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Disculparse is a Spanish verb which translates into English as “to apologize, excuse oneself”.
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 disculpo) or after the infinitive (e.g. Él tiene que disculparse).
Below are all of the conjugations for disculparse 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 apologize, excuse oneself |
|---|---|
| Spanish Infinitive | disculparse |
The gerund (gerundio) is used with the continuous tenses, e.g. present continuous (está disculpándose) and past continuous (estaba disculpándose). The easiest way to think of it is the equivalent of english’s -ing form (e.g. apologizing).
The past participle (participio) is used with perfect tense ‘haber’ verbs, e.g. he disculpado and hubiera disculpado. These are the equivalent of English’s ‘have’ (e.g. have apologized).
| Gerundio / Gerund | disculpándose |
|---|---|
| Participio / Past Participle | disculpado |
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 apologize” or “they apologize”.
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | me disculpo |
| Tú | te disculpas |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se disculpa |
| Nosotros / as | nos disculpamos |
| Vosotros / as | os disculpáis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se disculpan |
| Vos | te disculpás |
Your simple past tense, e.g. “I apologized” or “she apologized” 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 disculpé | I apologized |
| Tú | te disculpaste | You apologized |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se disculpó | He / she / you apologized |
| Nosotros / as | nos disculpamos | We apologized |
| Vosotros / as | os disculpasteis | You apologized |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se disculparon | They / you apologized |
| Vos | te disculpaste | You apologized |
The pretérito imperfecto roughly translates as “I was apologizing” or “she was apologizing” 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 disculpaba | I was apologizing |
| Tú | te disculpabas | You were apologizing |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se disculpaba | He was / she was / you were apologizing |
| Nosotros / as | nos disculpábamos | We were apologizing |
| Vosotros / as | os disculpabais | You were apologizing |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se disculpaban | They / you were apologizing |
| Vos | te disculpabas | You were apologizing |
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 apologized” and “she has apologized”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me he disculpado | I have apologized |
| Tú | te has disculpado | You have apologized |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se ha disculpado | He has / she has / you have apologized |
| Nosotros / as | nos hemos disculpado | We have apologized |
| Vosotros / as | os habéis disculpado | You have apologized |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se han disculpado | They / you have apologized |
| Vos | te has disculpado | You have apologized |
The conditional is used in place of the English modal verb “would”, i.e. “I would apologize” or “she would apologize”. It can be used to talk about hypothetical situations.
| Pronoun | Spanish | Englush |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me disculparía | I would apologize |
| Tú | te disculparías | You would apologize |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se disculparía | He / she / you would apologize |
| Nosotros / as | nos disculparíamos | We would apologize |
| Vosotros / as | os disculparíais | You would apologize |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se disculparían | They / you would apologize |
| Vos | te disculparías | You would apologize |
The future tense, simply put, replaces the English modal verb “will” – i.e. “I will apologize” or “they will apologize”.
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 disculparse” means “They are going to apologize”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me disculparé | I will apologize |
| Tú | te disculparás | You will apologize |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se disculpará | He / she / you will apologize |
| Nosotros / as | nos disculparemos | We will apologize |
| Vosotros / as | os disculparéis | You will apologize |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se disculparán | They / you will apologize |
| Vos | te disculparás | You will apologize |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | me disculpe |
| Tú | te disculpes |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se disculpe |
| Nosotros / as | nos disculpemos |
| Vosotros / as | os disculpéis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se disculpen |
| Vos | te disculpes |
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 disculpara | me disculpase |
| Tú | te disculparas | me disculpase |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se disculpara | se disculpase |
| Nosotros / as | nos disculpáramos | nos disculpásemos |
| Vosotros / as | os disculparais | os disculpaseis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se disculparan | se disculpasen |
| Vos | te disculparas | me disculpase |
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 disculpare |
| Tú | te disculpares |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se disculpare |
| Nosotros / as | nos disculpáremos |
| Vosotros / as | os disculpareis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se disculparen |
| Vos | te disculpares |
Used for forming positive and negative commands, e.g. “apologize!” and “don’t apologize!”.
| Pronoun | Spanish Affirmative | Spanish Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Tú | discúlpate | no te disculpes |
| Él / Ella / Usted | discúlpese | no se disculpe |
| Nosotros / as | disculpémonos | no nos disculpemos |
| Vosotros / as | disculpaos | no os disculpéis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | discúlpense | no se disculpen |
| Vos | disculpate | no te disculpes |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | haya disculpado |
| Tú | hayas disculpado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | haya disculpado |
| Nosotros / as | hayamos disculpado |
| Vosotros / as | hayáis disculpado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hayan disculpado |
| Vos | hayas disculpado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera disculpado / hubiese disculpado |
| Tú | hubieras disculpado / hubieses disculpado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiera disculpado / hubiese disculpado |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéramos disculpado / hubiésemos disculpado |
| Vosotros / as | hubierais disculpado / hubieseis disculpado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieran disculpado / hubiesen disculpado |
| Vos | hubieras disculpado / hubieses disculpado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere disculpado |
| Tú | hubieres disculpado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiere disculpado |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéremos disculpado |
| Vosotros / as | hubiereis disculpado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieren disculpado |
| Vos | hubieres disculpado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | esté disculpándose |
| Tú | estés disculpándose |
| Él / Ella / Usted | esté disculpándose |
| Nosotros / as | estemos disculpándose |
| Vosotros / as | estéis disculpándose |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estén disculpándose |
| Vos | estés disculpándose |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviera disculpándose / estuviese disculpándose |
| Tú | estuvieras disculpándose / estuvieses disculpándose |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviera disculpándose / estuviese disculpándose |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéramos disculpándose / estuviésamos disculpándose |
| Vosotros / as | estuvierais disculpándose / estuvieseis disculpándose |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviera disculpándose / estuviese disculpándose |
| Vos | estuvieras disculpándose / estuvieses disculpándose |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviere disculpándose |
| Tú | estuvieres disculpándose |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviere disculpándose |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéremos disculpándose |
| Vosotros / as | estuviereis disculpándose |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviere disculpándose |
| Vos | estuvieres disculpándose |
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 disculpás |
| Simle Past / Preterite Preterite de Indicativo | Vos te disculpaste |
| Imperfect Past Preterite Imperfecto de Indicativo | Vos te disculpabas |
| Conditional Condicional | Vos te disculparías |
| Future Futuro de Indicativo | Vos te disculparás |
| Present Subjunctive Presente de Subjunctivo | Vos te disculpes |
| Imperfect Subjunctive Imperfecto de Subjunctivo | Vos te disculparas / Vos me disculpase |
| Affirmative Imperative Imperativo | Vos disculpate |
| Negative Imperative Imperativo Negativo | Vos no te disculpes |