regular — Spanish conjugation

regular

Frequency#427Regular

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

PronounSpanish
yoregulo
regulas
vosregulás
él/ella/Ud.regula
nosotrosregulamos
vosotrosreguláis
ellos/ellas/Uds.regulan

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
yoregulé
regulaste
vosregulaste
él/ella/Ud.reguló
nosotrosregulamos
vosotrosregulasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds.regularon

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
yoregulaba
regulabas
vosregulabas
él/ella/Ud.regulaba
nosotrosregulábamos
vosotrosregulabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.regulaban

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
yoregularía
regularías
vosregularías
él/ella/Ud.regularía
nosotrosregularíamos
vosotrosregularíais
ellos/ellas/Uds.regularían

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
yoregularé
regularás
vosregularás
él/ella/Ud.regulará
nosotrosregularemos
vosotrosregularéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.regularán

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 regulado
has regulado
voshas regulado
él/ella/Ud.ha regulado
nosotroshemos regulado
vosotroshabéis regulado
ellos/ellas/Uds.han regulado

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 regulado
habías regulado
voshabías regulado
él/ella/Ud.había regulado
nosotroshabíamos regulado
vosotroshabíais regulado
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían regulado

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

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 regulado
habrás regulado
voshabrás regulado
él/ella/Ud.habrá regulado
nosotroshabremos regulado
vosotroshabréis regulado
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán regulado

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
yoregule
regules
vosregules
él/ella/Ud.regule
nosotrosregulemos
vosotrosreguléis
ellos/ellas/Uds.regulen

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
yoregulara
regularas
vosregularas
él/ella/Ud.regulara
nosotrosreguláramos
vosotrosregularais
ellos/ellas/Uds.regularan

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
yoregulase
regulases
vosregulases
él/ella/Ud.regulase
nosotrosregulásemos
vosotrosregulaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.regulasen

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

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

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
regula
vosregulá
él/ella/Ud.regule
nosotrosregulemos
vosotrosregulad
ustedesregulen

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 regules
vosno regules
él/ella/Ud.no regule
nosotrosno regulemos
vosotrosno reguléis
ustedesno regulen

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

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

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

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

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