Perder means to lose, to miss. Learn five tenses, then practise each person.
Present: pierdo, pierdes, pierde, perdemos, perdéis, pierden.
Perder 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.
Perder in the preterite tense
Use the preterite for a completed event in the past, viewed as a whole.
Perder in the imperfect tense
Use the imperfect for past habits, ongoing situations and background descriptions, without marking their endpoint.
Perder in the future tense
Use the simple future for what will happen. Spanish also uses this tense for a guess about the present.
Perder 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 | pierdo | perdí | perdía | perderé | perdería |
| tú | pierdes | perdiste | perdías | perderás | perderías |
| él / ella / usted | pierde | perdió | perdía | perderá | perdería |
| nosotros / nosotras | perdemos | perdimos | perdíamos | perderemos | perderíamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | perdéis | perdisteis | perdíais | perderéis | perderíais |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | pierden | perdieron | perdían | perderán | perderían |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | pierdo | I lose |
| tú | pierdes | you lose |
| él / ella / usted | pierde | he/she loses |
| nosotros / nosotras | perdemos | we lose |
| vosotros / vosotras | perdéis | you all (vosotros) lose |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | pierden | they lose |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | perdí | I lost |
| tú | perdiste | you lost |
| él / ella / usted | perdió | he/she lost |
| nosotros / nosotras | perdimos | we lost |
| vosotros / vosotras | perdisteis | you all (vosotros) lost |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | perdieron | they lost |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | perdía | I used to lose |
| tú | perdías | you used to lose |
| él / ella / usted | perdía | he/she used to lose |
| nosotros / nosotras | perdíamos | we used to lose |
| vosotros / vosotras | perdíais | you all (vosotros) used to lose |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | perdían | they used to lose |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | perderé | I will lose |
| tú | perderás | you will lose |
| él / ella / usted | perderá | he/she will lose |
| nosotros / nosotras | perderemos | we will lose |
| vosotros / vosotras | perderéis | you all (vosotros) will lose |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | perderán | they will lose |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | perdería | I would lose |
| tú | perderías | you would lose |
| él / ella / usted | perdería | he/she would lose |
| nosotros / nosotras | perderíamos | we would lose |
| vosotros / vosotras | perderíais | you all (vosotros) would lose |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | perderían | they would lose |
Perder differs from the regular endings in the present. Changed forms include present: pierdo, pierdes, pierde. Highlighted forms include spelling changes that preserve pronunciation as well as irregular stems and endings.
The present forms are pierdo, pierdes, pierde, perdemos, perdéis, pierden, in the order yo, tú, él/ella/usted, nosotros, vosotros and ellos/ellas/ustedes.
perdí, perdiste, perdió, perdimos, perdisteis, perdieron. For example, perdí means “I lost”.
Perder differs from the regular endings in the present. Changed forms include present: pierdo, pierdes, pierde. Highlighted forms include spelling changes that preserve pronunciation as well as irregular stems and endings.
The preterite (perdí) presents a completed event; the imperfect (perdía) gives a past habit or background situation. The English glosses are “I lost” and “I used to lose”, but context determines the best translation.
The yo forms are perderé (“I will lose”) and perdería (“I would lose”). The full charts above include every person.
Perder means to lose, to miss.
Updated · English prompts, Spanish answers.