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Distinguir is a Spanish verb which translates into English as “to distinguish, honor, excel”.
Below are all of the conjugations for distinguir 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 distinguish, honor, excel |
|---|---|
| Spanish Infinitive | distinguir |
The gerund (gerundio) is used with the continuous tenses, e.g. present continuous (está distinguiendo) and past continuous (estaba distinguiendo). The easiest way to think of it is the equivalent of english’s -ing form (e.g. distinguishing).
The past participle (participio) is used with perfect tense ‘haber’ verbs, e.g. he distinguido and hubiera distinguido. These are the equivalent of English’s ‘have’ (e.g. have distinguished).
| Gerundio / Gerund | distinguiendo |
|---|---|
| Participio / Past Participle | distinguido |
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 distinguish” or “they distinguish”.
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | distingo |
| Tú | distingues |
| Él / Ella / Usted | distingue |
| Nosotros / as | distinguimos |
| Vosotros / as | distinguís |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | distinguen |
| Vos | distinguís |
Your simple past tense, e.g. “I distinguished” or “she distinguished” 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 | distinguí | I distinguished |
| Tú | distinguiste | You distinguished |
| Él / Ella / Usted | distinguió | He / she / you distinguished |
| Nosotros / as | distinguimos | We distinguished |
| Vosotros / as | distinguisteis | You distinguished |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | distinguieron | They / you distinguished |
| Vos | distinguiste | You distinguished |
The pretérito imperfecto roughly translates as “I was distinguishing” or “she was distinguishing” 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 | distinguía | I was distinguishing |
| Tú | distinguías | You were distinguishing |
| Él / Ella / Usted | distinguía | He was / she was / you were distinguishing |
| Nosotros / as | distinguíamos | We were distinguishing |
| Vosotros / as | distinguíais | You were distinguishing |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | distinguían | They / you were distinguishing |
| Vos | distinguías | You were distinguishing |
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 distinguished” and “she has distinguished”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | he distinguido | I have distinguished |
| Tú | has distinguido | You have distinguished |
| Él / Ella / Usted | ha distinguido | He has / she has / you have distinguished |
| Nosotros / as | hemos distinguido | We have distinguished |
| Vosotros / as | habéis distinguido | You have distinguished |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | han distinguido | They / you have distinguished |
| Vos | has distinguido | You have distinguished |
The conditional is used in place of the English modal verb “would”, i.e. “I would distinguish” or “she would distinguish”. It can be used to talk about hypothetical situations.
| Pronoun | Spanish | Englush |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | distinguiría | I would distinguish |
| Tú | distinguirías | You would distinguish |
| Él / Ella / Usted | distinguiría | He / she / you would distinguish |
| Nosotros / as | distinguiríamos | We would distinguish |
| Vosotros / as | distinguiríais | You would distinguish |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | distinguirían | They / you would distinguish |
| Vos | distinguirías | You would distinguish |
The future tense, simply put, replaces the English modal verb “will” – i.e. “I will distinguish” or “they will distinguish”.
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 distinguir” means “They are going to distinguish”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | distinguiré | I will distinguish |
| Tú | distinguirás | You will distinguish |
| Él / Ella / Usted | distinguirá | He / she / you will distinguish |
| Nosotros / as | distinguiremos | We will distinguish |
| Vosotros / as | distinguiréis | You will distinguish |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | distinguirán | They / you will distinguish |
| Vos | distinguirás | You will distinguish |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | distinga |
| Tú | distingas |
| Él / Ella / Usted | distinga |
| Nosotros / as | distigamos |
| Vosotros / as | distigáis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | distingan |
| Vos | distingas |
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 | distinguiera | distinguiese |
| Tú | distinguieras | distinguiese |
| Él / Ella / Usted | distinguiera | distinguiese |
| Nosotros / as | distinguiéramos | distinguiésemos |
| Vosotros / as | distinguierais | distinguieseis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | distinguieran | distinguiesen |
| Vos | distinguieras | distinguiese |
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 | distinguiere |
| Tú | distinguieres |
| Él / Ella / Usted | distinguiera |
| Nosotros / as | distinguiéremos |
| Vosotros / as | distinguiereis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | distinguieren |
| Vos | distinguieres |
Used for forming positive and negative commands, e.g. “distinguish!” and “don’t distinguish!”.
| Pronoun | Spanish Affirmative | Spanish Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Tú | distingue | no distingas |
| Él / Ella / Usted | distinga | no distinga |
| Nosotros / as | distigamos | no distigamos |
| Vosotros / as | distinguid | no distigáis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | distingan | no distingan |
| Vos | distinguí | no distingas |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | haya distinguido |
| Tú | hayas distinguido |
| Él / Ella / Usted | haya distinguido |
| Nosotros / as | hayamos distinguido |
| Vosotros / as | hayáis distinguido |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hayan distinguido |
| Vos | hayas distinguido |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera distinguido / hubiese distinguido |
| Tú | hubieras distinguido / hubieses distinguido |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiera distinguido / hubiese distinguido |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéramos distinguido / hubiésemos distinguido |
| Vosotros / as | hubierais distinguido / hubieseis distinguido |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieran distinguido / hubiesen distinguido |
| Vos | hubieras distinguido / hubieses distinguido |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere distinguido |
| Tú | hubieres distinguido |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiere distinguido |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéremos distinguido |
| Vosotros / as | hubiereis distinguido |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieren distinguido |
| Vos | hubieres distinguido |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | esté distinguiendo |
| Tú | estés distinguiendo |
| Él / Ella / Usted | esté distinguiendo |
| Nosotros / as | estemos distinguiendo |
| Vosotros / as | estéis distinguiendo |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estén distinguiendo |
| Vos | estés distinguiendo |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviera distinguiendo / estuviese distinguiendo |
| Tú | estuvieras distinguiendo / estuvieses distinguiendo |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviera distinguiendo / estuviese distinguiendo |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéramos distinguiendo / estuviésamos distinguiendo |
| Vosotros / as | estuvierais distinguiendo / estuvieseis distinguiendo |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviera distinguiendo / estuviese distinguiendo |
| Vos | estuvieras distinguiendo / estuvieses distinguiendo |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviere distinguiendo |
| Tú | estuvieres distinguiendo |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviere distinguiendo |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéremos distinguiendo |
| Vosotros / as | estuviereis distinguiendo |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviere distinguiendo |
| Vos | estuvieres distinguiendo |
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 distinguís |
| Simle Past / Preterite Preterite de Indicativo | Vos distinguiste |
| Imperfect Past Preterite Imperfecto de Indicativo | Vos distinguías |
| Conditional Condicional | Vos distinguirías |
| Future Futuro de Indicativo | Vos distinguirás |
| Present Subjunctive Presente de Subjunctivo | Vos distingas |
| Imperfect Subjunctive Imperfecto de Subjunctivo | Vos distinguieras / Vos distinguiese |
| Affirmative Imperative Imperativo | Vos distinguí |
| Negative Imperative Imperativo Negativo | Vos no distingas |