Cubrir conjugation
Table of Contents
Cubrir is a Spanish verb which translates into English as “to cover, disguise”.
Below are all of the conjugations for cubrir 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.
Cubrir Infinitive
| English Infinitive | to cover, disguise |
|---|---|
| Spanish Infinitive | cubrir |
Cubrir Gerund and Past Participle
The gerund (gerundio) is used with the continuous tenses, e.g. present continuous (está cubriendo) and past continuous (estaba cubriendo). The easiest way to think of it is the equivalent of english’s -ing form (e.g. covering).
The past participle (participio) is used with perfect tense ‘haber’ verbs, e.g. he cubrido and hubiera cubrido. These are the equivalent of English’s ‘have’ (e.g. have covered).
| Gerundio / Gerund | cubriendo |
|---|---|
| Participio / Past Participle | cubrido |
Cubrir Indicative Conjugations
The basic form of speech, el indicativo is used for making statements, talking about facts, events and things that are certain and objective.
Cubrir Presente / Present
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 cover” or “they cover”.
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | cubro |
| Tú | cubres |
| Él / Ella / Usted | cubre |
| Nosotros / as | cubrimos |
| Vosotros / as | cubrís |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | cubren |
| Vos | cubrís |
Cubrir Preterite / Pretérito Indefinido
Your simple past tense, e.g. “I covered” or “she covered” 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 | cubrí | I covered |
| Tú | cubriste | You covered |
| Él / Ella / Usted | cubrió | He / she / you covered |
| Nosotros / as | cubrimos | We covered |
| Vosotros / as | cubristeis | You covered |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | cubrieron | They / you covered |
| Vos | cubriste | You covered |
Cubrir Imperfect / Pretérito Imperfecto
The pretérito imperfecto roughly translates as “I was covering” or “she was covering” 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 | cubría | I was covering |
| Tú | cubrías | You were covering |
| Él / Ella / Usted | cubría | He was / she was / you were covering |
| Nosotros / as | cubríamos | We were covering |
| Vosotros / as | cubríais | You were covering |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | cubrían | They / you were covering |
| Vos | cubrías | You were covering |
Cubrir Perfect / Perfecto
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 covered” and “she has covered”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | he cubrido | I have covered |
| Tú | has cubrido | You have covered |
| Él / Ella / Usted | ha cubrido | He has / she has / you have covered |
| Nosotros / as | hemos cubrido | We have covered |
| Vosotros / as | habéis cubrido | You have covered |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | han cubrido | They / you have covered |
| Vos | has cubrido | You have covered |
Cubrir Conditional / Condicional
The conditional is used in place of the English modal verb “would”, i.e. “I would cover” or “she would cover”. It can be used to talk about hypothetical situations.
| Pronoun | Spanish | Englush |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | cubriría | I would cover |
| Tú | cubrirías | You would cover |
| Él / Ella / Usted | cubriría | He / she / you would cover |
| Nosotros / as | cubriríamos | We would cover |
| Vosotros / as | cubriríais | You would cover |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | cubrirían | They / you would cover |
| Vos | cubrirías | You would cover |
Cubrir Future / Futuro
The future tense, simply put, replaces the English modal verb “will” – i.e. “I will cover” or “they will cover”.
