sustanciar — Spanish conjugation

to substantiate

Frequency#286Regular

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
yosustancio
sustancias
vossustanciás
él/ella/Ud.sustancia
nosotrossustanciamos
vosotrossustanciáis
ellos/ellas/Uds.sustancian

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
yosustancié
sustanciaste
vossustanciaste
él/ella/Ud.sustanció
nosotrossustanciamos
vosotrossustanciasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds.sustanciaron

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
yosustanciaba
sustanciabas
vossustanciabas
él/ella/Ud.sustanciaba
nosotrossustanciábamos
vosotrossustanciabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.sustanciaban

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
yosustanciaría
sustanciarías
vossustanciarías
él/ella/Ud.sustanciaría
nosotrossustanciaríamos
vosotrossustanciaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds.sustanciarían

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
yosustanciaré
sustanciarás
vossustanciarás
él/ella/Ud.sustanciará
nosotrossustanciaremos
vosotrossustanciaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds.sustanciarán

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

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

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

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

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
yosustancie
sustancies
vossustancies
él/ella/Ud.sustancie
nosotrossustanciemos
vosotrossustanciéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.sustancien

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
yosustanciara
sustanciaras
vossustanciaras
él/ella/Ud.sustanciara
nosotrossustanciáramos
vosotrossustanciarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.sustanciaran

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
yosustanciase
sustanciases
vossustanciases
él/ella/Ud.sustanciase
nosotrossustanciásemos
vosotrossustanciaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.sustanciasen

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

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

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
sustancia
vossustanciá
él/ella/Ud.sustancie
nosotrossustanciemos
vosotrossustanciad
ustedessustancien

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 sustancies
vosno sustancies
él/ella/Ud.no sustancie
nosotrosno sustanciemos
vosotrosno sustanciéis
ustedesno sustancien

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

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

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

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

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