rescatar — Spanish conjugation

to rescue

Frequency#581Regular

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
yorescatoI rescue
rescatasyou rescue
vosrescatásyou rescue
él/ella/Ud.rescatahe/she/it rescues
nosotrosrescatamoswe rescue
vosotrosrescatáisyou (pl.) rescue
ellos/ellas/Uds.rescatanthey rescue

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
yorescatéI rescued
rescatasteyou rescued
vosrescatasteyou rescued
él/ella/Ud.rescatóhe/she/it rescued
nosotrosrescatamoswe rescued
vosotrosrescatasteisyou (pl.) rescued
ellos/ellas/Uds.rescataronthey rescued

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
yorescataba
rescatabas
vosrescatabas
él/ella/Ud.rescataba
nosotrosrescatábamos
vosotrosrescatabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.rescataban

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
yorescataríaI would rescue
rescataríasyou would rescue
vosrescataríasyou would rescue
él/ella/Ud.rescataríahe/she/it would rescue
nosotrosrescataríamoswe would rescue
vosotrosrescataríaisyou (pl.) would rescue
ellos/ellas/Uds.rescataríanthey would rescue

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
yorescataréI will rescue
rescatarásyou will rescue
vosrescatarásyou will rescue
él/ella/Ud.rescataráhe/she/it will rescue
nosotrosrescataremoswe will rescue
vosotrosrescataréisyou (pl.) will rescue
ellos/ellas/Uds.rescataránthey will rescue

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 rescatadoI have rescued
has rescatadoyou have rescued
voshas rescatadoyou have rescued
él/ella/Ud.ha rescatadohe/she/it has rescued
nosotroshemos rescatadowe have rescued
vosotroshabéis rescatadoyou (pl.) have rescued
ellos/ellas/Uds.han rescatadothey have rescued

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 rescatadoI had rescued
habías rescatadoyou had rescued
voshabías rescatadoyou had rescued
él/ella/Ud.había rescatadohe/she/it had rescued
nosotroshabíamos rescatadowe had rescued
vosotroshabíais rescatadoyou (pl.) had rescued
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían rescatadothey had rescued

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

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 rescatadoI will have rescued
habrás rescatadoyou will have rescued
voshabrás rescatadoyou will have rescued
él/ella/Ud.habrá rescatadohe/she/it will have rescued
nosotroshabremos rescatadowe will have rescued
vosotroshabréis rescatadoyou (pl.) will have rescued
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán rescatadothey will have rescued

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
yorescate
rescates
vosrescates
él/ella/Ud.rescate
nosotrosrescatemos
vosotrosrescatéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.rescaten

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
yorescatara
rescataras
vosrescataras
él/ella/Ud.rescatara
nosotrosrescatáramos
vosotrosrescatarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.rescataran

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
yorescatase
rescatases
vosrescatases
él/ella/Ud.rescatase
nosotrosrescatásemos
vosotrosrescataseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.rescatasen

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

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

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
rescata
vosrescatá
él/ella/Ud.rescate
nosotrosrescatemos
vosotrosrescatad
ustedesrescaten

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 rescates
vosno rescates
él/ella/Ud.no rescate
nosotrosno rescatemos
vosotrosno rescatéis
ustedesno rescaten

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

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

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

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

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