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Definir is a Spanish verb which translates into English as “to define, determine”.
Below are all of the conjugations for definir 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 define, determine |
|---|---|
| Spanish Infinitive | definir |
The gerund (gerundio) is used with the continuous tenses, e.g. present continuous (está definiendo) and past continuous (estaba definiendo). The easiest way to think of it is the equivalent of english’s -ing form (e.g. defining).
The past participle (participio) is used with perfect tense ‘haber’ verbs, e.g. he definido and hubiera definido. These are the equivalent of English’s ‘have’ (e.g. have defined).
| Gerundio / Gerund | definiendo |
|---|---|
| Participio / Past Participle | definido |
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 define” or “they define”.
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | defino |
| Tú | defines |
| Él / Ella / Usted | define |
| Nosotros / as | definimos |
| Vosotros / as | definís |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | definen |
| Vos | definís |
Your simple past tense, e.g. “I defined” or “she defined” 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 | definí | I defined |
| Tú | definiste | You defined |
| Él / Ella / Usted | definió | He / she / you defined |
| Nosotros / as | definimos | We defined |
| Vosotros / as | definisteis | You defined |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | definieron | They / you defined |
| Vos | definiste | You defined |
The pretérito imperfecto roughly translates as “I was defining” or “she was defining” 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 | definía | I was defining |
| Tú | definías | You were defining |
| Él / Ella / Usted | definía | He was / she was / you were defining |
| Nosotros / as | definíamos | We were defining |
| Vosotros / as | definíais | You were defining |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | definían | They / you were defining |
| Vos | definías | You were defining |
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 defined” and “she has defined”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | he definido | I have defined |
| Tú | has definido | You have defined |
| Él / Ella / Usted | ha definido | He has / she has / you have defined |
| Nosotros / as | hemos definido | We have defined |
| Vosotros / as | habéis definido | You have defined |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | han definido | They / you have defined |
| Vos | has definido | You have defined |
The conditional is used in place of the English modal verb “would”, i.e. “I would define” or “she would define”. It can be used to talk about hypothetical situations.
| Pronoun | Spanish | Englush |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | definiría | I would define |
| Tú | definirías | You would define |
| Él / Ella / Usted | definiría | He / she / you would define |
| Nosotros / as | definiríamos | We would define |
| Vosotros / as | definiríais | You would define |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | definirían | They / you would define |
| Vos | definirías | You would define |
The future tense, simply put, replaces the English modal verb “will” – i.e. “I will define” or “they will define”.
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 definir” means “They are going to define”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | definiré | I will define |
| Tú | definirás | You will define |
| Él / Ella / Usted | definirá | He / she / you will define |
| Nosotros / as | definiremos | We will define |
| Vosotros / as | definiréis | You will define |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | definirán | They / you will define |
| Vos | definirás | You will define |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | defina |
| Tú | definas |
| Él / Ella / Usted | defina |
| Nosotros / as | definamos |
| Vosotros / as | defináis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | definan |
| Vos | definas |
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 | definiera | definiese |
| Tú | definieras | definiese |
| Él / Ella / Usted | definiera | definiese |
| Nosotros / as | definiéramos | definiésemos |
| Vosotros / as | definierais | definieseis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | definieran | definiesen |
| Vos | definieras | definiese |
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 | definiere |
| Tú | definieres |
| Él / Ella / Usted | definiera |
| Nosotros / as | definiéremos |
| Vosotros / as | definiereis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | definieren |
| Vos | definieres |
Used for forming positive and negative commands, e.g. “define!” and “don’t define!”.
| Pronoun | Spanish Affirmative | Spanish Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Tú | define | no definas |
| Él / Ella / Usted | defina | no defina |
| Nosotros / as | definamos | no definamos |
| Vosotros / as | definid | no defináis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | definan | no definan |
| Vos | definí | no definas |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | haya definido |
| Tú | hayas definido |
| Él / Ella / Usted | haya definido |
| Nosotros / as | hayamos definido |
| Vosotros / as | hayáis definido |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hayan definido |
| Vos | hayas definido |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera definido / hubiese definido |
| Tú | hubieras definido / hubieses definido |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiera definido / hubiese definido |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéramos definido / hubiésemos definido |
| Vosotros / as | hubierais definido / hubieseis definido |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieran definido / hubiesen definido |
| Vos | hubieras definido / hubieses definido |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere definido |
| Tú | hubieres definido |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiere definido |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéremos definido |
| Vosotros / as | hubiereis definido |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieren definido |
| Vos | hubieres definido |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | esté definiendo |
| Tú | estés definiendo |
| Él / Ella / Usted | esté definiendo |
| Nosotros / as | estemos definiendo |
| Vosotros / as | estéis definiendo |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estén definiendo |
| Vos | estés definiendo |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviera definiendo / estuviese definiendo |
| Tú | estuvieras definiendo / estuvieses definiendo |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviera definiendo / estuviese definiendo |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéramos definiendo / estuviésamos definiendo |
| Vosotros / as | estuvierais definiendo / estuvieseis definiendo |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviera definiendo / estuviese definiendo |
| Vos | estuvieras definiendo / estuvieses definiendo |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviere definiendo |
| Tú | estuvieres definiendo |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviere definiendo |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéremos definiendo |
| Vosotros / as | estuviereis definiendo |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviere definiendo |
| Vos | estuvieres definiendo |
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 definís |
| Simle Past / Preterite Preterite de Indicativo | Vos definiste |
| Imperfect Past Preterite Imperfecto de Indicativo | Vos definías |
| Conditional Condicional | Vos definirías |
| Future Futuro de Indicativo | Vos definirás |
| Present Subjunctive Presente de Subjunctivo | Vos definas |
| Imperfect Subjunctive Imperfecto de Subjunctivo | Vos definieras / Vos definiese |
| Affirmative Imperative Imperativo | Vos definí |
| Negative Imperative Imperativo Negativo | Vos no definas |