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Fermentar is a Spanish verb which translates into English as “to ferment”.
Below are all of the conjugations for fermentar 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 ferment |
|---|---|
| Spanish Infinitive | fermentar |
The gerund (gerundio) is used with the continuous tenses, e.g. present continuous (está fermentando) and past continuous (estaba fermentando). The easiest way to think of it is the equivalent of english’s -ing form (e.g. fermented).
The past participle (participio) is used with perfect tense ‘haber’ verbs, e.g. he fermented and hubiera fermented. These are the equivalent of English’s ‘have’ (e.g. have fermenting).
| Gerundio / Gerund | fermentando |
|---|---|
| Participio / Past Participle | fermented |
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 ferment” or “they ferment”.
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | fermento |
| Tú | fermentas |
| Él / Ella / Usted | fermenta |
| Nosotros / as | fermentamos |
| Vosotros / as | fermentáis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | fermentan |
| Vos | fermentás |
Your simple past tense, e.g. “I ferment” or “she ferment” 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 | fermenté | I ferment |
| Tú | fermentaste | You ferment |
| Él / Ella / Usted | fermentó | He / she / you ferment |
| Nosotros / as | fermentamos | We ferment |
| Vosotros / as | fermentasteis | You ferment |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | fermentaron | They / you ferment |
| Vos | fermentaste | You ferment |
The pretérito imperfecto roughly translates as “I was fermented” or “she was fermented” 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 | fermentaba | I was fermented |
| Tú | fermentabas | You were fermented |
| Él / Ella / Usted | fermentaba | He was / she was / you were fermented |
| Nosotros / as | fermentábamos | We were fermented |
| Vosotros / as | fermentabais | You were fermented |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | fermentaban | They / you were fermented |
| Vos | fermentabas | You were fermented |
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 fermenting” and “she has fermenting”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | he fermented | I have fermenting |
| Tú | has fermented | You have fermenting |
| Él / Ella / Usted | ha fermented | He has / she has / you have fermenting |
| Nosotros / as | hemos fermented | We have fermenting |
| Vosotros / as | habéis fermented | You have fermenting |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | han fermented | They / you have fermenting |
| Vos | has fermented | You have fermenting |
The conditional is used in place of the English modal verb “would”, i.e. “I would ferment” or “she would ferment”. It can be used to talk about hypothetical situations.
| Pronoun | Spanish | Englush |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | fermentaría | I would ferment |
| Tú | fermentarías | You would ferment |
| Él / Ella / Usted | fermentaría | He / she / you would ferment |
| Nosotros / as | fermentaríamos | We would ferment |
| Vosotros / as | fermentaríais | You would ferment |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | fermentarían | They / you would ferment |
| Vos | fermentarías | You would ferment |
The future tense, simply put, replaces the English modal verb “will” – i.e. “I will ferment” or “they will ferment”.
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 fermentar” means “They are going to ferment”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | fermentaré | I will ferment |
| Tú | fermentarás | You will ferment |
| Él / Ella / Usted | fermentará | He / she / you will ferment |
| Nosotros / as | fermentaremos | We will ferment |
| Vosotros / as | fermentaréis | You will ferment |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | fermentarán | They / you will ferment |
| Vos | fermentarás | You will ferment |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | fermente |
| Tú | fermentes |
| Él / Ella / Usted | fermente |
| Nosotros / as | fermentemos |
| Vosotros / as | fermentéis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | fermenten |
| Vos | fermentes |
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 | fermentara | fermentase |
| Tú | fermentaras | fermentase |
| Él / Ella / Usted | fermentara | fermentase |
| Nosotros / as | fermentáramos | fermentásemos |
| Vosotros / as | fermentarais | fermentaseis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | fermentaran | fermentasen |
| Vos | fermentaras | fermentase |
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 | fermentare |
| Tú | fermentares |
| Él / Ella / Usted | fermentare |
| Nosotros / as | fermentáremos |
| Vosotros / as | fermentareis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | fermentaren |
| Vos | fermentares |
Used for forming positive and negative commands, e.g. “ferment!” and “don’t ferment!”.
| Pronoun | Spanish Affirmative | Spanish Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Tú | fermenta | no fermentes |
| Él / Ella / Usted | fermente | no fermente |
| Nosotros / as | fermentemos | no fermentemos |
| Vosotros / as | fermentad | no fermentéis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | fermenten | no fermenten |
| Vos | fermentá | no fermentes |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | haya fermented |
| Tú | hayas fermented |
| Él / Ella / Usted | haya fermented |
| Nosotros / as | hayamos fermented |
| Vosotros / as | hayáis fermented |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hayan fermented |
| Vos | hayas fermented |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera fermented / hubiese fermented |
| Tú | hubieras fermented / hubieses fermented |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiera fermented / hubiese fermented |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéramos fermented / hubiésemos fermented |
| Vosotros / as | hubierais fermented / hubieseis fermented |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieran fermented / hubiesen fermented |
| Vos | hubieras fermented / hubieses fermented |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere fermented |
| Tú | hubieres fermented |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiere fermented |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéremos fermented |
| Vosotros / as | hubiereis fermented |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieren fermented |
| Vos | hubieres fermented |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | esté fermentando |
| Tú | estés fermentando |
| Él / Ella / Usted | esté fermentando |
| Nosotros / as | estemos fermentando |
| Vosotros / as | estéis fermentando |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estén fermentando |
| Vos | estés fermentando |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviera fermentando / estuviese fermentando |
| Tú | estuvieras fermentando / estuvieses fermentando |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviera fermentando / estuviese fermentando |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéramos fermentando / estuviésamos fermentando |
| Vosotros / as | estuvierais fermentando / estuvieseis fermentando |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviera fermentando / estuviese fermentando |
| Vos | estuvieras fermentando / estuvieses fermentando |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviere fermentando |
| Tú | estuvieres fermentando |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviere fermentando |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéremos fermentando |
| Vosotros / as | estuviereis fermentando |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviere fermentando |
| Vos | estuvieres fermentando |
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 fermentás |
| Simle Past / Preterite Preterite de Indicativo | Vos fermentaste |
| Imperfect Past Preterite Imperfecto de Indicativo | Vos fermentabas |
| Conditional Condicional | Vos fermentarías |
| Future Futuro de Indicativo | Vos fermentarás |
| Present Subjunctive Presente de Subjunctivo | Vos fermentes |
| Imperfect Subjunctive Imperfecto de Subjunctivo | Vos fermentaras / Vos fermentase |
| Affirmative Imperative Imperativo | Vos fermentá |
| Negative Imperative Imperativo Negativo | Vos no fermentes |