silenciar — Spanish conjugation

to silence

Frequency#1941Regular

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
yosilencioI silence
silenciasyou silence
vossilenciásyou silence
él/ella/Ud.silenciahe/she/it silences
nosotrossilenciamoswe silence
vosotrossilenciáisyou (pl.) silence
ellos/ellas/Uds.silencianthey silence

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
yosilenciéI silenced
silenciasteyou silenced
vossilenciasteyou silenced
él/ella/Ud.silencióhe/she/it silenced
nosotrossilenciamoswe silenced
vosotrossilenciasteisyou (pl.) silenced
ellos/ellas/Uds.silenciaronthey silenced

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
yosilenciaba
silenciabas
vossilenciabas
él/ella/Ud.silenciaba
nosotrossilenciábamos
vosotrossilenciabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.silenciaban

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
yosilenciaríaI would silence
silenciaríasyou would silence
vossilenciaríasyou would silence
él/ella/Ud.silenciaríahe/she/it would silence
nosotrossilenciaríamoswe would silence
vosotrossilenciaríaisyou (pl.) would silence
ellos/ellas/Uds.silenciaríanthey would silence

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
yosilenciaréI will silence
silenciarásyou will silence
vossilenciarásyou will silence
él/ella/Ud.silenciaráhe/she/it will silence
nosotrossilenciaremoswe will silence
vosotrossilenciaréisyou (pl.) will silence
ellos/ellas/Uds.silenciaránthey will silence

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 silenciadoI have silenced
has silenciadoyou have silenced
voshas silenciadoyou have silenced
él/ella/Ud.ha silenciadohe/she/it has silenced
nosotroshemos silenciadowe have silenced
vosotroshabéis silenciadoyou (pl.) have silenced
ellos/ellas/Uds.han silenciadothey have silenced

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 silenciadoI had silenced
habías silenciadoyou had silenced
voshabías silenciadoyou had silenced
él/ella/Ud.había silenciadohe/she/it had silenced
nosotroshabíamos silenciadowe had silenced
vosotroshabíais silenciadoyou (pl.) had silenced
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían silenciadothey had silenced

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

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 silenciadoI will have silenced
habrás silenciadoyou will have silenced
voshabrás silenciadoyou will have silenced
él/ella/Ud.habrá silenciadohe/she/it will have silenced
nosotroshabremos silenciadowe will have silenced
vosotroshabréis silenciadoyou (pl.) will have silenced
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán silenciadothey will have silenced

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
yosilencie
silencies
vossilencies
él/ella/Ud.silencie
nosotrossilenciemos
vosotrossilenciéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.silencien

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
yosilenciara
silenciaras
vossilenciaras
él/ella/Ud.silenciara
nosotrossilenciáramos
vosotrossilenciarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.silenciaran

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
yosilenciase
silenciases
vossilenciases
él/ella/Ud.silenciase
nosotrossilenciásemos
vosotrossilenciaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.silenciasen

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

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

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
silencia
vossilenciá
él/ella/Ud.silencie
nosotrossilenciemos
vosotrossilenciad
ustedessilencien

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 silencies
vosno silencies
él/ella/Ud.no silencie
nosotrosno silenciemos
vosotrosno silenciéis
ustedesno silencien

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

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

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

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

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