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Contrarrestar is a Spanish verb which translates into English as “to counteract, block, stop”.
Below are all of the conjugations for contrarrestar 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 counteract, block, stop |
|---|---|
| Spanish Infinitive | contrarrestar |
The gerund (gerundio) is used with the continuous tenses, e.g. present continuous (está contrarrestando) and past continuous (estaba contrarrestando). The easiest way to think of it is the equivalent of english’s -ing form (e.g. counteracting).
The past participle (participio) is used with perfect tense ‘haber’ verbs, e.g. he contrarrestado and hubiera contrarrestado. These are the equivalent of English’s ‘have’ (e.g. have counteracted).
| Gerundio / Gerund | contrarrestando |
|---|---|
| Participio / Past Participle | contrarrestado |
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 counteract” or “they counteract”.
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | contrarresto |
| Tú | contrarrestas |
| Él / Ella / Usted | contrarresta |
| Nosotros / as | contrarrestamos |
| Vosotros / as | contrarrestáis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | contrarrestan |
| Vos | contrarrestás |
Your simple past tense, e.g. “I counteracted” or “she counteracted” 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 | contrarresté | I counteracted |
| Tú | contrarrestaste | You counteracted |
| Él / Ella / Usted | contrarrestó | He / she / you counteracted |
| Nosotros / as | contrarrestamos | We counteracted |
| Vosotros / as | contrarrestasteis | You counteracted |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | contrarrestaron | They / you counteracted |
| Vos | contrarrestaste | You counteracted |
The pretérito imperfecto roughly translates as “I was counteracting” or “she was counteracting” 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 | contrarrestaba | I was counteracting |
| Tú | contrarrestabas | You were counteracting |
| Él / Ella / Usted | contrarrestaba | He was / she was / you were counteracting |
| Nosotros / as | contrarrestábamos | We were counteracting |
| Vosotros / as | contrarrestabais | You were counteracting |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | contrarrestaban | They / you were counteracting |
| Vos | contrarrestabas | You were counteracting |
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 counteracted” and “she has counteracted”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | he contrarrestado | I have counteracted |
| Tú | has contrarrestado | You have counteracted |
| Él / Ella / Usted | ha contrarrestado | He has / she has / you have counteracted |
| Nosotros / as | hemos contrarrestado | We have counteracted |
| Vosotros / as | habéis contrarrestado | You have counteracted |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | han contrarrestado | They / you have counteracted |
| Vos | has contrarrestado | You have counteracted |
The conditional is used in place of the English modal verb “would”, i.e. “I would counteract” or “she would counteract”. It can be used to talk about hypothetical situations.
| Pronoun | Spanish | Englush |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | contrarrestaría | I would counteract |
| Tú | contrarrestarías | You would counteract |
| Él / Ella / Usted | contrarrestaría | He / she / you would counteract |
| Nosotros / as | contrarrestaríamos | We would counteract |
| Vosotros / as | contrarrestaríais | You would counteract |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | contrarrestarían | They / you would counteract |
| Vos | contrarrestarías | You would counteract |
The future tense, simply put, replaces the English modal verb “will” – i.e. “I will counteract” or “they will counteract”.
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 contrarrestar” means “They are going to counteract”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | contrarrestaré | I will counteract |
| Tú | contrarrestarás | You will counteract |
| Él / Ella / Usted | contrarrestará | He / she / you will counteract |
| Nosotros / as | contrarrestaremos | We will counteract |
| Vosotros / as | contrarrestaréis | You will counteract |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | contrarrestarán | They / you will counteract |
| Vos | contrarrestarás | You will counteract |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | contrarreste |
| Tú | contrarrestes |
| Él / Ella / Usted | contrarreste |
| Nosotros / as | contrarrestemos |
| Vosotros / as | contrarrestéis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | contrarresten |
| Vos | contrarrestes |
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 | contrarrestara | contrarrestase |
| Tú | contrarrestaras | contrarrestase |
| Él / Ella / Usted | contrarrestara | contrarrestase |
| Nosotros / as | contrarrestáramos | contrarrestásemos |
| Vosotros / as | contrarrestarais | contrarrestaseis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | contrarrestaran | contrarrestasen |
| Vos | contrarrestaras | contrarrestase |
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 | contrarrestare |
| Tú | contrarrestares |
| Él / Ella / Usted | contrarrestare |
| Nosotros / as | contrarrestáremos |
| Vosotros / as | contrarrestareis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | contrarrestaren |
| Vos | contrarrestares |
Used for forming positive and negative commands, e.g. “counteract!” and “don’t counteract!”.
| Pronoun | Spanish Affirmative | Spanish Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Tú | contrarresta | no contrarrestes |
| Él / Ella / Usted | contrarreste | no contrarreste |
| Nosotros / as | contrarrestemos | no contrarrestemos |
| Vosotros / as | contrarrestad | no contrarrestéis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | contrarresten | no contrarresten |
| Vos | contrarrestá | no contrarrestes |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | haya contrarrestado |
| Tú | hayas contrarrestado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | haya contrarrestado |
| Nosotros / as | hayamos contrarrestado |
| Vosotros / as | hayáis contrarrestado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hayan contrarrestado |
| Vos | hayas contrarrestado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera contrarrestado / hubiese contrarrestado |
| Tú | hubieras contrarrestado / hubieses contrarrestado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiera contrarrestado / hubiese contrarrestado |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéramos contrarrestado / hubiésemos contrarrestado |
| Vosotros / as | hubierais contrarrestado / hubieseis contrarrestado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieran contrarrestado / hubiesen contrarrestado |
| Vos | hubieras contrarrestado / hubieses contrarrestado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere contrarrestado |
| Tú | hubieres contrarrestado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiere contrarrestado |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéremos contrarrestado |
| Vosotros / as | hubiereis contrarrestado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieren contrarrestado |
| Vos | hubieres contrarrestado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | esté contrarrestando |
| Tú | estés contrarrestando |
| Él / Ella / Usted | esté contrarrestando |
| Nosotros / as | estemos contrarrestando |
| Vosotros / as | estéis contrarrestando |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estén contrarrestando |
| Vos | estés contrarrestando |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviera contrarrestando / estuviese contrarrestando |
| Tú | estuvieras contrarrestando / estuvieses contrarrestando |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviera contrarrestando / estuviese contrarrestando |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéramos contrarrestando / estuviésamos contrarrestando |
| Vosotros / as | estuvierais contrarrestando / estuvieseis contrarrestando |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviera contrarrestando / estuviese contrarrestando |
| Vos | estuvieras contrarrestando / estuvieses contrarrestando |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviere contrarrestando |
| Tú | estuvieres contrarrestando |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviere contrarrestando |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéremos contrarrestando |
| Vosotros / as | estuviereis contrarrestando |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviere contrarrestando |
| Vos | estuvieres contrarrestando |
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 contrarrestás |
| Simle Past / Preterite Preterite de Indicativo | Vos contrarrestaste |
| Imperfect Past Preterite Imperfecto de Indicativo | Vos contrarrestabas |
| Conditional Condicional | Vos contrarrestarías |
| Future Futuro de Indicativo | Vos contrarrestarás |
| Present Subjunctive Presente de Subjunctivo | Vos contrarrestes |
| Imperfect Subjunctive Imperfecto de Subjunctivo | Vos contrarrestaras / Vos contrarrestase |
| Affirmative Imperative Imperativo | Vos contrarrestá |
| Negative Imperative Imperativo Negativo | Vos no contrarrestes |