Been in Spain and not eating tapas or paella? Impossible! Just walk into a restaurant and say, “Quiero paella y tapas” (I want paella and tapas). Simple, straightforward, and clear, just like the indicative mood in Spanish.
To learn more about the indicative mood, we have the article here that clearly defines the indicative mood in Spanish and its verb conjugations for different tenses.
But first, let’s go through some basics.
What Is A Mood?
A mood is a grammatical element in a language that describes the attitude of the speaker to what he is saying. Attitudes can tell us if the speaker or the written text is pointing to a certainty, urgency, obligation, or possibility in the sentence.
We use three different moods in Spanish and indicative is the primary one. You can learn more about the subjunctive mood and the imperative mood, but this page is a detailed shot for indicative mood only.
What is the Indicative Mood in Spanish?
The indicative mood is the mood in Spanish which indicates the facts happening currently or happened already or will happen in the future. It is used to talk about actions that truly happen.
The indicative mood is the standard or the default mood among the three moods.
Indicative mood describes the situations that actually take place at any point in time (present, past, future). The subjunctive mood describes unreal situations, including wishes, aspirations, desires, obligations, etc. The imperative mood is used to issue commands. (more like a boss!)
You can take indicative mood as the foundation stone for Spanish. You must master the indicative mood to excel in learning the Spanish language quickly and fluently. Let’s take a look at the general characteristics of the indicative mood.
Characteristics of the Indicative Mood in Spanish
The indicative mood is used to describe:
Facts. Hary is a doctor. (Hary es doctor)
Opinions. This is the best day ever.(Este es el mejor día de todos)
Questions. Will you come with me? (¿vendrás conmigo?)
When We Can Use The Indicative Mood?
We can use the indicative mood pretty much everywhere in each tense. When we use the indicative mood, we explicitly say that our message is extremely likely and factual.
We use the indicative mood almost in all tenses, even conditional ones.
Tenses and Conjugations In Spanish Indicative Mood
As we told you earlier, the indicative mood in Spanish can be used in almost all tenses. We cannot say that this particular tense uses the indicative mood. So here, we will walk you through different tenses to show you how the indicative mood works within different tenses.
Basically, ten tenses use the indicative mood, among them, five are simple and five are composed. So we have a total of ten different tenses using the indicative mood.
We will introduce you to each of the ten tenses coming under indicative mood.
We will link different tenses within the article for you to get a deeper understanding. You can also read our post on a broader perspective of all Spanish tenses to get the overall hang of all tenses used in Spanish.
Present Indicative in Spanish
What Is the Present Indicative?
Present Indicative is the most common form of indicative used for routine words and that’s why it is also considered to be the most useful tense to understand for learning Spanish grammar. The Present Indicative in Spanish talks about facts and actions in the present.
Present Indicative Conjugation in Spanish
To conjugate the present indicative, you need to add the endings to the stem of the verb.
To find the stem of the verb you simply need to remove AR, ER, IR from the infinitive form of the verb.
For example:
Endings:
| Pronoun | -AR Endings | -ER / -IR Endings | -IR Endings |
| Yo | -o | -o | -o |
| Tú | -as | -es | -es |
| Él/Ella | -a | -e | -e |
| Nosotros | -amos | -emos | -imos |
| Vosotros | -asteis | -éis | -í |
| Ellos/Ellas | -aron | -en | en |
Example conjugation:
| Subject | -ar (hablar) | -er (comer) | -ir (vivir) |
| Yo | hablo | como | vivo |
| Tú | hablas | comes | vives |
| Él/Ella/Usted | habla | come | vive |
| Nosotros | hablamos | comemos | vivimos |
| Vosotros | habláis | coméis | vivís |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes | hablan | comen | viven |
Irregular verbs in the present indicative.
