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Everything you need to improve your Spanish
Concentrarse is a Spanish verb which translates into English as “to concentrate, be focused”.
It’s a reflexive verb, which means the subject performs the action upon themselves – e.g. “I wake myself”.
Reflexive verbs always carry a reflexive pronoun – me, te, se, nos or os – which is often placed before the conjugated verb (e.g. me concentro) or after the infinitive (e.g. Él tiene que concentrarse).
Below are all of the conjugations for concentrarse in Spanish, in all three moods (indicative/indicativo, subjunctive/subjunctivo and imperative/imperativo) and all of the tenses, for each pronoun.
The vosotros pronoun is mainly used in mainland Spain, and is the informal second-person plural – it could be considered the Spanish version of “y’all”. It is rarely found in Latin America, where ustedes is used instead.
The vos form is used instead of tú in some Spanish speaking countries of South America, especially the Southern Cone (e.g. Argentina and Uruguay) and has a different conjugation.
| English Infinitive | to concentrate, be focused |
|---|---|
| Spanish Infinitive | concentrarse |
The gerund (gerundio) is used with the continuous tenses, e.g. present continuous (está concentrándose) and past continuous (estaba concentrándose). The easiest way to think of it is the equivalent of english’s -ing form (e.g. concentrating).
The past participle (participio) is used with perfect tense ‘haber’ verbs, e.g. he concentrado and hubiera concentrado. These are the equivalent of English’s ‘have’ (e.g. have concentrated).
| Gerundio / Gerund | concentrándose |
|---|---|
| Participio / Past Participle | concentrado |
The basic form of speech, el indicativo is used for making statements, talking about facts, events and things that are certain and objective.
The present tense is as it sounds – it’s for talking about things that are currently going on, which are habitual, or which generally exist. In English, this would be “I concentrate” or “they concentrate”.
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | me concentro |
| Tú | te concentras |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se concentra |
| Nosotros / as | nos concentramos |
| Vosotros / as | os concentráis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se concentran |
| Vos | te concentrás |
Your simple past tense, e.g. “I concentrated” or “she concentrated” in English.
In Spanish, there are two past tenses where just one is used in English; the pretérite infefinido is typically used to refer to a concrete, specific moment in time.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me concentré | I concentrated |
| Tú | te concentraste | You concentrated |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se concentró | He / she / you concentrated |
| Nosotros / as | nos concentramos | We concentrated |
| Vosotros / as | os concentrasteis | You concentrated |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se concentraron | They / you concentrated |
| Vos | te concentraste | You concentrated |
The pretérito imperfecto roughly translates as “I was concentrating” or “she was concentrating” in English, and is typically used to describe things and set a scene, talk about events without a specific timeframe, or talk about habitual events or states in the past.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me concentraba | I was concentrating |
| Tú | te concentrabas | You were concentrating |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se concentraba | He was / she was / you were concentrating |
| Nosotros / as | nos concentrábamos | We were concentrating |
| Vosotros / as | os concentrabais | You were concentrating |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se concentraban | They / you were concentrating |
| Vos | te concentrabas | You were concentrating |
The perfect tense is for talking about things which happened in the past but are still related to the present or continue into the present.
In English, these use the auxiliary verbs ‘have’ and ‘has’ – i.e. “I have concentrated” and “she has concentrated”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me he concentrado | I have concentrated |
| Tú | te has concentrado | You have concentrated |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se ha concentrado | He has / she has / you have concentrated |
| Nosotros / as | nos hemos concentrado | We have concentrated |
| Vosotros / as | os habéis concentrado | You have concentrated |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se han concentrado | They / you have concentrated |
| Vos | te has concentrado | You have concentrated |
The conditional is used in place of the English modal verb “would”, i.e. “I would concentrate” or “she would concentrate”. It can be used to talk about hypothetical situations.
| Pronoun | Spanish | Englush |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me concentraría | I would concentrate |
| Tú | te concentrarías | You would concentrate |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se concentraría | He / she / you would concentrate |
| Nosotros / as | nos concentraríamos | We would concentrate |
| Vosotros / as | os concentraríais | You would concentrate |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se concentrarían | They / you would concentrate |
| Vos | te concentrarías | You would concentrate |
The future tense, simply put, replaces the English modal verb “will” – i.e. “I will concentrate” or “they will concentrate”.
It is more commonly used for making a hypothesis about the present. To talk about the future, Spanish speakers frequently use “ir + a + infinivo”, e.g. “van a concentrarse” means “They are going to concentrate”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me concentraré | I will concentrate |
| Tú | te concentrarás | You will concentrate |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se concentrará | He / she / you will concentrate |
| Nosotros / as | nos concentraremos | We will concentrate |
| Vosotros / as | os concentraréis | You will concentrate |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se concentrarán | They / you will concentrate |
| Vos | te concentrarás | You will concentrate |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | me concentre |
| Tú | te concentres |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se concentre |
| Nosotros / as | nos concentremos |
| Vosotros / as | os concentréis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se concentren |
| Vos | te concentres |
There are two ways to form the imperfect subjunctive.
