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Adoptar is a Spanish verb which translates into English as “to adopt”.
Below are all of the conjugations for adoptar 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 adopt |
|---|---|
| Spanish Infinitive | adoptar |
The gerund (gerundio) is used with the continuous tenses, e.g. present continuous (está adoptando) and past continuous (estaba adoptando). The easiest way to think of it is the equivalent of english’s -ing form (e.g. adapting).
The past participle (participio) is used with perfect tense ‘haber’ verbs, e.g. he adoptado and hubiera adoptado. These are the equivalent of English’s ‘have’ (e.g. have adapted).
| Gerundio / Gerund | adoptando |
|---|---|
| Participio / Past Participle | adoptado |
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 adapt” or “they adapt”.
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | adopto |
| Tú | adoptas |
| Él / Ella / Usted | adopta |
| Nosotros / as | adoptamos |
| Vosotros / as | adoptáis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | adoptan |
| Vos | adorás |
Your simple past tense, e.g. “I adapted” or “she adapted” 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 | adopté | I adapted |
| Tú | adoptaste | You adapted |
| Él / Ella / Usted | adoptó | He / she / you adapted |
| Nosotros / as | adoptamos | We adapted |
| Vosotros / as | adoptasteis | You adapted |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | adoptaron | They / you adapted |
| Vos | adoptaste | You adapted |
The pretérito imperfecto roughly translates as “I was adapting” or “she was adapting” 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 | adoptaba | I was adapting |
| Tú | adoptabas | You were adapting |
| Él / Ella / Usted | adoptaba | He was / she was / you were adapting |
| Nosotros / as | adoptábamos | We were adapting |
| Vosotros / as | adoptabais | You were adapting |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | adoptaban | They / you were adapting |
| Vos | adoptabas | You were adapting |
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 adapted” and “she has adapted”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | he adoptado | I have adapted |
| Tú | has adoptado | You have adapted |
| Él / Ella / Usted | ha adoptado | He has / she has / you have adapted |
| Nosotros / as | hemos adoptado | We have adapted |
| Vosotros / as | habéis adoptado | You have adapted |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | han adoptado | They / you have adapted |
| Vos | has adoptado | You have adapted |
The conditional is used in place of the English modal verb “would”, i.e. “I would adapt” or “she would adapt”. It can be used to talk about hypothetical situations.
| Pronoun | Spanish | Englush |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | adoptaría | I would adapt |
| Tú | adoptarías | You would adapt |
| Él / Ella / Usted | adoptaría | He / she / you would adapt |
| Nosotros / as | adoptaríamos | We would adapt |
| Vosotros / as | adoptaríais | You would adapt |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | adoptarían | They / you would adapt |
| Vos | adoptarías | You would adapt |
The future tense, simply put, replaces the English modal verb “will” – i.e. “I will adapt” or “they will adapt”.
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 adoptar” means “They are going to adapt”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | adoptaré | I will adapt |
| Tú | adoptarás | You will adapt |
| Él / Ella / Usted | adoptará | He / she / you will adapt |
| Nosotros / as | adoptaremos | We will adapt |
| Vosotros / as | adoptaréis | You will adapt |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | adoptarán | They / you will adapt |
| Vos | adoptarás | You will adapt |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | adopte |
| Tú | adoptes |
| Él / Ella / Usted | adopte |
| Nosotros / as | adoptemos |
| Vosotros / as | adoptéis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | adopten |
| Vos | adoptes |
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 | adoptara | adoptase |
| Tú | adoptaras | adoptase |
| Él / Ella / Usted | adoptara | adoptase |
| Nosotros / as | adoptáramos | adoptásemos |
| Vosotros / as | adoptarais | adoptaseis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | adoptaran | adoptasen |
| Vos | adoptaras | adoptase |
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 | adoptare |
| Tú | adoptares |
| Él / Ella / Usted | adoptare |
| Nosotros / as | adoptáremos |
| Vosotros / as | adoptareis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | adoptaren |
| Vos | adoptares |
Used for forming positive and negative commands, e.g. “adapt!” and “don’t adapt!”.
| Pronoun | Spanish Affirmative | Spanish Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Tú | adopta | no adoptes |
| Él / Ella / Usted | adopte | no adopte |
| Nosotros / as | adoptemos | no adoptemos |
| Vosotros / as | adoptad | no adoptéis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | adopten | no adopten |
| Vos | adoptá | no adoptes |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | haya adoptado |
| Tú | hayas adoptado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | haya adoptado |
| Nosotros / as | hayamos adoptado |
| Vosotros / as | hayáis adoptado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hayan adoptado |
| Vos | hayas adoptado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera adoptado / hubiese adoptado |
| Tú | hubieras adoptado / hubieses adoptado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiera adoptado / hubiese adoptado |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéramos adoptado / hubiésemos adoptado |
| Vosotros / as | hubierais adoptado / hubieseis adoptado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieran adoptado / hubiesen adoptado |
| Vos | hubieras adoptado / hubieses adoptado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere adoptado |
| Tú | hubieres adoptado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiere adoptado |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéremos adoptado |
| Vosotros / as | hubiereis adoptado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieren adoptado |
| Vos | hubieres adoptado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | esté adoptando |
| Tú | estés adoptando |
| Él / Ella / Usted | esté adoptando |
| Nosotros / as | estemos adoptando |
| Vosotros / as | estéis adoptando |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estén adoptando |
| Vos | estés adoptando |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviera adoptando / estuviese adoptando |
| Tú | estuvieras adoptando / estuvieses adoptando |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviera adoptando / estuviese adoptando |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéramos adoptando / estuviésamos adoptando |
| Vosotros / as | estuvierais adoptando / estuvieseis adoptando |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviera adoptando / estuviese adoptando |
| Vos | estuvieras adoptando / estuvieses adoptando |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviere adoptando |
| Tú | estuvieres adoptando |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviere adoptando |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéremos adoptando |
| Vosotros / as | estuviereis adoptando |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviere adoptando |
| Vos | estuvieres adoptando |
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 adorás |
| Simle Past / Preterite Preterite de Indicativo | Vos adoptaste |
| Imperfect Past Preterite Imperfecto de Indicativo | Vos adoptabas |
| Conditional Condicional | Vos adoptarías |
| Future Futuro de Indicativo | Vos adoptarás |
| Present Subjunctive Presente de Subjunctivo | Vos adoptes |
| Imperfect Subjunctive Imperfecto de Subjunctivo | Vos adoptaras / Vos adoptase |
| Affirmative Imperative Imperativo | Vos adoptá |
| Negative Imperative Imperativo Negativo | Vos no adoptes |