| Subject | Ser (to be) | Estar (to be) | Ir (to go) | Tener (to have) | Hacer (to do/make) | Venir (to come) |
| Yo | soy | estoy | voy | tengo | hago | vengo |
| Tú | eres | estás | vas | tienes | haces | vienes |
| Él/Ella | es | está | va | tiene | hace | viene |
| Nosotros | somos | estamos | vamos | tenemos | hacemos | venimos |
| Vosotros | sois | estáis | vais | tenéis | hacéis | venís |
| Ellos/Ellas | son | están | van | tienen | hacen | vienen |
Modal verbs: very often used and formed with infinitive.
| Subject | Poder (can/to be able to) | Deber (must/should) | Querer (to want) | Saber (to know how) |
| Yo | puedo | debo | quiero | sé |
| Tú | puedes | debes | quieres | sabes |
| Él/Ella | puede | debe | quiere | sabe |
| Nosotros | podemos | debemos | queremos | sabemos |
| Vosotros | podéis | debéis | queréis | sabéis |
| Ellos/Ellas | pueden | deben | quieren | saben |
More exceptions: To check out the exceptions you can visit the Stem-changing verb
to understand irregular verbs.
Other Simple Indicative Tenses in Spanish
We know that among all simple tenses, present indicative is the most often used and the one you should learn first, still, there are a few other tenses.
Simple Preterite Indicative
The Spanish preterite is used to talk about the actions that happened and finished in the past. Here you will find some verb endings and conjugations for Preterite. Note that the endings of ER and IR verbs are identical. You can also find some irregular verb conjugations as well.
Endings:
| Pronoun | -AR Endings | -ER / -IR Endings |
| Yo | -é | -í |
| Tú | -aste | -iste |
| Él/Ella | -ó | -ió |
| Nosotros | -amos | -imos |
| Vosotros | -asteis | -isteis |
| Ellos/Ellas | -aron | -ieron |
Example conjugation.
| Pronoun | Hablar (to speak) -AR | Comer (to eat) -ER | Vivir (to live) -IR |
| Yo | hablé (I spoke) | comí (I ate) | viví (I lived) |
| Tú | hablaste (You spoke) | comiste (You ate) | viviste (You lived) |
| Él/Ella | habló (He/She spoke) | comió (He/She ate) | vivió (He/She lived) |
| Nosotros | hablamos (We spoke) | comimos (We ate) | vivimos (We lived) |
| Vosotros | hablasteis (You all spoke) | comisteis (You all ate) | vivisteis (You all lived) |
| Ellos/Ellas | hablaron (They spoke) | comieron (They ate) | vivieron (They lived) |
Irregular Verbs in The Preterite.
| Verb (Translation) | Yo Form | Example Sentence |
| Ser/Ir (to be/go) | fui | Fui a la tienda ayer. (I went to the store yesterday.) |
| Estar (to be) | estuve | Estuve en casa todo el día. (I was at home all day.) |
| Tener (to have) | tuve | Tuve un problema con mi coche. (I had a problem with my car.) |
| Hacer (to do/make) | hice | Hice la tarea por la mañana. (I did my homework in the morning.) |
| Poder (to be able to) | pude | No pude dormir anoche. (I couldn’t sleep last night.) |
| Decir (to say) | dije | Dije la verdad. (I told the truth.) |
| Saber (to know) | supe | Supe la noticia ayer. (I found out the news yesterday.) |
| Venir (to come) | vine | Vine a la fiesta tarde. (I came to the party late.) |
| Querer (to want) | quise | Quise ayudar, pero era difícil. (I wanted to help, but it was hard.) |
| Poner (to put) | puse | Puse el libro en la mesa. (I put the book on the table.) |
| Dar (to give) | di | Le di un regalo a mi hermana. (I gave a gift to my sister.) |
Simple Imperfect Indicative
English has only one simple past tense, while Spanish has two: Preterite and Imperfect.
In Imperfect past tense, we talk about an event that was happening or was progressive in the past but was somehow interrupted by another event.
Here you will find the verb endings, along with example conjugations. Also, imperfect ER and IR verbs share the same endings.
