traducir — Spanish conjugation

to translate (from one language into another)

Frequency#287Irregular

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
yotraduzcoI translate
traducesyou translate
vostraducísyou translate
él/ella/Ud.traducehe/she/it translates
nosotrostraducimoswe translate
vosotrostraducísyou (pl.) translate
ellos/ellas/Uds.traducenthey translate

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
yotradujeI translated
tradujisteyou translated
vostradujisteyou translated
él/ella/Ud.tradujohe/she/it translated
nosotrostradujimoswe translated
vosotrostradujisteisyou (pl.) translated
ellos/ellas/Uds.tradujeronthey translated

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
yotraducía
traducías
vostraducías
él/ella/Ud.traducía
nosotrostraducíamos
vosotrostraducíais
ellos/ellas/Uds.traducían

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
yotraduciríaI would translate
traduciríasyou would translate
vostraduciríasyou would translate
él/ella/Ud.traduciríahe/she/it would translate
nosotrostraduciríamoswe would translate
vosotrostraduciríaisyou (pl.) would translate
ellos/ellas/Uds.traduciríanthey would translate

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
yotraduciréI will translate
traducirásyou will translate
vostraducirásyou will translate
él/ella/Ud.traduciráhe/she/it will translate
nosotrostraduciremoswe will translate
vosotrostraduciréisyou (pl.) will translate
ellos/ellas/Uds.traduciránthey will translate

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 traducidoI have translated
has traducidoyou have translated
voshas traducidoyou have translated
él/ella/Ud.ha traducidohe/she/it has translated
nosotroshemos traducidowe have translated
vosotroshabéis traducidoyou (pl.) have translated
ellos/ellas/Uds.han traducidothey have translated

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 traducidoI had translated
habías traducidoyou had translated
voshabías traducidoyou had translated
él/ella/Ud.había traducidohe/she/it had translated
nosotroshabíamos traducidowe had translated
vosotroshabíais traducidoyou (pl.) had translated
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían traducidothey had translated

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

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 traducidoI will have translated
habrás traducidoyou will have translated
voshabrás traducidoyou will have translated
él/ella/Ud.habrá traducidohe/she/it will have translated
nosotroshabremos traducidowe will have translated
vosotroshabréis traducidoyou (pl.) will have translated
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán traducidothey will have translated

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
yotraduzca
traduzcas
vostraduzcas
él/ella/Ud.traduzca
nosotrostraduzcamos
vosotrostraduzcáis
ellos/ellas/Uds.traduzcan

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
yotradujera
tradujeras
vostradujeras
él/ella/Ud.tradujera
nosotrostradujéramos
vosotrostradujerais
ellos/ellas/Uds.tradujeran

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
yotradujese
tradujeses
vostradujeses
él/ella/Ud.tradujese
nosotrostradujésemos
vosotrostradujeseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.tradujesen

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

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

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
traduce
vostraducí
él/ella/Ud.traduzca
nosotrostraduzcamos
vosotrostraducid
ustedestraduzcan

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 traduzcas
vosno traduzcas
él/ella/Ud.no traduzca
nosotrosno traduzcamos
vosotrosno traduzcáis
ustedesno traduzcan

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

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

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

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

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