salar — Spanish conjugation

to salt

Frequency#627Regular

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
yosaloI salt
salasyou salt
vossalásyou salt
él/ella/Ud.salahe/she/it salts
nosotrossalamoswe salt
vosotrossaláisyou (pl.) salt
ellos/ellas/Uds.salanthey salt

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
yosaléI salted
salasteyou salted
vossalasteyou salted
él/ella/Ud.salóhe/she/it salted
nosotrossalamoswe salted
vosotrossalasteisyou (pl.) salted
ellos/ellas/Uds.salaronthey salted

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
yosalaba
salabas
vossalabas
él/ella/Ud.salaba
nosotrossalábamos
vosotrossalabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.salaban

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
yosalaríaI would salt
salaríasyou would salt
vossalaríasyou would salt
él/ella/Ud.salaríahe/she/it would salt
nosotrossalaríamoswe would salt
vosotrossalaríaisyou (pl.) would salt
ellos/ellas/Uds.salaríanthey would salt

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
yosalaréI will salt
salarásyou will salt
vossalarásyou will salt
él/ella/Ud.salaráhe/she/it will salt
nosotrossalaremoswe will salt
vosotrossalaréisyou (pl.) will salt
ellos/ellas/Uds.salaránthey will salt

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 saladoI have salted
has saladoyou have salted
voshas saladoyou have salted
él/ella/Ud.ha saladohe/she/it has salted
nosotroshemos saladowe have salted
vosotroshabéis saladoyou (pl.) have salted
ellos/ellas/Uds.han saladothey have salted

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 saladoI had salted
habías saladoyou had salted
voshabías saladoyou had salted
él/ella/Ud.había saladohe/she/it had salted
nosotroshabíamos saladowe had salted
vosotroshabíais saladoyou (pl.) had salted
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían saladothey had salted

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

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 saladoI will have salted
habrás saladoyou will have salted
voshabrás saladoyou will have salted
él/ella/Ud.habrá saladohe/she/it will have salted
nosotroshabremos saladowe will have salted
vosotroshabréis saladoyou (pl.) will have salted
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán saladothey will have salted

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
yosale
sales
vossales
él/ella/Ud.sale
nosotrossalemos
vosotrossaléis
ellos/ellas/Uds.salen

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
yosalara
salaras
vossalaras
él/ella/Ud.salara
nosotrossaláramos
vosotrossalarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.salaran

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
yosalase
salases
vossalases
él/ella/Ud.salase
nosotrossalásemos
vosotrossalaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.salasen

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

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

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
sala
vossalá
él/ella/Ud.sale
nosotrossalemos
vosotrossalad
ustedessalen

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 sales
vosno sales
él/ella/Ud.no sale
nosotrosno salemos
vosotrosno saléis
ustedesno salen

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

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

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

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

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