Endings.
| Pronoun | -AR Endings | -ER / -IR Endings |
| Yo | -aba | -ía |
| Tú | -abas | -ías |
| Él/Ella | -aba | -ía |
| Nosotros | -ábamos | -íamos |
| Vosotros | -abais | -íais |
| Ustedes | -aban | -ían |
| Ellos/Ellas | -aban | -ían |
Example conjugations
| Pronoun | Hablar (to speak) -AR | Comer (to eat) -ER | Vivir (to live) -IR |
| Yo | hablaba (I used to speak) | comía (I used to eat) | vivía (I used to live) |
| Tú | hablabas (You used to speak) | comías (You used to eat) | vivías (You used to live) |
| Él/Ella | hablaba (He/She used to speak) | comía (He/She used to eat) | vivía (He/She used to live) |
| Nosotros | hablábamos (We used to speak) | comíamos (We used to eat) | vivíamos (We used to live) |
| Vosotros | hablabais (You all used to speak) | comíais (You all used to eat) | vivíais (You all used to live) |
| Ellos/Ellas | hablaban (They used to speak) | comían (They used to eat) | vivían (They used to live) |
Irregulars
There are only three irregular verbs in imperfective: ser, ir, and ver.
| Verb (Translation) | Yo Form | Example Sentence |
| Ser (to be) | era | Cuando era niño, jugaba en el parque. (When I was a child, I used to play in the park.) |
| Ir (to go) | iba | Iba a la escuela todos los días. (I used to go to school every day.) |
| Ver (to see) | veía | Veía muchas películas de pequeño. (I used to watch many movies as a child.) |
Simple Future Indicative
The indicative future tense tells about actions that will happen in the future. Differently from previous forms, the endings in the future tense are the same for all verbs and are added directly to the infinitive (and not the stem) of the verb.
Example conjugations
| Pronoun | Hablar (to speak) -AR | Comer (to eat) -ER | Vivir (to live) -IR |
| Yo | hablaré (I will speak) | comeré (I will eat) | viviré (I will live) |
| Tú | hablarás (You will speak) | comerás (You will eat) | vivirás (You will live) |
| Él/Ella | hablará (He/She will speak) | comerá (He/She will eat) | vivirá (He/She will live) |
| Nosotros | hablaremos (We will speak) | comeremos (We will eat) | viviremos (We will live) |
| Vosotros | hablaréis (You all will speak) | comeréis (You all will eat) | viviréis (You all will live) |
| Ellos/Ellas | hablarán (They will speak) | comerán (They will eat) | vivirán (They will live) |
Irregular verbs
The irregular verbs in the future are exactly the same as in the conditional tense, so let’s first take a look at the conditional tense and then analyze the irregular verbs for both tenses.
Simple Conditional Indicative
As the name suggests, the tense is used to tell about any action that is relative to a condition. We know that these conditions are hypothetical at the point when we speak them, but the factual habit of Spanish indicative mood still applies.
As with the future tense, the conditional tense is formed by adding endings to the infinitive, which are the same for all verbs.
Endings
| Pronoun | Conditional Endings (-AR, -ER, -IR) |
| Yo | -ía |
| Tú | -ías |
| Él/Ella | -ía |
| Nosotros | -íamos |
| Vosotros | -íais |
| Ustedes | -ían |
| Ellos/Ellas | -ían |
Be careful not to get confused between imperfect and conditional for -ER and -IR verbs, as the endings are the same. However, the imperfect adds the endings to the stem, whereas the conditional adds them to the infinitive form of the verb.
Example conjugations.
| Pronoun | Hablar (to speak) -AR | Comer (to eat) -ER | Vivir (to live) -IR |
| Yo | hablaría (I would speak) | comería (I would eat) | viviría (I would live) |
| Tú | hablarías (You would speak) | comerías (You would eat) | vivirías (You would live) |
| Él/Ella | hablaría (He/She would speak) | comería (He/She would eat) | viviría (He/She would live) |
| Nosotros | hablaríamos (We would speak) | comeríamos (We would eat) | viviríamos (We would live) |
| Vosotros | hablaríais (You all would speak) | comeríais (You all would eat) | viviríais (You all would live) |
| Ellos/Ellas | hablarían (They would speak) | comerían (They would eat) | vivirían (They would live) |
Irregular verbs in Future and Conditional.
