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Caracterizarse is a Spanish verb which translates into English as “to be characterized or distinguished”.
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 caracterizo) or after the infinitive (e.g. Él tiene que caracterizarse).
Below are all of the conjugations for caracterizarse 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 characterized or distinguished |
|---|---|
| Spanish Infinitive | caracterizarse |
The gerund (gerundio) is used with the continuous tenses, e.g. present continuous (está caracterizándose) and past continuous (estaba caracterizándose). The easiest way to think of it is the equivalent of english’s -ing form (e.g. being characterized by).
The past participle (participio) is used with perfect tense ‘haber’ verbs, e.g. he caracterizado and hubiera caracterizado. These are the equivalent of English’s ‘have’ (e.g. have been characterized by).
| Gerundio / Gerund | caracterizándose |
|---|---|
| Participio / Past Participle | caracterizado |
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 am characterized by” or “they am characterized by”.
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | me caracterizo |
| Tú | te caracterizas |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se caracteriza |
| Nosotros / as | nos caracterizamos |
| Vosotros / as | os caracterizáis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se caracterizan |
| Vos | te caracterizás |
Your simple past tense, e.g. “I was characterized by” or “she was characterized by” 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 caractericé | I was characterized by |
| Tú | te caracterizaste | You was characterized by |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se caracterizó | He / she / you was characterized by |
| Nosotros / as | nos caracterizamos | We was characterized by |
| Vosotros / as | os caracterizasteis | You was characterized by |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se caracterizaron | They / you was characterized by |
| Vos | te caracterizaste | You was characterized by |
The pretérito imperfecto roughly translates as “I was being characterized by” or “she was being characterized by” 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 caracterizaba | I was being characterized by |
| Tú | te caracterizabas | You were being characterized by |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se caracterizaba | He was / she was / you were being characterized by |
| Nosotros / as | nos caracterizábamos | We were being characterized by |
| Vosotros / as | os caracterizabais | You were being characterized by |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se caracterizaban | They / you were being characterized by |
| Vos | te caracterizabas | You were being characterized by |
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 characterized by” and “she has been characterized by”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me he caracterizado | I have been characterized by |
| Tú | te has caracterizado | You have been characterized by |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se ha caracterizado | He has / she has / you have been characterized by |
| Nosotros / as | nos hemos caracterizado | We have been characterized by |
| Vosotros / as | os habéis caracterizado | You have been characterized by |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se han caracterizado | They / you have been characterized by |
| Vos | te has caracterizado | You have been characterized by |
The conditional is used in place of the English modal verb “would”, i.e. “I would be characterized by” or “she would be characterized by”. It can be used to talk about hypothetical situations.
| Pronoun | Spanish | Englush |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me caracterizaría | I would am characterized by |
| Tú | te caracterizarías | You would am characterized by |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se caracterizaría | He / she / you would am characterized by |
| Nosotros / as | nos caracterizaríamos | We would am characterized by |
| Vosotros / as | os caracterizaríais | You would am characterized by |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se caracterizarían | They / you would am characterized by |
| Vos | te caracterizarías | You would am characterized by |
The future tense, simply put, replaces the English modal verb “will” – i.e. “I will be characterized by” or “they will be characterized by”.
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 caracterizarse” means “They are going to be characterized by”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me caracterizaré | I will am characterized by |
| Tú | te caracterizarás | You will am characterized by |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se caracterizará | He / she / you will am characterized by |
| Nosotros / as | nos caracterizaremos | We will am characterized by |
| Vosotros / as | os caracterizaréis | You will am characterized by |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se caracterizarán | They / you will am characterized by |
| Vos | te caracterizarás | You will am characterized by |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | me caracterice |
| Tú | te caracterices |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se caracterice |
| Nosotros / as | nos caractericemos |
| Vosotros / as | os caractericéis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se caractericen |
| Vos | te caracterices |
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 caracterizara | me caracterizase |
| Tú | te caracterizaras | me caracterizase |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se caracterizara | se caracterizase |
| Nosotros / as | nos caracterizáramos | nos caracterizásemos |
| Vosotros / as | os caracterizarais | os caracterizaseis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se caracterizaran | se caracterizasen |
| Vos | te caracterizaras | me caracterizase |
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 caracterizare |
| Tú | te caracterizares |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se caracterizare |
| Nosotros / as | nos caracterizáremos |
| Vosotros / as | os caracterizareis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se caracterizaren |
| Vos | te caracterizares |
Used for forming positive and negative commands, e.g. “be characterized by!” and “don’t be characterized by!”.
| Pronoun | Spanish Affirmative | Spanish Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Tú | caracterízate | no te caracterices |
| Él / Ella / Usted | caracterícese | no se caracterice |
| Nosotros / as | caractericémonos | no nos caractericemos |
| Vosotros / as | caracterizaos | no os caractericéis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | caracterícense | no se caractericen |
| Vos | caracterizate | no te caracterices |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | haya caracterizado |
| Tú | hayas caracterizado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | haya caracterizado |
| Nosotros / as | hayamos caracterizado |
| Vosotros / as | hayáis caracterizado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hayan caracterizado |
| Vos | hayas caracterizado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera caracterizado / hubiese caracterizado |
| Tú | hubieras caracterizado / hubieses caracterizado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiera caracterizado / hubiese caracterizado |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéramos caracterizado / hubiésemos caracterizado |
| Vosotros / as | hubierais caracterizado / hubieseis caracterizado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieran caracterizado / hubiesen caracterizado |
| Vos | hubieras caracterizado / hubieses caracterizado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere caracterizado |
| Tú | hubieres caracterizado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiere caracterizado |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéremos caracterizado |
| Vosotros / as | hubiereis caracterizado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieren caracterizado |
| Vos | hubieres caracterizado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | esté caracterizándose |
| Tú | estés caracterizándose |
| Él / Ella / Usted | esté caracterizándose |
| Nosotros / as | estemos caracterizándose |
| Vosotros / as | estéis caracterizándose |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estén caracterizándose |
| Vos | estés caracterizándose |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviera caracterizándose / estuviese caracterizándose |
| Tú | estuvieras caracterizándose / estuvieses caracterizándose |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviera caracterizándose / estuviese caracterizándose |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéramos caracterizándose / estuviésamos caracterizándose |
| Vosotros / as | estuvierais caracterizándose / estuvieseis caracterizándose |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviera caracterizándose / estuviese caracterizándose |
| Vos | estuvieras caracterizándose / estuvieses caracterizándose |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviere caracterizándose |
| Tú | estuvieres caracterizándose |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviere caracterizándose |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéremos caracterizándose |
| Vosotros / as | estuviereis caracterizándose |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviere caracterizándose |
| Vos | estuvieres caracterizándose |
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 caracterizás |
| Simle Past / Preterite Preterite de Indicativo | Vos te caracterizaste |
| Imperfect Past Preterite Imperfecto de Indicativo | Vos te caracterizabas |
| Conditional Condicional | Vos te caracterizarías |
| Future Futuro de Indicativo | Vos te caracterizarás |
| Present Subjunctive Presente de Subjunctivo | Vos te caracterices |
| Imperfect Subjunctive Imperfecto de Subjunctivo | Vos te caracterizaras / Vos me caracterizase |
| Affirmative Imperative Imperativo | Vos caracterizate |
| Negative Imperative Imperativo Negativo | Vos no te caracterices |