tolerar — Spanish conjugation

to tolerate

Frequency#846Regular

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
yotoleroI tolerate
tolerasyou tolerate
vostolerásyou tolerate
él/ella/Ud.tolerahe/she/it tolerates
nosotrostoleramoswe tolerate
vosotrostoleráisyou (pl.) tolerate
ellos/ellas/Uds.toleranthey tolerate

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
yotoleréI tolerated
tolerasteyou tolerated
vostolerasteyou tolerated
él/ella/Ud.toleróhe/she/it tolerated
nosotrostoleramoswe tolerated
vosotrostolerasteisyou (pl.) tolerated
ellos/ellas/Uds.toleraronthey tolerated

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
yotoleraba
tolerabas
vostolerabas
él/ella/Ud.toleraba
nosotrostolerábamos
vosotrostolerabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.toleraban

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
yotoleraríaI would tolerate
toleraríasyou would tolerate
vostoleraríasyou would tolerate
él/ella/Ud.toleraríahe/she/it would tolerate
nosotrostoleraríamoswe would tolerate
vosotrostoleraríaisyou (pl.) would tolerate
ellos/ellas/Uds.toleraríanthey would tolerate

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
yotoleraréI will tolerate
tolerarásyou will tolerate
vostolerarásyou will tolerate
él/ella/Ud.toleraráhe/she/it will tolerate
nosotrostoleraremoswe will tolerate
vosotrostoleraréisyou (pl.) will tolerate
ellos/ellas/Uds.toleraránthey will tolerate

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 toleradoI have tolerated
has toleradoyou have tolerated
voshas toleradoyou have tolerated
él/ella/Ud.ha toleradohe/she/it has tolerated
nosotroshemos toleradowe have tolerated
vosotroshabéis toleradoyou (pl.) have tolerated
ellos/ellas/Uds.han toleradothey have tolerated

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 toleradoI had tolerated
habías toleradoyou had tolerated
voshabías toleradoyou had tolerated
él/ella/Ud.había toleradohe/she/it had tolerated
nosotroshabíamos toleradowe had tolerated
vosotroshabíais toleradoyou (pl.) had tolerated
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían toleradothey had tolerated

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

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 toleradoI will have tolerated
habrás toleradoyou will have tolerated
voshabrás toleradoyou will have tolerated
él/ella/Ud.habrá toleradohe/she/it will have tolerated
nosotroshabremos toleradowe will have tolerated
vosotroshabréis toleradoyou (pl.) will have tolerated
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán toleradothey will have tolerated

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
yotolere
toleres
vostoleres
él/ella/Ud.tolere
nosotrostoleremos
vosotrostoleréis
ellos/ellas/Uds.toleren

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
yotolerara
toleraras
vostoleraras
él/ella/Ud.tolerara
nosotrostoleráramos
vosotrostolerarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.toleraran

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
yotolerase
tolerases
vostolerases
él/ella/Ud.tolerase
nosotrostolerásemos
vosotrostoleraseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.tolerasen

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

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

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
tolera
vostolerá
él/ella/Ud.tolere
nosotrostoleremos
vosotrostolerad
ustedestoleren

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 toleres
vosno toleres
él/ella/Ud.no tolere
nosotrosno toleremos
vosotrosno toleréis
ustedesno toleren

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

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

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

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

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