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Embarcar is a Spanish verb which translates into English as “to embark, go on board, take a long trip”.
Below are all of the conjugations for embarcar 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 embark, go on board, take a long trip |
|---|---|
| Spanish Infinitive | embarcar |
The gerund (gerundio) is used with the continuous tenses, e.g. present continuous (está embarcando) and past continuous (estaba embarcando). The easiest way to think of it is the equivalent of english’s -ing form (e.g. embarking).
The past participle (participio) is used with perfect tense ‘haber’ verbs, e.g. he embarcado and hubiera embarcado. These are the equivalent of English’s ‘have’ (e.g. have embarked).
| Gerundio / Gerund | embarcando |
|---|---|
| Participio / Past Participle | embarcado |
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 embark” or “they embark”.
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | embarco |
| Tú | embarcas |
| Él / Ella / Usted | embarca |
| Nosotros / as | embarcamos |
| Vosotros / as | embarcáis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | embarcan |
| Vos | embarcás |
Your simple past tense, e.g. “I embarked” or “she embarked” 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 | embarqué | I embarked |
| Tú | embarcaste | You embarked |
| Él / Ella / Usted | embarcó | He / she / you embarked |
| Nosotros / as | embarcamos | We embarked |
| Vosotros / as | embarcasteis | You embarked |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | embarcaron | They / you embarked |
| Vos | embarcaste | You embarked |
The pretérito imperfecto roughly translates as “I was embarking” or “she was embarking” 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 | embarcaba | I was embarking |
| Tú | embarcabas | You were embarking |
| Él / Ella / Usted | embarcaba | He was / she was / you were embarking |
| Nosotros / as | embarcábamos | We were embarking |
| Vosotros / as | embarcabais | You were embarking |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | embarcaban | They / you were embarking |
| Vos | embarcabas | You were embarking |
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 embarked” and “she has embarked”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | he embarcado | I have embarked |
| Tú | has embarcado | You have embarked |
| Él / Ella / Usted | ha embarcado | He has / she has / you have embarked |
| Nosotros / as | hemos embarcado | We have embarked |
| Vosotros / as | habéis embarcado | You have embarked |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | han embarcado | They / you have embarked |
| Vos | has embarcado | You have embarked |
The conditional is used in place of the English modal verb “would”, i.e. “I would embark” or “she would embark”. It can be used to talk about hypothetical situations.
| Pronoun | Spanish | Englush |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | embarcaría | I would embark |
| Tú | embarcarías | You would embark |
| Él / Ella / Usted | embarcaría | He / she / you would embark |
| Nosotros / as | embarcaríamos | We would embark |
| Vosotros / as | embarcaríais | You would embark |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | embarcarían | They / you would embark |
| Vos | embarcarías | You would embark |
The future tense, simply put, replaces the English modal verb “will” – i.e. “I will embark” or “they will embark”.
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 embarcar” means “They are going to embark”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | embarcaré | I will embark |
| Tú | embarcarás | You will embark |
| Él / Ella / Usted | embarcará | He / she / you will embark |
| Nosotros / as | embarcaremos | We will embark |
| Vosotros / as | embarcaréis | You will embark |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | embarcarán | They / you will embark |
| Vos | embarcarás | You will embark |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | embarque |
| Tú | embarques |
| Él / Ella / Usted | embarque |
| Nosotros / as | embarquemos |
| Vosotros / as | embarquéis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | embarquen |
| Vos | embarques |
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 | embarcara | embarcase |
| Tú | embarcaras | embarcase |
| Él / Ella / Usted | embarcara | embarcase |
| Nosotros / as | embarcáramos | embarcásemos |
| Vosotros / as | embarcarais | embarcaseis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | embarcaran | embarcasen |
| Vos | embarcaras | embarcase |
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 | embarcare |
| Tú | embarcares |
| Él / Ella / Usted | embarcare |
| Nosotros / as | embarcáremos |
| Vosotros / as | embarcareis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | embarcaren |
| Vos | embarcares |
Used for forming positive and negative commands, e.g. “embark!” and “don’t embark!”.
| Pronoun | Spanish Affirmative | Spanish Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Tú | embarca | no embarques |
| Él / Ella / Usted | embarque | no embarque |
| Nosotros / as | embarquemos | no embarquemos |
| Vosotros / as | embarcad | no embarquéis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | embarquen | no embarquen |
| Vos | embarcá | no embarques |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | haya embarcado |
| Tú | hayas embarcado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | haya embarcado |
| Nosotros / as | hayamos embarcado |
| Vosotros / as | hayáis embarcado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hayan embarcado |
| Vos | hayas embarcado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera embarcado / hubiese embarcado |
| Tú | hubieras embarcado / hubieses embarcado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiera embarcado / hubiese embarcado |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéramos embarcado / hubiésemos embarcado |
| Vosotros / as | hubierais embarcado / hubieseis embarcado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieran embarcado / hubiesen embarcado |
| Vos | hubieras embarcado / hubieses embarcado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere embarcado |
| Tú | hubieres embarcado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiere embarcado |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéremos embarcado |
| Vosotros / as | hubiereis embarcado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieren embarcado |
| Vos | hubieres embarcado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | esté embarcando |
| Tú | estés embarcando |
| Él / Ella / Usted | esté embarcando |
| Nosotros / as | estemos embarcando |
| Vosotros / as | estéis embarcando |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estén embarcando |
| Vos | estés embarcando |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviera embarcando / estuviese embarcando |
| Tú | estuvieras embarcando / estuvieses embarcando |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviera embarcando / estuviese embarcando |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéramos embarcando / estuviésamos embarcando |
| Vosotros / as | estuvierais embarcando / estuvieseis embarcando |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviera embarcando / estuviese embarcando |
| Vos | estuvieras embarcando / estuvieses embarcando |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviere embarcando |
| Tú | estuvieres embarcando |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviere embarcando |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéremos embarcando |
| Vosotros / as | estuviereis embarcando |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviere embarcando |
| Vos | estuvieres embarcando |
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 embarcás |
| Simle Past / Preterite Preterite de Indicativo | Vos embarcaste |
| Imperfect Past Preterite Imperfecto de Indicativo | Vos embarcabas |
| Conditional Condicional | Vos embarcarías |
| Future Futuro de Indicativo | Vos embarcarás |
| Present Subjunctive Presente de Subjunctivo | Vos embarques |
| Imperfect Subjunctive Imperfecto de Subjunctivo | Vos embarcaras / Vos embarcase |
| Affirmative Imperative Imperativo | Vos embarcá |
| Negative Imperative Imperativo Negativo | Vos no embarques |