Estar conjugation chart
Estar present tense
presente · I speak
| yo | I am | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you are | |
| vos | you are | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she is | |
| nosotros | we are | |
| vosotros | you all are | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they are |
Irregular only in the yo form, estoy; the rest has the same endings as hablar.
Estar preterite
pretérito · I spoke
| yo | I was | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you were | |
| vos | you were | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she was | |
| nosotros | we were | |
| vosotros | you all were | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they were |
Irregular stem estuv- + -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron, with no accent marks.
Estar imperfect
pretérito imperfecto · I used to speak
| yo | I was | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you were | |
| vos | you were | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she was | |
| nosotros | we were | |
| vosotros | you all were | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they were |
Regular: same endings as hablar.
Estar future
futuro · I will speak
| yo | I will be | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you will be | |
| vos | you will be | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she will be | |
| nosotros | we will be | |
| vosotros | you all will be | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they will be |
Regular: same endings as hablar.
Estar conditional
condicional · I would speak
| yo | I would be | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you would be | |
| vos | you would be | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she would be | |
| nosotros | we would be | |
| vosotros | you all would be | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they would be |
Regular: same endings as hablar.
Estar present subjunctive
presente de subjuntivo · that I speak
| yo | that I be | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | that you be | |
| vos | that you be | |
| él, ella, usted | that he/she be | |
| nosotros | that we be | |
| vosotros | that you all be | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | that they be |
Regular: same endings as hablar.
Estar imperfect subjunctive
imperfecto de subjuntivo · if I spoke
| yo | if I were | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | if you were | |
| vos | if you were | |
| él, ella, usted | if he/she were | |
| nosotros | if we were | |
| vosotros | if you all were | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | if they were |
Irregular stem estuv- + -iera, -ieras, -iéramos, -ierais, -ieran.
In the subjunctive, vos takes the same form as tú in careful speech. The imperfect subjunctive also has an -se form (estuviese), more common in writing.
Estar affirmative commands
imperativo · speak!
| tú | be! | |
|---|---|---|
| vos | be! | |
| usted | be! | |
| nosotros | let's be! | |
| vosotros | be! | |
| ustedes | be! |
The tú form is the él form of the present: está. Usted, nosotros and ustedes come from the present subjunctive (esté, estemos, estén).
Estar negative commands
imperativo negativo · don't speak!
| tú | don't be! | |
|---|---|---|
| vos | don't be! | |
| usted | don't be! | |
| nosotros | let's not be! | |
| vosotros | don't be! | |
| ustedes | don't be! |
Built from the present subjunctive: no + estés, esté…
Always the verb haber + the past participle estado, which never changes.
Estar present perfect
pretérito perfecto · I have spoken
| yo | he estado |
|---|---|
| tú | has estado |
| vos | has estado |
| él, ella, usted | ha estado |
| nosotros | hemos estado |
| vosotros | habéis estado |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | han estado |
Estar pluperfect
pluscuamperfecto · I had spoken
| yo | había estado |
|---|---|
| tú | habías estado |
| vos | habías estado |
| él, ella, usted | había estado |
| nosotros | habíamos estado |
| vosotros | habíais estado |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | habían estado |
Estar future perfect
futuro perfecto · I will have spoken
| yo | habré estado |
|---|---|
| tú | habrás estado |
| vos | habrás estado |
| él, ella, usted | habrá estado |
| nosotros | habremos estado |
| vosotros | habréis estado |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | habrán estado |
Estar conditional perfect
condicional perfecto · I would have spoken
| yo | habría estado |
|---|---|
| tú | habrías estado |
| vos | habrías estado |
| él, ella, usted | habría estado |
| nosotros | habríamos estado |
| vosotros | habríais estado |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | habrían estado |
Estar present perfect subjunctive
pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo · that I have spoken
| yo | haya estado |
|---|---|
| tú | hayas estado |
| vos | hayas estado |
| él, ella, usted | haya estado |
| nosotros | hayamos estado |
| vosotros | hayáis estado |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | hayan estado |
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
Location always takes estar, even for places that never move: ¿Dónde está el baño?. And está needs its accent; without it, esta means “this.”
Examples with estar
¿Cómo estás?
How are you?
Estuve en Madrid el año pasado.
I was in Madrid last year.
La comida está lista.
The food is ready.
Hear estar from native speakers
Practice estar
Half of these are in the preterite, the tense people look up most for estar. Type the right form and press Enter. A missing accent still counts, but I'll point it out.
With full sentences: preterite exercises · ser vs. estar exercises.
Verbs like estar
Irregular preterite (estar → estuve). Same pattern:
haber hubetener tuvehacer hicepoder pudedecir dijesaber supequerer quisevenir vine