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 cubrir” means “They are going to cover”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | cubriré | I will cover |
| Tú | cubrirás | You will cover |
| Él / Ella / Usted | cubrirá | He / she / you will cover |
| Nosotros / as | cubriremos | We will cover |
| Vosotros / as | cubriréis | You will cover |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | cubrirán | They / you will cover |
| Vos | cubrirás | You will cover |
Cubrir Subjunctive Conjugations
Cubrir Present Subjunctive / Presente de Subjuntivo
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | cubra |
| Tú | cubras |
| Él / Ella / Usted | cubra |
| Nosotros / as | cubramos |
| Vosotros / as | cubráis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | cubran |
| Vos | cubras |
Cubrir Past Subjunctive / Imperfecto de Subjuntivo
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 | cubriera | cubriese |
| Tú | cubrieras | cubriese |
| Él / Ella / Usted | cubriera | cubriese |
| Nosotros / as | cubriéramos | cubriésemos |
| Vosotros / as | cubrierais | cubrieseis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | cubrieran | cubriesen |
| Vos | cubrieras | cubriese |
Cubrir Future Subjunctive / Futuro de Subjuntivo
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 | cubriere |
| Tú | cubrieres |
| Él / Ella / Usted | cubriera |
| Nosotros / as | cubriéremos |
| Vosotros / as | cubriereis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | cubrieren |
| Vos | cubrieres |
Cubrir Imperative Conjugations
Used for forming positive and negative commands, e.g. “cover!” and “don’t cover!”.
| Pronoun | Spanish Affirmative | Spanish Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Tú | cubre | no cubras |
| Él / Ella / Usted | cubra | no cubra |
| Nosotros / as | cubramos | no cubramos |
| Vosotros / as | cubrid | no cubráis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | cubran | no cubran |
| Vos | cubrí | no cubras |
Cubrir Compound Subjunctive Tenses
Cubrir Subjunctive Perfect
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | haya cubrido |
| Tú | hayas cubrido |
| Él / Ella / Usted | haya cubrido |
| Nosotros / as | hayamos cubrido |
| Vosotros / as | hayáis cubrido |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hayan cubrido |
| Vos | hayas cubrido |
Cubrir Subjunctive Past Perfect
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera cubrido / hubiese cubrido |
| Tú | hubieras cubrido / hubieses cubrido |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiera cubrido / hubiese cubrido |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéramos cubrido / hubiésemos cubrido |
| Vosotros / as | hubierais cubrido / hubieseis cubrido |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieran cubrido / hubiesen cubrido |
| Vos | hubieras cubrido / hubieses cubrido |
Cubrir Subjunctive Future Perfect
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere cubrido |
| Tú | hubieres cubrido |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiere cubrido |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéremos cubrido |
| Vosotros / as | hubiereis cubrido |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieren cubrido |
| Vos | hubieres cubrido |
Cubrir Subjective Progressive Perfect
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | esté cubriendo |
| Tú | estés cubriendo |
| Él / Ella / Usted | esté cubriendo |
| Nosotros / as | estemos cubriendo |
| Vosotros / as | estéis cubriendo |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estén cubriendo |
| Vos | estés cubriendo |
Cubrir Subjunctive Past Progressive
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviera cubriendo / estuviese cubriendo |
| Tú | estuvieras cubriendo / estuvieses cubriendo |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviera cubriendo / estuviese cubriendo |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéramos cubriendo / estuviésamos cubriendo |
| Vosotros / as | estuvierais cubriendo / estuvieseis cubriendo |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviera cubriendo / estuviese cubriendo |
| Vos | estuvieras cubriendo / estuvieses cubriendo |
Cubrir Subjunctive Future Progressive
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviere cubriendo |
| Tú | estuvieres cubriendo |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviere cubriendo |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéremos cubriendo |
| Vosotros / as | estuviereis cubriendo |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviere cubriendo |
| Vos | estuvieres cubriendo |
Cubrir Vos Conjugation
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 cubrís |
| Simle Past / Preterite Preterite de Indicativo | Vos cubriste |
| Imperfect Past Preterite Imperfecto de Indicativo | Vos cubrías |
| Conditional Condicional | Vos cubrirías |
| Future Futuro de Indicativo | Vos cubrirás |
| Present Subjunctive Presente de Subjunctivo | Vos cubras |
| Imperfect Subjunctive Imperfecto de Subjunctivo | Vos cubrieras / Vos cubriese |
| Affirmative Imperative Imperativo | Vos cubrí |
| Negative Imperative Imperativo Negativo | Vos no cubras |