| Verb (Translation) | Irregular Stem | Example in Future | Example in Conditional |
| Haber (to have – auxiliary) | Habr- | Mañana habrá una reunión importante. (Tomorrow there will be an important meeting.) | Habría menos problemas si todos colaboraran. (There would be fewer problems if everyone collaborated.) |
| Poder (to be able to) | Podr- | Podrás venir a la fiesta el sábado. (You will be able to come to the party on Saturday.) | Podría ayudarte si tuviera más tiempo. (I could help you if I had more time.) |
| Querer (to want) | Querr- | Ella querrá aprender otro idioma. (She will want to learn another language.) | Él querría un café, por favor. (He would like a coffee, please.) |
| Saber (to know) | Sabr- | Sabremos la respuesta mañana. (We will know the answer tomorrow.) | ¿Sabrías qué hacer en esta situación? (Would you know what to do in this situation?) |
| Poner (to put) | Pondr- | Vosotros pondréis la mesa antes de cenar. (You all will set the table before dinner.) | Nosotros pondríamos más sillas si hubiera más invitados. (We would put more chairs if there were more guests.) |
| Salir (to leave/go out) | Saldr- | Ellos saldrán temprano por la mañana. (They will leave early in the morning.) | Vosotras saldríais con nosotros si no lloviera. (You all would go out with us if it weren’t raining.) |
| Tener (to have) | Tendr- | Tendré más tiempo el próximo mes. (I will have more time next month.) | Tendrían más oportunidades si estudiaran más. (They would have more opportunities if they studied more.) |
| Venir (to come) | Vendr- | Vendréis a la reunión a las tres. (You all will come to the meeting at three.) | Vendría a la fiesta, pero estoy ocupado. (I would come to the party, but I am busy.) |
| Decir (to say) | Dir- | Diré la verdad cuando sea necesario. (I will tell the truth when necessary.) | Diríamos la verdad si fuera necesario. (We would tell the truth if it were necessary.) |
| Hacer (to do/make) | Har- | Harás ejercicio después del trabajo. (You will do exercise after work.) | Haría la tarea si tuviera mi libro. (I would do my homework if I had my book.) |
Composed Indicative Tenses in Spanish
In order to create composed indicative tenses, it is essential to master simple indicative tenses of haber, as all the forms are built starting from them.
| Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Future Simple | ConditionalSimple | |
| Yo | he | hube | había | habré | habría |
| Tú | has | hubiste | habías | habrás | habrías |
| Él/Ella | ha | hubo | había | habrá | habría |
| Nosotros | hemos | hubimos | habíamos | habremos | habríamos |
| Vosotros | habéis | hubisteis | habíais | habréis | habríais |
| Ellos/Ellas | han | hubieron | habían | habrán | habrían |
We also need to master how to create the past participles and their irregular forms.
| Verb Ending | Past Participle Ending | Example |
| -AR | -ado | hablar → hablado |
| -ER | -ido | comer → comido |
| -IR | -ido | vivir → vivido |
Irregular Past Participles
| Infinitive → Past Participle | English Translation |
| abrir → abierto | to open → opened |
| componer → compuesto | to compose → composed |
| cubrir → cubierto | to cover → covered |
| decir → dicho | to say → said |
| describir → descrito | to describe → described |
| descubrir → descubierto | to discover → discovered |
| devolver → devuelto | to return/give back → returned/given back |
| escribir → escrito | to write → written |
| freír → frito | to fry → fried |
| hacer → hecho | to do/make → done/made |
| imprimir → impreso | to print → printed |
| inscribir → inscrito | to inscribe → inscribed |
| morir → muerto | to die → died |
| oponer → opuesto | to oppose → opposed |
| poner → puesto | to put → put |
| proponer → propuesto | to propose → proposed |
| proveer → provisto | to provide → provided |
| resolver → resuelto | to resolve → resolved |
| romper → roto | to break → broken |
| satisfacer → satisfecho | to satisfy → satisfied |
| ver → visto | to see → seen |
| volver → vuelto | to return → returned |
Composed Present Perfect Indicative
The events that happened in the recent past fall under the present perfect tense in Spanish. Find the conjugations of verbs with regular and irregular past participles. Keywords for the present perfect are words like ya (already), todavía no (not yet), alguna vez (ever), últimamente (lately) and esta mañana (this morning).
