroshabíamos provocadowe had provoked
vosotroshabíais provocadoyou (pl.) had provoked
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían provocadothey had provoked

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

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 provocadoI will have provoked
habrás provocadoyou will have provoked
voshabrás provocadoyou will have provoked
él/ella/Ud.habrá provocadohe/she/it will have provoked
nosotroshabremos provocadowe will have provoked
vosotroshabréis provocadoyou (pl.) will have provoked
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán provocadothey will have provoked

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
yoprovoque
provoques
vosprovoques
él/ella/Ud.provoque
nosotrosprovoquemos
vosotrosprovoquéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.provoquen

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
yoprovocara
provocaras
vosprovocaras
él/ella/Ud.provocara
nosotrosprovocáramos
vosotrosprovocarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.provocaran

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
yoprovocase
provocases
vosprovocases
él/ella/Ud.provocase
nosotrosprovocásemos
vosotrosprovocaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.provocasen

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

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

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
provoca
vosprovocá
él/ella/Ud.provoque
nosotrosprovoquemos
vosotrosprovocad
ustedesprovoquen

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 provoques
vosno provoques
él/ella/Ud.no provoque
nosotrosno provoquemos
vosotrosno provoquéis
ustedesno provoquen

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

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

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

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

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