The first option sees verbs ending in -era (for -er and -ir verbs) and -ara (for -ar verbs), while the second sees verbs ending in -ese (for -er and -ir verbs) and -ase (for -ar verbs).
There is no difference between these two forms, and Spanish speakers use them interchangeably.
| Pronoun | Spanish era/ara | Spanish ese/ase |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me concentrara | me concentrase |
| Tú | te concentraras | me concentrase |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se concentrara | se concentrase |
| Nosotros / as | nos concentráramos | nos concentrásemos |
| Vosotros / as | os concentrarais | os concentraseis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se concentraran | se concentrasen |
| Vos | te concentraras | me concentrase |
The future subjunctive is no longer used in modern-day Spanish, apart from in literary and legal contexts, and there is no need to learn it.
It is formed the same as the past/imperfect subjunctive, but with -e endings instead of -a endings.
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | me concentrare |
| Tú | te concentrares |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se concentrare |
| Nosotros / as | nos concentráremos |
| Vosotros / as | os concentrareis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se concentraren |
| Vos | te concentrares |
Used for forming positive and negative commands, e.g. “concentrate!” and “don’t concentrate!”.
| Pronoun | Spanish Affirmative | Spanish Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Tú | concéntrate | no te concentres |
| Él / Ella / Usted | concéntrese | no se concentre |
| Nosotros / as | concentrémonos | no nos concentremos |
| Vosotros / as | concentraos | no os concentréis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | concéntrense | no se concentren |
| Vos | concentrate | no te concentres |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | haya concentrado |
| Tú | hayas concentrado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | haya concentrado |
| Nosotros / as | hayamos concentrado |
| Vosotros / as | hayáis concentrado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hayan concentrado |
| Vos | hayas concentrado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera concentrado / hubiese concentrado |
| Tú | hubieras concentrado / hubieses concentrado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiera concentrado / hubiese concentrado |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéramos concentrado / hubiésemos concentrado |
| Vosotros / as | hubierais concentrado / hubieseis concentrado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieran concentrado / hubiesen concentrado |
| Vos | hubieras concentrado / hubieses concentrado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere concentrado |
| Tú | hubieres concentrado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiere concentrado |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéremos concentrado |
| Vosotros / as | hubiereis concentrado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieren concentrado |
| Vos | hubieres concentrado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | esté concentrándose |
| Tú | estés concentrándose |
| Él / Ella / Usted | esté concentrándose |
| Nosotros / as | estemos concentrándose |
| Vosotros / as | estéis concentrándose |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estén concentrándose |
| Vos | estés concentrándose |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviera concentrándose / estuviese concentrándose |
| Tú | estuvieras concentrándose / estuvieses concentrándose |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviera concentrándose / estuviese concentrándose |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéramos concentrándose / estuviésamos concentrándose |
| Vosotros / as | estuvierais concentrándose / estuvieseis concentrándose |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviera concentrándose / estuviese concentrándose |
| Vos | estuvieras concentrándose / estuvieses concentrándose |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviere concentrándose |
| Tú | estuvieres concentrándose |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviere concentrándose |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéremos concentrándose |
| Vosotros / as | estuviereis concentrándose |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviere concentrándose |
| Vos | estuvieres concentrándose |
Voseo is the practice of using ‘vos’ instead of ‘tú’ as the second-person singular pronoun, and is common throughout much of South America.
There are various versions of ‘voseo’ used throughout the Spanish-speaking world. The conjugations for the most common type – used throughout Argentina, parts of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguya and Uruguay are below.
The present indicative (presente de indicativo) and affirmative imperative (imperativo) have different conjugations from the tú form, while all other tenses generally use the tú form.
| Tense | Vos Conjugation |
|---|---|
| Present Indicative Presente de Indicativo | Vos te concentrás |
| Simle Past / Preterite Preterite de Indicativo | Vos te concentraste |
| Imperfect Past Preterite Imperfecto de Indicativo | Vos te concentrabas |
| Conditional Condicional | Vos te concentrarías |
| Future Futuro de Indicativo | Vos te concentrarás |
| Present Subjunctive Presente de Subjunctivo | Vos te concentres |
| Imperfect Subjunctive Imperfecto de Subjunctivo | Vos te concentraras / Vos me concentrase |
| Affirmative Imperative Imperativo | Vos concentrate |
| Negative Imperative Imperativo Negativo | Vos no te concentres |