recostar — Spanish conjugation

to lie down again

Frequency#36Irregular

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

PronounSpanish
yorecuesto
recuestas
vosrecostás
él/ella/Ud.recuesta
nosotrosrecostamos
vosotrosrecostáis
ellos/ellas/Uds.recuestan

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

PronounSpanish
yorecosté
recostaste
vosrecostaste
él/ella/Ud.recostó
nosotrosrecostamos
vosotrosrecostasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds.recostaron

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
yorecostaba
recostabas
vosrecostabas
él/ella/Ud.recostaba
nosotrosrecostábamos
vosotrosrecostabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.recostaban

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?

PronounSpanish
yorecostaría
recostarías
vosrecostarías
él/ella/Ud.recostaría
nosotrosrecostaríamos
vosotrosrecostaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds.recostarían

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

PronounSpanish
yorecostaré
recostarás
vosrecostarás
él/ella/Ud.recostará
nosotrosrecostaremos
vosotrosrecostaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds.recostarán

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

PronounSpanish
yohe recostado
has recostado
voshas recostado
él/ella/Ud.ha recostado
nosotroshemos recostado
vosotroshabéis recostado
ellos/ellas/Uds.han recostado

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

PronounSpanish
yohabía recostado
habías recostado
voshabías recostado
él/ella/Ud.había recostado
nosotroshabíamos recostado
vosotroshabíais recostado
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían recostado

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

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

PronounSpanish
yohabré recostado
habrás recostado
voshabrás recostado
él/ella/Ud.habrá recostado
nosotroshabremos recostado
vosotroshabréis recostado
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán recostado

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
yorecueste
recuestes
vosrecuestes
él/ella/Ud.recueste
nosotrosrecostemos
vosotrosrecostéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.recuesten

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
yorecostara
recostaras
vosrecostaras
él/ella/Ud.recostara
nosotrosrecostáramos
vosotrosrecostarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.recostaran

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
yorecostase
recostases
vosrecostases
él/ella/Ud.recostase
nosotrosrecostásemos
vosotrosrecostaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.recostasen

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

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

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
recuesta
vosrecostá
él/ella/Ud.recueste
nosotrosrecostemos
vosotrosrecostad
ustedesrecuesten

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 recuestes
vosno recuestes
él/ella/Ud.no recueste
nosotrosno recostemos
vosotrosno recostéis
ustedesno recuesten

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

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

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

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

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