Example conjugations
| Pronoun | Haber (Auxiliary) | Hablar (To Speak) | Comer (To Eat) | Vivir (To Live) |
| Yo | he | he hablado (I have spoken) | he comido (I have eaten) | he vivido (I have lived) |
| Tú | has | has hablado (You have spoken) | has comido (You have eaten) | has vivido (You have lived) |
| Él/Ella | ha | ha hablado (He/She has spoken) | ha comido (He/She has eaten) | ha vivido (He/She has lived) |
| Nosotros | hemos | hemos hablado (We have spoken) | hemos comido (We have eaten) | hemos vivido (We have lived) |
| Vosotros | habéis | habéis hablado (You all have spoken) | habéis comido (You all have eaten) | habéis vivido (You all have lived) |
| Ellos/Ellas | han | han hablado (They/You all have spoken) | han comido (They/You all have eaten) | han vivido (They/You all have lived) |
Example sentences
| Type | Verb (Translation) | Example Sentence (Spanish) | Example Sentence (English) |
| Regular Verbs | Hablar (to speak) | He hablado con mi amigo hoy. | I have spoken with my friend today. |
| Comer (to eat) | Has comido el almuerzo ya. | You have eaten lunch already. | |
| Vivir (to live) | Ha vivido en España durante tres años. | She has lived in Spain for three years. | |
| Estudiar (to study) | Hemos estudiado español por mucho tiempo. | We have studied Spanish for a long time. | |
| Viajar (to travel) | Habéis viajado a Francia. | You all have traveled to France. | |
| Terminar (to finish) | Han terminado su tarea. | They have finished their homework. | |
| Irregular Verbs | Abrir (to open) | He abierto la puerta. | I have opened the door. |
| Decir (to say) | Has dicho la verdad. | You have told the truth. | |
| Escribir (to write) | Ha escrito un libro. | She has written a book. | |
| Hacer (to do/make) | Hemos hecho nuestra tarea. | We have done our homework. | |
| Ver (to see) | Habéis visto la película. | You all have seen the movie. | |
| Volver (to return) | Han vuelto a casa. | They have returned home. |
Composed Pluperfect (Past Perfect) Indicative
When an action in the past is finished before another action, it is past perfect in the Spanish Indicative Mood. Simply saying, it describes the past within the past. Get the conjugations and the example sentences here.
Example conjugations
| Pronoun | Haber (Auxiliary) | Hablar (To Speak) | Comer (To Eat) | Vivir (To Live) |
| Yo | había | había hablado (I had spoken) | había comido (I had eaten) | había vivido (I had lived) |
| Tú | habías | habías hablado (You had spoken) | habías comido (You had eaten) | habías vivido (You had lived) |
| Él/Ella | había | había hablado (He/She had spoken) | había comido (He/She had eaten) | había vivido (He/She had lived) |
| Nosotros | habíamos | habíamos hablado (We had spoken) | habíamos comido (We had eaten) | habíamos vivido (We had lived) |
| Vosotros | habíais | habíais hablado (You all had spoken) | habíais comido (You all had eaten) | habíais vivido (You all had lived) |
| Ellos/Ellas | habían | habían hablado (They/You all had spoken) | habían comido (They/You all had eaten) | habían vivido (They/You all had lived) |
Example sentences
Cuando llegué, ella ya había salido. (When I arrived, she had already left.)
Nunca habíamos visto algo así. (We had never seen anything like that.)
¿Habías estudiado español antes de mudarte a España? (Had you studied Spanish before moving to Spain?)
