simbolizar — Spanish conjugation

to symbolise

Frequency#332Irregular

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
yosimbolizoI symbolize
simbolizasyou symbolize
vossimbolizásyou symbolize
él/ella/Ud.simbolizahe/she/it symbolizes
nosotrossimbolizamoswe symbolize
vosotrossimbolizáisyou (pl.) symbolize
ellos/ellas/Uds.simbolizanthey symbolize

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
yosimbolicéI symbolized
simbolizasteyou symbolized
vossimbolizasteyou symbolized
él/ella/Ud.simbolizóhe/she/it symbolized
nosotrossimbolizamoswe symbolized
vosotrossimbolizasteisyou (pl.) symbolized
ellos/ellas/Uds.simbolizaronthey symbolized

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
yosimbolizaba
simbolizabas
vossimbolizabas
él/ella/Ud.simbolizaba
nosotrossimbolizábamos
vosotrossimbolizabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.simbolizaban

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
yosimbolizaríaI would symbolize
simbolizaríasyou would symbolize
vossimbolizaríasyou would symbolize
él/ella/Ud.simbolizaríahe/she/it would symbolize
nosotrossimbolizaríamoswe would symbolize
vosotrossimbolizaríaisyou (pl.) would symbolize
ellos/ellas/Uds.simbolizaríanthey would symbolize

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
yosimbolizaréI will symbolize
simbolizarásyou will symbolize
vossimbolizarásyou will symbolize
él/ella/Ud.simbolizaráhe/she/it will symbolize
nosotrossimbolizaremoswe will symbolize
vosotrossimbolizaréisyou (pl.) will symbolize
ellos/ellas/Uds.simbolizaránthey will symbolize

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 simbolizadoI have symbolized
has simbolizadoyou have symbolized
voshas simbolizadoyou have symbolized
él/ella/Ud.ha simbolizadohe/she/it has symbolized
nosotroshemos simbolizadowe have symbolized
vosotroshabéis simbolizadoyou (pl.) have symbolized
ellos/ellas/Uds.han simbolizadothey have symbolized

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 simbolizadoI had symbolized
habías simbolizadoyou had symbolized
voshabías simbolizadoyou had symbolized
él/ella/Ud.había simbolizadohe/she/it had symbolized
nosotroshabíamos simbolizadowe had symbolized
vosotroshabíais simbolizadoyou (pl.) had symbolized
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían simbolizadothey had symbolized

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

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 simbolizadoI will have symbolized
habrás simbolizadoyou will have symbolized
voshabrás simbolizadoyou will have symbolized
él/ella/Ud.habrá simbolizadohe/she/it will have symbolized
nosotroshabremos simbolizadowe will have symbolized
vosotroshabréis simbolizadoyou (pl.) will have symbolized
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán simbolizadothey will have symbolized

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
yosimbolice
simbolices
vossimbolices
él/ella/Ud.simbolice
nosotrossimbolicemos
vosotrossimbolicéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.simbolicen

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
yosimbolizara
simbolizaras
vossimbolizaras
él/ella/Ud.simbolizara
nosotrossimbolizáramos
vosotrossimbolizarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.simbolizaran

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
yosimbolizase
simbolizases
vossimbolizases
él/ella/Ud.simbolizase
nosotrossimbolizásemos
vosotrossimbolizaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.simbolizasen

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

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

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
simboliza
vossimbolizá
él/ella/Ud.simbolice
nosotrossimbolicemos
vosotrossimbolizad
ustedessimbolicen

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 simbolices
vosno simbolices
él/ella/Ud.no simbolice
nosotrosno simbolicemos
vosotrosno simbolicéis
ustedesno simbolicen

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

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

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

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

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