Esperar means to wait, to hope. Learn five tenses, then practise each person.
Present: espero, esperas, espera, esperamos, esperáis, esperan.
Esperar in the present tense
Use the present for current states, habits and actions. The subject can be omitted when the verb makes it clear.
Vosotros is informal plural you in Spain. Ustedes uses the ellos/ellas form and is the usual plural you in Latin America.
Esperar is also to hope: espero que sí, I hope so.
Esperar in the preterite tense
Use the preterite for a completed event in the past, viewed as a whole.
Esperar in the imperfect tense
Use the imperfect for past habits, ongoing situations and background descriptions, without marking their endpoint.
Esperar in the future tense
Use the simple future for what will happen. Spanish also uses this tense for a guess about the present.
Esperar in the conditional tense
Use the conditional for what would happen, a polite request or a hypothetical situation.
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All six persons. Blue, bold forms differ from regular endings, including spelling changes that preserve pronunciation.
| Person | Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Future | Conditional |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | espero | esperé | esperaba | esperaré | esperaría |
| tú | esperas | esperaste | esperabas | esperarás | esperarías |
| él / ella / usted | espera | esperó | esperaba | esperará | esperaría |
| nosotros / nosotras | esperamos | esperamos | esperábamos | esperaremos | esperaríamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | esperáis | esperasteis | esperabais | esperaréis | esperaríais |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | esperan | esperaron | esperaban | esperarán | esperarían |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | espero | I wait |
| tú | esperas | you wait |
| él / ella / usted | espera | he/she waits |
| nosotros / nosotras | esperamos | we wait |
| vosotros / vosotras | esperáis | you all (vosotros) wait |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | esperan | they wait |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | esperé | I waited |
| tú | esperaste | you waited |
| él / ella / usted | esperó | he/she waited |
| nosotros / nosotras | esperamos | we waited |
| vosotros / vosotras | esperasteis | you all (vosotros) waited |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | esperaron | they waited |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | esperaba | I used to wait |
| tú | esperabas | you used to wait |
| él / ella / usted | esperaba | he/she used to wait |
| nosotros / nosotras | esperábamos | we used to wait |
| vosotros / vosotras | esperabais | you all (vosotros) used to wait |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | esperaban | they used to wait |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | esperaré | I will wait |
| tú | esperarás | you will wait |
| él / ella / usted | esperará | he/she will wait |
| nosotros / nosotras | esperaremos | we will wait |
| vosotros / vosotras | esperaréis | you all (vosotros) will wait |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | esperarán | they will wait |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | esperaría | I would wait |
| tú | esperarías | you would wait |
| él / ella / usted | esperaría | he/she would wait |
| nosotros / nosotras | esperaríamos | we would wait |
| vosotros / vosotras | esperaríais | you all (vosotros) would wait |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | esperarían | they would wait |
Esperar follows the regular ar pattern in these five tenses.
The present forms are espero, esperas, espera, esperamos, esperáis, esperan, in the order yo, tú, él/ella/usted, nosotros, vosotros and ellos/ellas/ustedes.
esperé, esperaste, esperó, esperamos, esperasteis, esperaron. For example, esperé means “I waited”.
Esperar follows the regular ar pattern in these five tenses.
The preterite (esperé) presents a completed event; the imperfect (esperaba) gives a past habit or background situation. The English glosses are “I waited” and “I used to wait”, but context determines the best translation.
The yo forms are esperaré (“I will wait”) and esperaría (“I would wait”). The full charts above include every person.
Esperar means to wait, to hope. Esperar is also to hope: espero que sí, I hope so.
Updated · English prompts, Spanish answers.