sentir — Spanish conjugation

to feel

Frequency#31IrregularReflexivesentirse — to feel

Indicative

Present (Presente) Irregular

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
yosientoI feel
sientesyou feel
vossentísyou feel
él/ella/Ud.sientehe/she/it feels
nosotrossentimoswe feel
vosotrossentísyou (pl.) feel
ellos/ellas/Uds.siententhey feel

Preterite (Pretérito indefinido) Irregular

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
yosentíI felt
sentisteyou felt
vossentisteyou felt
él/ella/Ud.sintióhe/she/it felt
nosotrossentimoswe felt
vosotrossentisteisyou (pl.) felt
ellos/ellas/Uds.sintieronthey felt

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
yosentía
sentías
vossentías
él/ella/Ud.sentía
nosotrossentíamos
vosotrossentíais
ellos/ellas/Uds.sentían

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
yosentiríaI would feel
sentiríasyou would feel
vossentiríasyou would feel
él/ella/Ud.sentiríahe/she/it would feel
nosotrossentiríamoswe would feel
vosotrossentiríaisyou (pl.) would feel
ellos/ellas/Uds.sentiríanthey would feel

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
yosentiréI will feel
sentirásyou will feel
vossentirásyou will feel
él/ella/Ud.sentiráhe/she/it will feel
nosotrossentiremoswe will feel
vosotrossentiréisyou (pl.) will feel
ellos/ellas/Uds.sentiránthey will feel

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 sentidoI have felt
has sentidoyou have felt
voshas sentidoyou have felt
él/ella/Ud.ha sentidohe/she/it has felt
nosotroshemos sentidowe have felt
vosotroshabéis sentidoyou (pl.) have felt
ellos/ellas/Uds.han sentidothey have felt

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 sentidoI had felt
habías sentidoyou had felt
voshabías sentidoyou had felt
él/ella/Ud.había sentidohe/she/it had felt
nosotroshabíamos sentidowe had felt
vosotroshabíais sentidoyou (pl.) had felt
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían sentidothey had felt

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

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 sentidoI will have felt
habrás sentidoyou will have felt
voshabrás sentidoyou will have felt
él/ella/Ud.habrá sentidohe/she/it will have felt
nosotroshabremos sentidowe will have felt
vosotroshabréis sentidoyou (pl.) will have felt
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán sentidothey will have felt

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjuntivo presente) Irregular

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
yosienta
sientas
vossientas
él/ella/Ud.sienta
nosotrossintamos
vosotrossintáis
ellos/ellas/Uds.sientan

Imperfect subjunctive (-ra) (Subjuntivo imperfecto (-ra)) Irregular

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
yosintiera
sintieras
vossintieras
él/ella/Ud.sintiera
nosotrossintiéramos
vosotrossintierais
ellos/ellas/Uds.sintieran

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
yosintiese
sintieses
vossintieses
él/ella/Ud.sintiese
nosotrossintiésemos
vosotrossintieseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.sintiesen

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

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

Other forms

Imperative (affirmative) (Imperativo afirmativo) Irregular

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
siente
vossentí
él/ella/Ud.sienta
nosotrossintamos
vosotrossentid
ustedessientan

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 sientas
vosno sientas
él/ella/Ud.no sienta
nosotrosno sintamos
vosotrosno sintáis
ustedesno sientan

Present progressive (Presente progresivo) Irregular

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

Preterite progressive (Pretérito indefinido progresivo) Irregular

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

Imperfect progressive (Pretérito imperfecto progresivo) Irregular

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

Conditional progressive (Condicional progresivo) Irregular

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

Future progressive (Futuro progresivo) Irregular

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