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Contemplar is a Spanish verb which translates into English as “to contemplate”.
Below are all of the conjugations for contemplar 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 contemplate |
|---|---|
| Spanish Infinitive | contemplar |
The gerund (gerundio) is used with the continuous tenses, e.g. present continuous (está contemplando) and past continuous (estaba contemplando). The easiest way to think of it is the equivalent of english’s -ing form (e.g. contemplating).
The past participle (participio) is used with perfect tense ‘haber’ verbs, e.g. he contemplado and hubiera contemplado. These are the equivalent of English’s ‘have’ (e.g. have contemplated).
| Gerundio / Gerund | contemplando |
|---|---|
| Participio / Past Participle | contemplado |
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 contemplate” or “they contemplate”.
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | contemplo |
| Tú | contemplas |
| Él / Ella / Usted | contempla |
| Nosotros / as | contemplamos |
| Vosotros / as | contempláis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | contemplan |
| Vos | contemplás |
Your simple past tense, e.g. “I contemplated” or “she contemplated” 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 | contemplé | I contemplated |
| Tú | contemplaste | You contemplated |
| Él / Ella / Usted | contempló | He / she / you contemplated |
| Nosotros / as | contemplamos | We contemplated |
| Vosotros / as | contemplasteis | You contemplated |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | contemplaron | They / you contemplated |
| Vos | contemplaste | You contemplated |
The pretérito imperfecto roughly translates as “I was contemplating” or “she was contemplating” 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 | contemplaba | I was contemplating |
| Tú | contemplabas | You were contemplating |
| Él / Ella / Usted | contemplaba | He was / she was / you were contemplating |
| Nosotros / as | contemplábamos | We were contemplating |
| Vosotros / as | contemplabais | You were contemplating |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | contemplaban | They / you were contemplating |
| Vos | contemplabas | You were contemplating |
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 contemplated” and “she has contemplated”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | he contemplado | I have contemplated |
| Tú | has contemplado | You have contemplated |
| Él / Ella / Usted | ha contemplado | He has / she has / you have contemplated |
| Nosotros / as | hemos contemplado | We have contemplated |
| Vosotros / as | habéis contemplado | You have contemplated |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | han contemplado | They / you have contemplated |
| Vos | has contemplado | You have contemplated |
The conditional is used in place of the English modal verb “would”, i.e. “I would contemplate” or “she would contemplate”. It can be used to talk about hypothetical situations.
| Pronoun | Spanish | Englush |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | contemplaría | I would contemplate |
| Tú | contemplarías | You would contemplate |
| Él / Ella / Usted | contemplaría | He / she / you would contemplate |
| Nosotros / as | contemplaríamos | We would contemplate |
| Vosotros / as | contemplaríais | You would contemplate |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | contemplarían | They / you would contemplate |
| Vos | contemplarías | You would contemplate |
The future tense, simply put, replaces the English modal verb “will” – i.e. “I will contemplate” or “they will contemplate”.
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 contemplar” means “They are going to contemplate”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | contemplaré | I will contemplate |
| Tú | contemplarás | You will contemplate |
| Él / Ella / Usted | contemplará | He / she / you will contemplate |
| Nosotros / as | contemplaremos | We will contemplate |
| Vosotros / as | contemplaréis | You will contemplate |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | contemplarán | They / you will contemplate |
| Vos | contemplarás | You will contemplate |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | contemple |
| Tú | contemples |
| Él / Ella / Usted | contemple |
| Nosotros / as | contemplemos |
| Vosotros / as | contempléis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | contemplen |
| Vos | contemples |
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 | contemplara | contemplase |
| Tú | contemplaras | contemplase |
| Él / Ella / Usted | contemplara | contemplase |
| Nosotros / as | contempláramos | contemplásemos |
| Vosotros / as | contemplarais | contemplaseis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | contemplaran | contemplasen |
| Vos | contemplaras | contemplase |
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 | contemplare |
| Tú | contemplares |
| Él / Ella / Usted | contemplare |
| Nosotros / as | contempláremos |
| Vosotros / as | contemplareis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | contemplaren |
| Vos | contemplares |
Used for forming positive and negative commands, e.g. “contemplate!” and “don’t contemplate!”.
| Pronoun | Spanish Affirmative | Spanish Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Tú | contempla | no contemples |
| Él / Ella / Usted | contemple | no contemple |
| Nosotros / as | contemplemos | no contemplemos |
| Vosotros / as | contemplad | no contempléis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | contemplen | no contemplen |
| Vos | contemplá | no contemples |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | haya contemplado |
| Tú | hayas contemplado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | haya contemplado |
| Nosotros / as | hayamos contemplado |
| Vosotros / as | hayáis contemplado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hayan contemplado |
| Vos | hayas contemplado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera contemplado / hubiese contemplado |
| Tú | hubieras contemplado / hubieses contemplado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiera contemplado / hubiese contemplado |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéramos contemplado / hubiésemos contemplado |
| Vosotros / as | hubierais contemplado / hubieseis contemplado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieran contemplado / hubiesen contemplado |
| Vos | hubieras contemplado / hubieses contemplado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere contemplado |
| Tú | hubieres contemplado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiere contemplado |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéremos contemplado |
| Vosotros / as | hubiereis contemplado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieren contemplado |
| Vos | hubieres contemplado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | esté contemplando |
| Tú | estés contemplando |
| Él / Ella / Usted | esté contemplando |
| Nosotros / as | estemos contemplando |
| Vosotros / as | estéis contemplando |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estén contemplando |
| Vos | estés contemplando |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviera contemplando / estuviese contemplando |
| Tú | estuvieras contemplando / estuvieses contemplando |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviera contemplando / estuviese contemplando |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéramos contemplando / estuviésamos contemplando |
| Vosotros / as | estuvierais contemplando / estuvieseis contemplando |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviera contemplando / estuviese contemplando |
| Vos | estuvieras contemplando / estuvieses contemplando |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviere contemplando |
| Tú | estuvieres contemplando |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviere contemplando |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéremos contemplando |
| Vosotros / as | estuviereis contemplando |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviere contemplando |
| Vos | estuvieres contemplando |
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 contemplás |
| Simle Past / Preterite Preterite de Indicativo | Vos contemplaste |
| Imperfect Past Preterite Imperfecto de Indicativo | Vos contemplabas |
| Conditional Condicional | Vos contemplarías |
| Future Futuro de Indicativo | Vos contemplarás |
| Present Subjunctive Presente de Subjunctivo | Vos contemples |
| Imperfect Subjunctive Imperfecto de Subjunctivo | Vos contemplaras / Vos contemplase |
| Affirmative Imperative Imperativo | Vos contemplá |
| Negative Imperative Imperativo Negativo | Vos no contemples |