Composed Preterite Perfect Indicative
It is somehow not found commonly now, you can say it is obsolete in Spanish. It is not used in routine conversations but you will find it in old literary texts. Still we need to go through it to know all ten indicative tenses.
Example conjugations
| Pronoun | Haber (Auxiliary) | Hablar (To Speak) | Comer (To Eat) | Vivir (To Live) |
| Yo | hube | hube hablado (I had spoken) | hube comido (I had eaten) | hube vivido (I had lived) |
| Tú | hubiste | hubiste hablado (You had spoken) | hubiste comido (You had eaten) | hubiste vivido (You had lived) |
| Él/Ella | hubo | hubo hablado (He/She had spoken) | hubo comido (He/She had eaten) | hubo vivido (He/She had lived) |
| Nosotros | hubimos | hubimos hablado (We had spoken) | hubimos comido (We had eaten) | hubimos vivido (We had lived) |
| Vosotros | hubisteis | hubisteis hablado (You all had spoken) | hubisteis comido (You all had eaten) | hubisteis vivido (You all had lived) |
| Ellos/Ellas | hubieron | hubieron hablado (They/You all had spoken) | hubieron comido (They/You all had eaten) | hubieron vivido (They/You all had lived) |
Example sentences
Apenas hubo terminado de hablar, salió de la habitación. (As soon as he had finished speaking, he left the room.)
No bien hubimos llegado, empezó a llover. (No sooner had we arrived than it started to rain.)
Cuando hubieron cenado, se fueron al teatro. (When they had finished dinner, they went to the theater.)
Composed Future Perfect Indicative
Here we talk about the future actions that will happen before another mentioned one.
Example conjugations
| Pronoun | Haber (Auxiliary) | Hablar (To Speak) | Comer (To Eat) | Vivir (To Live) |
| Yo | habré | habré hablado (I will have spoken) | habré comido (I will have eaten) | habré vivido (I will have lived) |
| Tú | habrás | habrás hablado (You will have spoken) | habrás comido (You will have eaten) | habrás vivido (You will have lived) |
| Él/Ella | habrá | habrá hablado (He/She will have spoken) | habrá comido (He/She will have eaten) | habrá vivido (He/She will have lived) |
| Nosotros | habremos | habremos hablado (We will have spoken) | habremos comido (We will have eaten) | habremos vivido (We will have lived) |
| Vosotros | habréis | habréis hablado (You all will have spoken) | habréis comido (You all will have eaten) | habréis vivido (You all will have lived) |
| Ellos/Ellas | habrán | habrán hablado (They/You all will have spoken) | habrán comido (They/You all will have eaten) | habrán vivido (They/You all will have lived) |
Example sentences
Para el próximo año, habré terminado mi carrera. (By next year, I will have finished my degree.)
Cuando lleguemos, ya habrán cerrado las tiendas. (When we arrive, the shops will have already closed.)
¿Habrás leído el libro para la próxima semana? (Will you have read the book by next week?)
Composed Conditional Perfect Indicative
It works pretty well the same as the simple conditional tense we did already, but the only difference is that it is in past tense. So, something would have happened in the past if another action happened. The past conditional often appears in third conditional sentences, combined with the past perfect subjunctive (hubiera + past participle). Check our article on the subjunctive for more!
Example conjugations
| Pronoun | Haber (Auxiliary) | Hablar (To Speak) | Comer (To Eat) | Vivir (To Live) |
| Yo | habría | habría hablado (I would have spoken) | habría comido (I would have eaten) | habría vivido (I would have lived) |
| Tú | habrías | habrías hablado (You would have spoken) | habrías comido (You would have eaten) | habrías vivido (You would have lived) |
| Él/Ella | habría | habría hablado (He/She would have spoken) | habría comido (He/She would have eaten) | habría vivido (He/She would have lived) |
| Nosotros | habríamos | habríamos hablado (We would have spoken) | habríamos comido (We would have eaten) | habríamos vivido (We would have lived) |
| Vosotros | habríais | habríais hablado (You all would have spoken) | habríais comido (You all would have eaten) | habríais vivido (You all would have lived) |
| Ellos/Ellas | habrían | habrían hablado (They/You all would have spoken) | habrían comido (They/You all would have eaten) | habrían vivido (They/You all would have lived) |
Example sentences
Si hubiera sabido, habría venido antes. (If I had known, I would have come earlier.)
