Elegir conjugation chart
Elegir present tense
presente · I speak
| yo | I choose | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you choose | |
| vos | you choose | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she chooses | |
| nosotros | we choose | |
| vosotros | you all choose | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they choose |
The highlighted forms change their stem. Notice that nosotros, vosotros and vos stay out: draw a line around the forms that change and you get a boot, which is why these are called “boot verbs.”
Elegir preterite
pretérito · I spoke
| yo | I chose | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you chose | |
| vos | you chose | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she chose | |
| nosotros | we chose | |
| vosotros | you all chose | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they chose |
Irregular in él/ella/usted and ellos/ustedes (in red): eligió, eligieron…; the other forms are regular.
Elegir imperfect
pretérito imperfecto · I used to speak
| yo | I used to choose | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you used to choose | |
| vos | you used to choose | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she used to choose | |
| nosotros | we used to choose | |
| vosotros | you all used to choose | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they used to choose |
Regular: same endings as vivir.
Elegir future
futuro · I will speak
| yo | I will choose | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you will choose | |
| vos | you will choose | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she will choose | |
| nosotros | we will choose | |
| vosotros | you all will choose | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they will choose |
Regular: same endings as vivir.
Elegir conditional
condicional · I would speak
| yo | I would choose | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you would choose | |
| vos | you would choose | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she would choose | |
| nosotros | we would choose | |
| vosotros | you all would choose | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they would choose |
Regular: same endings as vivir.
Elegir present subjunctive
presente de subjuntivo · that I speak
| yo | that I choose | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | that you choose | |
| vos | that you choose | |
| él, ella, usted | that he/she choose | |
| nosotros | that we choose | |
| vosotros | that you all choose | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | that they choose |
Irregular stem elij- (from the yo form elijo) + -a, -as, -amos, -áis, -an.
Elegir imperfect subjunctive
imperfecto de subjuntivo · if I spoke
| yo | if I chose | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | if you chose | |
| vos | if you chose | |
| él, ella, usted | if he/she chose | |
| nosotros | if we chose | |
| vosotros | if you all chose | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | if they chose |
Irregular stem eligi- + -era, -eras, -éramos, -erais, -eran.
In the subjunctive, vos takes the same form as tú in careful speech. The imperfect subjunctive also has an -se form (eligiese), more common in writing.
Elegir affirmative commands
imperativo · speak!
| tú | choose! | |
|---|---|---|
| vos | choose! | |
| usted | choose! | |
| nosotros | let's choose! | |
| vosotros | choose! | |
| ustedes | choose! |
The tú form is the él form of the present: elige. Usted, nosotros and ustedes come from the present subjunctive (elija, elijamos, elijan).
Elegir negative commands
imperativo negativo · don't speak!
| tú | don't choose! | |
|---|---|---|
| vos | don't choose! | |
| usted | don't choose! | |
| nosotros | let's not choose! | |
| vosotros | don't choose! | |
| ustedes | don't choose! |
Built from the present subjunctive: no + elijas, elija…
Always the verb haber + the past participle elegido, which never changes.
Elegir present perfect
pretérito perfecto · I have spoken
| yo | he elegido |
|---|---|
| tú | has elegido |
| vos | has elegido |
| él, ella, usted | ha elegido |
| nosotros | hemos elegido |
| vosotros | habéis elegido |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | han elegido |
Elegir pluperfect
pluscuamperfecto · I had spoken
| yo | había elegido |
|---|---|
| tú | habías elegido |
| vos | habías elegido |
| él, ella, usted | había elegido |
| nosotros | habíamos elegido |
| vosotros | habíais elegido |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | habían elegido |
Elegir future perfect
futuro perfecto · I will have spoken
| yo | habré elegido |
|---|---|
| tú | habrás elegido |
| vos | habrás elegido |
| él, ella, usted | habrá elegido |
| nosotros | habremos elegido |
| vosotros | habréis elegido |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | habrán elegido |
Elegir conditional perfect
condicional perfecto · I would have spoken
| yo | habría elegido |
|---|---|
| tú | habrías elegido |
| vos | habrías elegido |
| él, ella, usted | habría elegido |
| nosotros | habríamos elegido |
| vosotros | habríais elegido |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | habrían elegido |
Elegir present perfect subjunctive
pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo · that I have spoken
| yo | haya elegido |
|---|---|
| tú | hayas elegido |
| vos | hayas elegido |
| él, ella, usted | haya elegido |
| nosotros | hayamos elegido |
| vosotros | hayáis elegido |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | hayan elegido |
In Latin America, ustedes is the only “you all”; vosotros is used only in Spain. Vos is used in Argentina, Uruguay and much of Central America. Uncheck the boxes above to hide what you don’t need.
Watch out
In the yo form the g turns into j: elijo, and the same in the subjunctive: elija. In Spain, everyday “to choose” is often escoger.
Examples with elegir
Elijo el rojo.
I choose the red one.
¿Qué elegiste?
What did you choose?
Elegimos un restaurante cerca.
We chose a restaurant nearby.
Practice elegir
Type the right form and press Enter. A missing accent still counts, but I'll point it out.
Verbs like elegir
Stem change e → i (elegir → eliges). Same pattern:
decir dicespedir pidesservir sirvesrepetir repitesseguir siguesconseguir consigues