recordar — Spanish conjugation

to remember

Frequency#45Irregular

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
yorecuerdoI remember
recuerdasyou remember
vosrecordásyou remember
él/ella/Ud.recuerdahe/she/it remembers
nosotrosrecordamoswe remember
vosotrosrecordáisyou (pl.) remember
ellos/ellas/Uds.recuerdanthey remember

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
yorecordéI remembered
recordasteyou remembered
vosrecordasteyou remembered
él/ella/Ud.recordóhe/she/it remembered
nosotrosrecordamoswe remembered
vosotrosrecordasteisyou (pl.) remembered
ellos/ellas/Uds.recordaronthey remembered

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
yorecordaba
recordabas
vosrecordabas
él/ella/Ud.recordaba
nosotrosrecordábamos
vosotrosrecordabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.recordaban

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
yorecordaríaI would remember
recordaríasyou would remember
vosrecordaríasyou would remember
él/ella/Ud.recordaríahe/she/it would remember
nosotrosrecordaríamoswe would remember
vosotrosrecordaríaisyou (pl.) would remember
ellos/ellas/Uds.recordaríanthey would remember

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
yorecordaréI will remember
recordarásyou will remember
vosrecordarásyou will remember
él/ella/Ud.recordaráhe/she/it will remember
nosotrosrecordaremoswe will remember
vosotrosrecordaréisyou (pl.) will remember
ellos/ellas/Uds.recordaránthey will remember

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 recordadoI have remembered
has recordadoyou have remembered
voshas recordadoyou have remembered
él/ella/Ud.ha recordadohe/she/it has remembered
nosotroshemos recordadowe have remembered
vosotroshabéis recordadoyou (pl.) have remembered
ellos/ellas/Uds.han recordadothey have remembered

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 recordadoI had remembered
habías recordadoyou had remembered
voshabías recordadoyou had remembered
él/ella/Ud.había recordadohe/she/it had remembered
nosotroshabíamos recordadowe had remembered
vosotroshabíais recordadoyou (pl.) had remembered
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían recordadothey had remembered

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

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 recordadoI will have remembered
habrás recordadoyou will have remembered
voshabrás recordadoyou will have remembered
él/ella/Ud.habrá recordadohe/she/it will have remembered
nosotroshabremos recordadowe will have remembered
vosotroshabréis recordadoyou (pl.) will have remembered
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán recordadothey will have remembered

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
yorecuerde
recuerdes
vosrecuerdes
él/ella/Ud.recuerde
nosotrosrecordemos
vosotrosrecordéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.recuerden

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
yorecordara
recordaras
vosrecordaras
él/ella/Ud.recordara
nosotrosrecordáramos
vosotrosrecordarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.recordaran

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
yorecordase
recordases
vosrecordases
él/ella/Ud.recordase
nosotrosrecordásemos
vosotrosrecordaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.recordasen

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

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

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
recuerda
vosrecordá
él/ella/Ud.recuerde
nosotrosrecordemos
vosotrosrecordad
ustedesrecuerden

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 recuerdes
vosno recuerdes
él/ella/Ud.no recuerde
nosotrosno recordemos
vosotrosno recordéis
ustedesno recuerden

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

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

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

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

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