Nos habrían invitado si hubiéramos estado en la ciudad. (They would have invited us if we had been in town.)
¿Habrías aceptado el trabajo si te lo hubieran ofrecido? (Would you have accepted the job if they had offered it to you?)
Present Progressive Forms in Spanish
It is not a tense, but it is useful to express that something is happening right now or was happening at a specific moment in the past. It is similar to the to be + -ing form in English, but be careful, Spanish uses the verb estar and not ser.
Present Progressive
| Pronoun | Estar (Auxiliary) | Hablar (To Speak) | Comer (To Eat) | Vivir (To Live) |
| Yo | estoy | estoy hablando (I am speaking) | estoy comiendo (I am eating) | estoy viviendo (I am living) |
| Tú | estás | estás hablando (You are speaking) | estás comiendo (You are eating) | estás viviendo (You are living) |
| Él/Ella | está | está hablando (He/She is speaking) | está comiendo (He/She is eating) | está viviendo (He/She is living) |
| Nosotros | estamos | estamos hablando (We are speaking) | estamos comiendo (We are eating) | estamos viviendo (We are living) |
| Vosotros | estáis | estáis hablando (You all are speaking) | estáis comiendo (You all are eating) | estáis viviendo (You all are living) |
| Ellos/Ellas | están | están hablando (They/You all are speaking) | están comiendo (They/You all are eating) | están viviendo (They/You all are living) |
Example sentences:
Estoy estudiando para mi examen de español. (I am studying for my Spanish exam.)
¿Qué estás haciendo? Estoy cocinando la cena. (What are you doing? I’m cooking dinner.)
Ellos están jugando al fútbol en el parque. (They are playing soccer in the park.)
Estamos planeando nuestras vacaciones de verano. (We are planning our summer vacation.)
¿Estáis escuchando la nueva canción? (Are you all listening to the new song?)
Past Progressive
| Pronoun | Estar (Auxiliary) | Hablar (To Speak) | Comer (To Eat) | Vivir (To Live) |
| Yo | estaba | estaba hablando (I was speaking) | estaba comiendo (I was eating) | estaba viviendo (I was living) |
| Tú | estabas | estabas hablando (You were speaking) | estabas comiendo (You were eating) | estabas viviendo (You were living) |
| Él/Ella | estaba | estaba hablando (He/She was speaking) | estaba comiendo (He/She was eating) | estaba viviendo (He/She was living) |
| Nosotros | estábamos | estábamos hablando (We were speaking) | estábamos comiendo (We were eating) | estábamos viviendo (We were living) |
| Vosotros | estabais | estabais hablando (You all were speaking) | estabais comiendo (You all were eating) | estabais viviendo (You all were living) |
| Ellos/Ellas | estaban | estaban hablando (They/You all were speaking) | estaban comiendo (They/You all were eating) | estaban viviendo (They/You all were living) |
Mientras yo estaba duchándome, sonó el teléfono. (While I was showering, the phone rang.)
¿Qué estabas haciendo cuando te llamé? (What were you doing when I called you?)
Ellos estaban cenando cuando llegué a casa. (They were having dinner when I arrived home.)
Estábamos viendo una película cuando se fue la luz. (We were watching a movie when the power went out.)
Cuando entré, vosotros estabais discutiendo. (When I entered, you all were arguing.)
Conclusion
In the conclusion, we can see the chart of indicative mood tenses that are used in Spanish. If it gets overwhelming to read and understand all tenses like this, there is another immersive learning. For that, you need to download Jolii to get an all-inclusive experience of learning Spanish through the Netflix or Youtube videos of your choice.
