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Dispensar is a Spanish verb which translates into English as “to dispense, grant, excuse”.
Below are all of the conjugations for dispensar 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 dispense, grant, excuse |
|---|---|
| Spanish Infinitive | dispensar |
The gerund (gerundio) is used with the continuous tenses, e.g. present continuous (está dispensando) and past continuous (estaba dispensando). The easiest way to think of it is the equivalent of english’s -ing form (e.g. dispensing).
The past participle (participio) is used with perfect tense ‘haber’ verbs, e.g. he dispensado and hubiera dispensado. These are the equivalent of English’s ‘have’ (e.g. have dispensed).
| Gerundio / Gerund | dispensando |
|---|---|
| Participio / Past Participle | dispensado |
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 dispense” or “they dispense”.
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | dispenso |
| Tú | dispensas |
| Él / Ella / Usted | dispensa |
| Nosotros / as | dispensamos |
| Vosotros / as | dispensáis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | dispensan |
| Vos | dispensás |
Your simple past tense, e.g. “I dispensed” or “she dispensed” 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 | dispensé | I dispensed |
| Tú | dispensaste | You dispensed |
| Él / Ella / Usted | dispensó | He / she / you dispensed |
| Nosotros / as | dispensamos | We dispensed |
| Vosotros / as | dispensasteis | You dispensed |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | dispensaron | They / you dispensed |
| Vos | dispensaste | You dispensed |
The pretérito imperfecto roughly translates as “I was dispensing” or “she was dispensing” 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 | dispensaba | I was dispensing |
| Tú | dispensabas | You were dispensing |
| Él / Ella / Usted | dispensaba | He was / she was / you were dispensing |
| Nosotros / as | dispensábamos | We were dispensing |
| Vosotros / as | dispensabais | You were dispensing |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | dispensaban | They / you were dispensing |
| Vos | dispensabas | You were dispensing |
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 dispensed” and “she has dispensed”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | he dispensado | I have dispensed |
| Tú | has dispensado | You have dispensed |
| Él / Ella / Usted | ha dispensado | He has / she has / you have dispensed |
| Nosotros / as | hemos dispensado | We have dispensed |
| Vosotros / as | habéis dispensado | You have dispensed |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | han dispensado | They / you have dispensed |
| Vos | has dispensado | You have dispensed |
The conditional is used in place of the English modal verb “would”, i.e. “I would dispense” or “she would dispense”. It can be used to talk about hypothetical situations.
| Pronoun | Spanish | Englush |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | dispensaría | I would dispense |
| Tú | dispensarías | You would dispense |
| Él / Ella / Usted | dispensaría | He / she / you would dispense |
| Nosotros / as | dispensaríamos | We would dispense |
| Vosotros / as | dispensaríais | You would dispense |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | dispensarían | They / you would dispense |
| Vos | dispensarías | You would dispense |
The future tense, simply put, replaces the English modal verb “will” – i.e. “I will dispense” or “they will dispense”.
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 dispensar” means “They are going to dispense”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | dispensaré | I will dispense |
| Tú | dispensarás | You will dispense |
| Él / Ella / Usted | dispensará | He / she / you will dispense |
| Nosotros / as | dispensaremos | We will dispense |
| Vosotros / as | dispensaréis | You will dispense |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | dispensarán | They / you will dispense |
| Vos | dispensarás | You will dispense |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | dispense |
| Tú | dispenses |
| Él / Ella / Usted | dispense |
| Nosotros / as | dispensemos |
| Vosotros / as | dispenséis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | dispensen |
| Vos | dispenses |
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 | dispensara | dispensase |
| Tú | dispensaras | dispensase |
| Él / Ella / Usted | dispensara | dispensase |
| Nosotros / as | dispensáramos | dispensásemos |
| Vosotros / as | dispensarais | dispensaseis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | dispensaran | dispensasen |
| Vos | dispensaras | dispensase |
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 | dispensare |
| Tú | dispensares |
| Él / Ella / Usted | dispensare |
| Nosotros / as | dispensáremos |
| Vosotros / as | dispensareis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | dispensaren |
| Vos | dispensares |
Used for forming positive and negative commands, e.g. “dispense!” and “don’t dispense!”.
| Pronoun | Spanish Affirmative | Spanish Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Tú | dispensa | no dispenses |
| Él / Ella / Usted | dispense | no dispense |
| Nosotros / as | dispensemos | no dispensemos |
| Vosotros / as | dispensad | no dispenséis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | dispensen | no dispensen |
| Vos | dispensá | no dispenses |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | haya dispensado |
| Tú | hayas dispensado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | haya dispensado |
| Nosotros / as | hayamos dispensado |
| Vosotros / as | hayáis dispensado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hayan dispensado |
| Vos | hayas dispensado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera dispensado / hubiese dispensado |
| Tú | hubieras dispensado / hubieses dispensado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiera dispensado / hubiese dispensado |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéramos dispensado / hubiésemos dispensado |
| Vosotros / as | hubierais dispensado / hubieseis dispensado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieran dispensado / hubiesen dispensado |
| Vos | hubieras dispensado / hubieses dispensado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere dispensado |
| Tú | hubieres dispensado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiere dispensado |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéremos dispensado |
| Vosotros / as | hubiereis dispensado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieren dispensado |
| Vos | hubieres dispensado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | esté dispensando |
| Tú | estés dispensando |
| Él / Ella / Usted | esté dispensando |
| Nosotros / as | estemos dispensando |
| Vosotros / as | estéis dispensando |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estén dispensando |
| Vos | estés dispensando |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviera dispensando / estuviese dispensando |
| Tú | estuvieras dispensando / estuvieses dispensando |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviera dispensando / estuviese dispensando |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéramos dispensando / estuviésamos dispensando |
| Vosotros / as | estuvierais dispensando / estuvieseis dispensando |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviera dispensando / estuviese dispensando |
| Vos | estuvieras dispensando / estuvieses dispensando |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviere dispensando |
| Tú | estuvieres dispensando |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviere dispensando |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéremos dispensando |
| Vosotros / as | estuviereis dispensando |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviere dispensando |
| Vos | estuvieres dispensando |
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 dispensás |
| Simle Past / Preterite Preterite de Indicativo | Vos dispensaste |
| Imperfect Past Preterite Imperfecto de Indicativo | Vos dispensabas |
| Conditional Condicional | Vos dispensarías |
| Future Futuro de Indicativo | Vos dispensarás |
| Present Subjunctive Presente de Subjunctivo | Vos dispenses |
| Imperfect Subjunctive Imperfecto de Subjunctivo | Vos dispensaras / Vos dispensase |
| Affirmative Imperative Imperativo | Vos dispensá |
| Negative Imperative Imperativo Negativo | Vos no dispenses |