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Alegrarse is a Spanish verb which translates into English as “to be or feel glad (happy), rejoice”.
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 alegro) or after the infinitive (e.g. Él tiene que alegrarse).
Below are all of the conjugations for alegrarse 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 be or feel glad (happy), rejoice |
|---|---|
| Spanish Infinitive | alegrarse |
The gerund (gerundio) is used with the continuous tenses, e.g. present continuous (está alegrándose) and past continuous (estaba alegrándose). The easiest way to think of it is the equivalent of english’s -ing form (e.g. rejoicing).
The past participle (participio) is used with perfect tense ‘haber’ verbs, e.g. he alegrado and hubiera alegrado. These are the equivalent of English’s ‘have’ (e.g. have rejoiced).
| Gerundio / Gerund | alegrándose |
|---|---|
| Participio / Past Participle | alegrado |
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 rejoice” or “they rejoice”.
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | me alegro |
| Tú | te alegras |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se alegra |
| Nosotros / as | nos alegramos |
| Vosotros / as | os alegráis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se alegran |
| Vos | te alegrás |
Your simple past tense, e.g. “I rejoiced” or “she rejoiced” 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 alegré | I rejoiced |
| Tú | te alegraste | You rejoiced |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se alegró | He / she / you rejoiced |
| Nosotros / as | nos alegramos | We rejoiced |
| Vosotros / as | os alegrasteis | You rejoiced |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se alegraron | They / you rejoiced |
| Vos | te alegraste | You rejoiced |
The pretérito imperfecto roughly translates as “I was rejoicing” or “she was rejoicing” 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 alegraba | I was rejoicing |
| Tú | te alegrabas | You were rejoicing |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se alegraba | He was / she was / you were rejoicing |
| Nosotros / as | nos alegrábamos | We were rejoicing |
| Vosotros / as | os alegrabais | You were rejoicing |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se alegraban | They / you were rejoicing |
| Vos | te alegrabas | You were rejoicing |
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 rejoiced” and “she has rejoiced”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me he alegrado | I have rejoiced |
| Tú | te has alegrado | You have rejoiced |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se ha alegrado | He has / she has / you have rejoiced |
| Nosotros / as | nos hemos alegrado | We have rejoiced |
| Vosotros / as | os habéis alegrado | You have rejoiced |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se han alegrado | They / you have rejoiced |
| Vos | te has alegrado | You have rejoiced |
The conditional is used in place of the English modal verb “would”, i.e. “I would rejoice” or “she would rejoice”. It can be used to talk about hypothetical situations.
| Pronoun | Spanish | Englush |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me alegraría | I would rejoice |
| Tú | te alegrarías | You would rejoice |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se alegraría | He / she / you would rejoice |
| Nosotros / as | nos alegraríamos | We would rejoice |
| Vosotros / as | os alegraríais | You would rejoice |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se alegrarían | They / you would rejoice |
| Vos | te alegrarías | You would rejoice |
The future tense, simply put, replaces the English modal verb “will” – i.e. “I will rejoice” or “they will rejoice”.
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 alegrarse” means “They are going to rejoice”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me alegraré | I will rejoice |
| Tú | te alegrarás | You will rejoice |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se alegrará | He / she / you will rejoice |
| Nosotros / as | nos alegraremos | We will rejoice |
| Vosotros / as | os alegraréis | You will rejoice |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se alegrarán | They / you will rejoice |
| Vos | te alegrarás | You will rejoice |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | me alegre |
| Tú | te alegres |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se alegre |
| Nosotros / as | nos alegremos |
| Vosotros / as | os alegréis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se alegren |
| Vos | te alegres |
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 alegrara | me alegrase |
| Tú | te alegraras | me alegrase |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se alegrara | se alegrase |
| Nosotros / as | nos alegráramos | nos alegrásemos |
| Vosotros / as | os alegrarais | os alegraseis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se alegraran | se alegrasen |
| Vos | te alegraras | me alegrase |
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 alegrare |
| Tú | te alegrares |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se alegrare |
| Nosotros / as | nos alegráremos |
| Vosotros / as | os alegrareis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se alegraren |
| Vos | te alegrares |
Used for forming positive and negative commands, e.g. “rejoice!” and “don’t rejoice!”.
| Pronoun | Spanish Affirmative | Spanish Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Tú | alégrate | no te alegres |
| Él / Ella / Usted | alégrese | no se alegre |
| Nosotros / as | alegrémonos | no nos alegremos |
| Vosotros / as | alegraos | no os alegréis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | alégrense | no se alegren |
| Vos | alegrate | no te alegres |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | haya alegrado |
| Tú | hayas alegrado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | haya alegrado |
| Nosotros / as | hayamos alegrado |
| Vosotros / as | hayáis alegrado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hayan alegrado |
| Vos | hayas alegrado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera alegrado / hubiese alegrado |
| Tú | hubieras alegrado / hubieses alegrado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiera alegrado / hubiese alegrado |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéramos alegrado / hubiésemos alegrado |
| Vosotros / as | hubierais alegrado / hubieseis alegrado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieran alegrado / hubiesen alegrado |
| Vos | hubieras alegrado / hubieses alegrado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere alegrado |
| Tú | hubieres alegrado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiere alegrado |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéremos alegrado |
| Vosotros / as | hubiereis alegrado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieren alegrado |
| Vos | hubieres alegrado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | esté alegrándose |
| Tú | estés alegrándose |
| Él / Ella / Usted | esté alegrándose |
| Nosotros / as | estemos alegrándose |
| Vosotros / as | estéis alegrándose |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estén alegrándose |
| Vos | estés alegrándose |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviera alegrándose / estuviese alegrándose |
| Tú | estuvieras alegrándose / estuvieses alegrándose |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviera alegrándose / estuviese alegrándose |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéramos alegrándose / estuviésamos alegrándose |
| Vosotros / as | estuvierais alegrándose / estuvieseis alegrándose |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviera alegrándose / estuviese alegrándose |
| Vos | estuvieras alegrándose / estuvieses alegrándose |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviere alegrándose |
| Tú | estuvieres alegrándose |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviere alegrándose |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéremos alegrándose |
| Vosotros / as | estuviereis alegrándose |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviere alegrándose |
| Vos | estuvieres alegrándose |
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 alegrás |
| Simle Past / Preterite Preterite de Indicativo | Vos te alegraste |
| Imperfect Past Preterite Imperfecto de Indicativo | Vos te alegrabas |
| Conditional Condicional | Vos te alegrarías |
| Future Futuro de Indicativo | Vos te alegrarás |
| Present Subjunctive Presente de Subjunctivo | Vos te alegres |
| Imperfect Subjunctive Imperfecto de Subjunctivo | Vos te alegraras / Vos me alegrase |
| Affirmative Imperative Imperativo | Vos alegrate |
| Negative Imperative Imperativo Negativo | Vos no te alegres |