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Chart of Indicative Mood Tenses
Simple tenses are formed by adding different endings to the verb stem (or to the infinitive for future simple and conditional simple), while composed tenses are created using the simple tense of haber + past participle (hablado, comido, vivido).
| Simple Tenses-AR | Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Future Simple | ConditionalSimple |
| Yo | hablo | hablé | hablaba | hablaré | hablaría |
| Tú | hablas | hablaste | hablabas | hablarás | hablarías |
| Él/Ella | habla | habló | hablaba | hablará | hablaría |
| Nosotros | hablamos | hablamos | hablábamos | hablaremos | hablaríamos |
| Vosotros | habláis | hablasteis | hablabais | hablaréis | hablaríais |
| Ellos/Ellas | hablan | hablaron | hablaban | hablarán | hablarían |
| Simple Tenses-ER & -IR | Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Future Simple | Conditional Simple |
| Yo | como | comí | comía | comeré | comería |
| Tú | comes | comiste | comías | comerás | comerías |
| Él/Ella | come | comió | comía | comerá | comería |
| Nosotros | Comemos / vivimos | comimos | comíamos | comeremos | comeríamos |
| Vosotros | Coméis / vivís | comisteis | comíais | comeréis | comeríais |
| Ellos/Ellas | comen | comieron | comían | comerán | comerían |
| Composed tenses | Present Perfect | Preterite Perfect | Pluperfect (Past Perfect) | Future Perfect | Conditional Perfect |
| Yo | he hablado | hube hablado | había hablado | habré hablado | habría hablado |
| Tú | has hablado | hubiste hablado | habías hablado | habrás hablado | habrías hablado |
| Él/Ella | ha hablado | hubo hablado | había hablado | habrá hablado | habría hablado |
| Nosotros | hemos hablado | hubimos hablado | habíamos hablado | habremos hablado | habríamos hablado |
| Vosotros | habéis hablado | hubisteis hablado | habíais hablado | habréis hablado | habríais hablado |
| Ellos/Ellas | han hablado | hubieron hablado | habían hablado | habrán hablado | habrían hablado |
| Present Progressive | Past Progressive | |
| Yo | estoy hablando | estaba hablando |
| Tú | estás hablando | estabas hablando |
| Él/Ella | está hablando | estaba hablando |
| Nosotros | estamos hablando | estábamos hablando |
| Vosotros | estáis hablando | estabais hablando |
| Ellos/Ellas | están hablando | estaban hablando |
Practice examples with sentences illustrating each tense.
| Simple Tense | Composed Tense |
| Presente Yo hablo con mi amigo todos los días. (I speak with my friend every day.) | Pretérito Perfecto He hablado con ella esta mañana. (I have spoken with her this morning.) |
| Pretérito Ayer hablé con mi profesor. (Yesterday I spoke with my teacher.) | Pretérito Anterior Apenas hube hablado, me interrumpieron. (As soon as I had spoken, they interrupted me.) |
| Imperfecto Cuando era niño, hablaba mucho en clase. (When I was a child, I used to talk a lot in class.) | Pluscuamperfecto Cuando llegaste, yo ya había hablado con él. (When you arrived, I had already spoken with him.) |
| Futuro Mañana hablaré con el director. (Tomorrow I will speak with the director.) | Futuro Perfecto Para el próximo año, habré hablado con todos los clientes. (By next year, I will have spoken with all the clients.) |
| Condicional Si tuviera tiempo, hablaría contigo más. (If I had time, I would talk to you more.) | Condicional Perfecto Si hubieras venido antes, habría hablado contigo. (If you had come earlier, I would have spoken with you.) |
FAQs
Is indicative the same as the present tense in Spanish?
No, the present tense is just one of the 10 tenses in the Spanish Indicative Mood.
What is the indicative mood in Spanish?
The indicative mood is used for stating facts, expressing certainty, and describing reality.
How is it different from the subjunctive mood?
The subjunctive expresses doubt and uncertainty, whereas the Spanish indicative mood states facts.
