comprender
to understandparticipio comprendidogerundio comprendiendohe + participio he comprendidoestoy + gerundio estoy comprendiendo
Presentewhat is going on now
Presente
Present — what is happening now, and what happens habitually
| yo | comprendoI understand | nosotros | comprendemoswe understand |
| tú | comprendesyou understand | vosotros | comprendéisyou all understand |
| él/ella/Ud. | comprendehe/she understands | ellos/Uds. | comprendenthey understand |
Pretérito perfecto
Present perfect — have —ed; a past still touching now. Spain: today, this week. Latin America: mostly the indefinido instead
| yo | he comprendidoI have understood | nosotros | hemos comprendidowe have understood |
| tú | has comprendidoyou have understood | vosotros | habéis comprendidoyou all have understood |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha comprendidohe/she has understood | ellos/Uds. | han comprendidothey have understood |
Presente de subjuntivo
Present subjunctive — after que with wishes, doubt, emotion, ojalá
| yo | comprenda(that) I understand | nosotros | comprendamos(that) we understand |
| tú | comprendas(that) you understand | vosotros | comprendáis(that) you all understand |
| él/ella/Ud. | comprenda(that) he/she understands | ellos/Uds. | comprendan(that) they understand |
Perfecto de subjuntivo
Present perfect subjunctive — have —ed, under doubt or emotion: no creo que haya venido
| yo | haya comprendido(that) I have understood | nosotros | hayamos comprendido(that) we have understood |
| tú | hayas comprendido(that) you have understood | vosotros | hayáis comprendido(that) you all have understood |
| él/ella/Ud. | haya comprendido(that) he/she has understood | ellos/Uds. | hayan comprendido(that) they have understood |
Pasadowhat went on
Pretérito indefinido
Preterite — a finished past action — it started, it ended
| yo | comprendíI understood | nosotros | comprendimoswe understood |
| tú | comprendisteyou understood | vosotros | comprendisteisyou all understood |
| él/ella/Ud. | comprendióhe/she understood | ellos/Uds. | comprendieronthey understood |
Pretérito imperfecto
Imperfect — used to / was —ing; background, habits, descriptions
| yo | comprendíaI used to understand | nosotros | comprendíamoswe used to understand |
| tú | comprendíasyou used to understand | vosotros | comprendíaisyou all used to understand |
| él/ella/Ud. | comprendíahe/she used to understand | ellos/Uds. | comprendíanthey used to understand |
Pretérito pluscuamperfecto
Past perfect — had —ed; further back than another past event
| yo | había comprendidoI had understood | nosotros | habíamos comprendidowe had understood |
| tú | habías comprendidoyou had understood | vosotros | habíais comprendidoyou all had understood |
| él/ella/Ud. | había comprendidohe/she had understood | ellos/Uds. | habían comprendidothey had understood |
Imperfecto de subjuntivo (-ra)
Imperfect subjunctive — si clauses and past-tense wishes: si tuviera, quería que fuera
| yo | comprendiera(that) I understood | nosotros | comprendiéramos(that) we understood |
| tú | comprendieras(that) you understood | vosotros | comprendierais(that) you all understood |
| él/ella/Ud. | comprendiera(that) he/she understood | ellos/Uds. | comprendieran(that) they understood |
Imperfecto de subjuntivo (-se)
Imperfect subjunctive — the same tense, second form; commoner in Spain and in writing
| yo | comprendiese(that) I understood | nosotros | comprendiésemos(that) we understood |
| tú | comprendieses(that) you understood | vosotros | comprendieseis(that) you all understood |
| él/ella/Ud. | comprendiese(that) he/she understood | ellos/Uds. | comprendiesen(that) they understood |
Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo
Past perfect subjunctive — had —ed, hypothetically: si hubiera sabido
| yo | hubiera comprendido(that) I had understood | nosotros | hubiéramos comprendido(that) we had understood |
| tú | hubieras comprendido(that) you had understood | vosotros | hubierais comprendido(that) you all had understood |
| él/ella/Ud. | hubiera comprendido(that) he/she had understood | ellos/Uds. | hubieran comprendido(that) they had understood |
Pretérito anterior
Preterite perfect — had —ed, immediately before; literary, all but extinct
| yo | hube comprendidoI had understood | nosotros | hubimos comprendidowe had understood |
| tú | hubiste comprendidoyou had understood | vosotros | hubisteis comprendidoyou all had understood |
| él/ella/Ud. | hubo comprendidohe/she had understood | ellos/Uds. | hubieron comprendidothey had understood |
Futurowhat will or would go on
Futuro simple
Future — will — (spoken Spanish often prefers voy a + infinitivo)
| yo | comprenderéI will understand | nosotros | comprenderemoswe will understand |
| tú | comprenderásyou will understand | vosotros | comprenderéisyou all will understand |
| él/ella/Ud. | comprenderáhe/she will understand | ellos/Uds. | comprenderánthey will understand |
Condicional simple
Conditional — would —; also softens a request into politeness
| yo | comprenderíaI would understand | nosotros | comprenderíamoswe would understand |
| tú | comprenderíasyou would understand | vosotros | comprenderíaisyou all would understand |
| él/ella/Ud. | comprenderíahe/she would understand | ellos/Uds. | comprenderíanthey would understand |
Futuro perfecto
Future perfect — will have —ed; done by some future point
| yo | habré comprendidoI will have understood | nosotros | habremos comprendidowe will have understood |
| tú | habrás comprendidoyou will have understood | vosotros | habréis comprendidoyou all will have understood |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá comprendidohe/she will have understood | ellos/Uds. | habrán comprendidothey will have understood |
Condicional perfecto
Conditional perfect — would have —ed; the road not taken
| yo | habría comprendidoI would have understood | nosotros | habríamos comprendidowe would have understood |
| tú | habrías comprendidoyou would have understood | vosotros | habríais comprendidoyou all would have understood |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría comprendidohe/she would have understood | ellos/Uds. | habrían comprendidothey would have understood |
Futuro de subjuntivo
Future subjunctive — legal and proverbial only: adonde fueres, haz lo que vieres
| yo | comprendiere(should) I understand | nosotros | comprendiéremos(should) we understand |
| tú | comprendieres(should) you understand | vosotros | comprendiereis(should) you all understand |
| él/ella/Ud. | comprendiere(should) he/she understand | ellos/Uds. | comprendieren(should) they understand |
Imperativotelling someone to
Imperativo afirmativo
Imperative (do it) — orders and requests; there is no yo form
| yo | — | nosotros | comprendamoslet's understand |
| tú | comprendeunderstand! | vosotros | comprendedunderstand! |
| él/ella/Ud. | comprendaunderstand! | ellos/Uds. | comprendanunderstand! |
Imperativo negativo
Imperative (don't) — no + subjunctive — never the affirmative form with no in front
| yo | — | nosotros | no comprendamoslet's not understand |
| tú | no comprendasdon't understand | vosotros | no comprendáisdon't understand |
| él/ella/Ud. | no comprendadon't understand | ellos/Uds. | no comprendandon't understand |
Imagen. Mapa de «Sobre algunos mapas antiguos de África, en los que los lagos ecuatoriales centrales están situados casi en su posición verdadera… De las Actas de la Real Sociedad de Literatura». — traducido de map from 'On some old Maps of Africa, in which the central equatorial lakes are laid down nearly in their true positions ... From the Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature'. (europeana · PDM)
