secretar — Spanish conjugation

to secretary (to act as a secretary)

Frequency#372Regular

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
yosecreto
secretas
vossecretás
él/ella/Ud.secreta
nosotrossecretamos
vosotrossecretáis
ellos/ellas/Uds.secretan

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
yosecreté
secretaste
vossecretaste
él/ella/Ud.secretó
nosotrossecretamos
vosotrossecretasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds.secretaron

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
yosecretaba
secretabas
vossecretabas
él/ella/Ud.secretaba
nosotrossecretábamos
vosotrossecretabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.secretaban

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
yosecretaría
secretarías
vossecretarías
él/ella/Ud.secretaría
nosotrossecretaríamos
vosotrossecretaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds.secretarían

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
yosecretaré
secretarás
vossecretarás
él/ella/Ud.secretará
nosotrossecretaremos
vosotrossecretaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds.secretarán

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

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

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

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

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
yosecrete
secretes
vossecretes
él/ella/Ud.secrete
nosotrossecretemos
vosotrossecretéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.secreten

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
yosecretara
secretaras
vossecretaras
él/ella/Ud.secretara
nosotrossecretáramos
vosotrossecretarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.secretaran

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
yosecretase
secretases
vossecretases
él/ella/Ud.secretase
nosotrossecretásemos
vosotrossecretaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.secretasen

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

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

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
secreta
vossecretá
él/ella/Ud.secrete
nosotrossecretemos
vosotrossecretad
ustedessecreten

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 secretes
vosno secretes
él/ella/Ud.no secrete
nosotrosno secretemos
vosotrosno secretéis
ustedesno secreten

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

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

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

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

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