romper — Spanish conjugation

to break

Frequency#117Regular

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
yorompoI break
rompesyou break
vosrompésyou break
él/ella/Ud.rompehe/she/it breaks
nosotrosrompemoswe break
vosotrosrompéisyou (pl.) break
ellos/ellas/Uds.rompenthey break

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
yorompíI broke
rompisteyou broke
vosrompisteyou broke
él/ella/Ud.rompióhe/she/it broke
nosotrosrompimoswe broke
vosotrosrompisteisyou (pl.) broke
ellos/ellas/Uds.rompieronthey broke

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
yorompía
rompías
vosrompías
él/ella/Ud.rompía
nosotrosrompíamos
vosotrosrompíais
ellos/ellas/Uds.rompían

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
yoromperíaI would break
romperíasyou would break
vosromperíasyou would break
él/ella/Ud.romperíahe/she/it would break
nosotrosromperíamoswe would break
vosotrosromperíaisyou (pl.) would break
ellos/ellas/Uds.romperíanthey would break

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
yoromperéI will break
romperásyou will break
vosromperásyou will break
él/ella/Ud.romperáhe/she/it will break
nosotrosromperemoswe will break
vosotrosromperéisyou (pl.) will break
ellos/ellas/Uds.romperánthey will break

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 rotoI have broken
has rotoyou have broken
voshas rotoyou have broken
él/ella/Ud.ha rotohe/she/it has broken
nosotroshemos rotowe have broken
vosotroshabéis rotoyou (pl.) have broken
ellos/ellas/Uds.han rotothey have broken

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 rotoI had broken
habías rotoyou had broken
voshabías rotoyou had broken
él/ella/Ud.había rotohe/she/it had broken
nosotroshabíamos rotowe had broken
vosotroshabíais rotoyou (pl.) had broken
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían rotothey had broken

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

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 rotoI will have broken
habrás rotoyou will have broken
voshabrás rotoyou will have broken
él/ella/Ud.habrá rotohe/she/it will have broken
nosotroshabremos rotowe will have broken
vosotroshabréis rotoyou (pl.) will have broken
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán rotothey will have broken

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
yorompa
rompas
vosrompas
él/ella/Ud.rompa
nosotrosrompamos
vosotrosrompáis
ellos/ellas/Uds.rompan

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
yorompiera
rompieras
vosrompieras
él/ella/Ud.rompiera
nosotrosrompiéramos
vosotrosrompierais
ellos/ellas/Uds.rompieran

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
yorompiese
rompieses
vosrompieses
él/ella/Ud.rompiese
nosotrosrompiésemos
vosotrosrompieseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.rompiesen

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

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

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
rompe
vosrompé
él/ella/Ud.rompa
nosotrosrompamos
vosotrosromped
ustedesrompan

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 rompas
vosno rompas
él/ella/Ud.no rompa
nosotrosno rompamos
vosotrosno rompáis
ustedesno rompan

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

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

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

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

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