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Avergonzarse is a Spanish verb which translates into English as “to be embarrassed, be ashamed”.
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 avergonzo) or after the infinitive (e.g. Él tiene que avergonzarse).
Below are all of the conjugations for avergonzarse 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 embarrassed, be ashamed |
|---|---|
| Spanish Infinitive | avergonzarse |
The gerund (gerundio) is used with the continuous tenses, e.g. present continuous (está avergonzándose) and past continuous (estaba avergonzándose). The easiest way to think of it is the equivalent of english’s -ing form (e.g. being embarrassed).
The past participle (participio) is used with perfect tense ‘haber’ verbs, e.g. he avergonzado and hubiera avergonzado. These are the equivalent of English’s ‘have’ (e.g. have been embarrassed).
| Gerundio / Gerund | avergonzándose |
|---|---|
| Participio / Past Participle | avergonzado |
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 be embarrassed” or “they be embarrassed”.
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | me avergonzo |
| Tú | te avergonzas |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se avergonza |
| Nosotros / as | nos avergonzamos |
| Vosotros / as | os avergonzáis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se avergonzan |
| Vos | te avergonzás |
Your simple past tense, e.g. “I was embarrassed” or “she was embarrassed” 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 avergoncé | I was embarrassed |
| Tú | te avergonzaste | You was embarrassed |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se avergonzó | He / she / you was embarrassed |
| Nosotros / as | nos avergonzamos | We was embarrassed |
| Vosotros / as | os avergonzasteis | You was embarrassed |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se avergonzaron | They / you was embarrassed |
| Vos | te avergonzaste | You was embarrassed |
The pretérito imperfecto roughly translates as “I was being embarrassed” or “she was being embarrassed” 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 avergonzaba | I was being embarrassed |
| Tú | te avergonzabas | You were being embarrassed |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se avergonzaba | He was / she was / you were being embarrassed |
| Nosotros / as | nos avergonzábamos | We were being embarrassed |
| Vosotros / as | os avergonzabais | You were being embarrassed |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se avergonzaban | They / you were being embarrassed |
| Vos | te avergonzabas | You were being embarrassed |
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 been embarrassed” and “she has been embarrassed”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me he avergonzado | I have been embarrassed |
| Tú | te has avergonzado | You have been embarrassed |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se ha avergonzado | He has / she has / you have been embarrassed |
| Nosotros / as | nos hemos avergonzado | We have been embarrassed |
| Vosotros / as | os habéis avergonzado | You have been embarrassed |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se han avergonzado | They / you have been embarrassed |
| Vos | te has avergonzado | You have been embarrassed |
The conditional is used in place of the English modal verb “would”, i.e. “I would be embarrassed” or “she would be embarrassed”. It can be used to talk about hypothetical situations.
| Pronoun | Spanish | Englush |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me avergonzaría | I would be embarrassed |
| Tú | te avergonzarías | You would be embarrassed |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se avergonzaría | He / she / you would be embarrassed |
| Nosotros / as | nos avergonzaríamos | We would be embarrassed |
| Vosotros / as | os avergonzaríais | You would be embarrassed |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se avergonzarían | They / you would be embarrassed |
| Vos | te avergonzarías | You would be embarrassed |
The future tense, simply put, replaces the English modal verb “will” – i.e. “I will be embarrassed” or “they will be embarrassed”.
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 avergonzarse” means “They are going to be embarrassed”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me avergonzaré | I will be embarrassed |
| Tú | te avergonzarás | You will be embarrassed |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se avergonzará | He / she / you will be embarrassed |
| Nosotros / as | nos avergonzaremos | We will be embarrassed |
| Vosotros / as | os avergonzaréis | You will be embarrassed |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se avergonzarán | They / you will be embarrassed |
| Vos | te avergonzarás | You will be embarrassed |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | me avergonce |
| Tú | te avergonces |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se avergonce |
| Nosotros / as | nos avergoncemos |
| Vosotros / as | os avergoncéis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se avergoncen |
| Vos | te avergonces |
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 avergonzara | me avergonzase |
| Tú | te avergonzaras | me avergonzase |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se avergonzara | se avergonzase |
| Nosotros / as | nos avergonzáramos | nos avergonzásemos |
| Vosotros / as | os avergonzarais | os avergonzaseis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se avergonzaran | se avergonzasen |
| Vos | te avergonzaras | me avergonzase |
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 avergonzare |
| Tú | te avergonzares |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se avergonzare |
| Nosotros / as | nos avergonzáremos |
| Vosotros / as | os avergonzareis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se avergonzaren |
| Vos | te avergonzares |
Used for forming positive and negative commands, e.g. “be embarrassed!” and “don’t be embarrassed!”.
| Pronoun | Spanish Affirmative | Spanish Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Tú | avergónzate | no te avergonces |
| Él / Ella / Usted | avergóncese | no se avergonce |
| Nosotros / as | avergoncémonos | no nos avergoncemos |
| Vosotros / as | avergonzaos | no os avergoncéis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | avergóncense | no se avergoncen |
| Vos | avergonzate | no te avergonces |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | haya avergonzado |
| Tú | hayas avergonzado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | haya avergonzado |
| Nosotros / as | hayamos avergonzado |
| Vosotros / as | hayáis avergonzado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hayan avergonzado |
| Vos | hayas avergonzado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera avergonzado / hubiese avergonzado |
| Tú | hubieras avergonzado / hubieses avergonzado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiera avergonzado / hubiese avergonzado |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéramos avergonzado / hubiésemos avergonzado |
| Vosotros / as | hubierais avergonzado / hubieseis avergonzado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieran avergonzado / hubiesen avergonzado |
| Vos | hubieras avergonzado / hubieses avergonzado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere avergonzado |
| Tú | hubieres avergonzado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiere avergonzado |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéremos avergonzado |
| Vosotros / as | hubiereis avergonzado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieren avergonzado |
| Vos | hubieres avergonzado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | esté avergonzándose |
| Tú | estés avergonzándose |
| Él / Ella / Usted | esté avergonzándose |
| Nosotros / as | estemos avergonzándose |
| Vosotros / as | estéis avergonzándose |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estén avergonzándose |
| Vos | estés avergonzándose |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviera avergonzándose / estuviese avergonzándose |
| Tú | estuvieras avergonzándose / estuvieses avergonzándose |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviera avergonzándose / estuviese avergonzándose |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéramos avergonzándose / estuviésamos avergonzándose |
| Vosotros / as | estuvierais avergonzándose / estuvieseis avergonzándose |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviera avergonzándose / estuviese avergonzándose |
| Vos | estuvieras avergonzándose / estuvieses avergonzándose |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviere avergonzándose |
| Tú | estuvieres avergonzándose |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviere avergonzándose |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéremos avergonzándose |
| Vosotros / as | estuviereis avergonzándose |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviere avergonzándose |
| Vos | estuvieres avergonzándose |
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 avergonzás |
| Simle Past / Preterite Preterite de Indicativo | Vos te avergonzaste |
| Imperfect Past Preterite Imperfecto de Indicativo | Vos te avergonzabas |
| Conditional Condicional | Vos te avergonzarías |
| Future Futuro de Indicativo | Vos te avergonzarás |
| Present Subjunctive Presente de Subjunctivo | Vos te avergonces |
| Imperfect Subjunctive Imperfecto de Subjunctivo | Vos te avergonzaras / Vos me avergonzase |
| Affirmative Imperative Imperativo | Vos avergonzate |
| Negative Imperative Imperativo Negativo | Vos no te avergonces |