Recibir means to receive. Learn five tenses, then practise each person.
Present: recibo, recibes, recibe, recibimos, recibís, reciben.
Recibir 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.
Recibir in the preterite tense
Use the preterite for a completed event in the past, viewed as a whole.
Recibir in the imperfect tense
Use the imperfect for past habits, ongoing situations and background descriptions, without marking their endpoint.
Recibir in the future tense
Use the simple future for what will happen. Spanish also uses this tense for a guess about the present.
Recibir 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 | recibo | recibí | recibía | recibiré | recibiría |
| tú | recibes | recibiste | recibías | recibirás | recibirías |
| él / ella / usted | recibe | recibió | recibía | recibirá | recibiría |
| nosotros / nosotras | recibimos | recibimos | recibíamos | recibiremos | recibiríamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | recibís | recibisteis | recibíais | recibiréis | recibiríais |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | reciben | recibieron | recibían | recibirán | recibirían |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | recibo | I receive |
| tú | recibes | you receive |
| él / ella / usted | recibe | he/she receives |
| nosotros / nosotras | recibimos | we receive |
| vosotros / vosotras | recibís | you all (vosotros) receive |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | reciben | they receive |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | recibí | I received |
| tú | recibiste | you received |
| él / ella / usted | recibió | he/she received |
| nosotros / nosotras | recibimos | we received |
| vosotros / vosotras | recibisteis | you all (vosotros) received |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | recibieron | they received |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | recibía | I used to receive |
| tú | recibías | you used to receive |
| él / ella / usted | recibía | he/she used to receive |
| nosotros / nosotras | recibíamos | we used to receive |
| vosotros / vosotras | recibíais | you all (vosotros) used to receive |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | recibían | they used to receive |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | recibiré | I will receive |
| tú | recibirás | you will receive |
| él / ella / usted | recibirá | he/she will receive |
| nosotros / nosotras | recibiremos | we will receive |
| vosotros / vosotras | recibiréis | you all (vosotros) will receive |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | recibirán | they will receive |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | recibiría | I would receive |
| tú | recibirías | you would receive |
| él / ella / usted | recibiría | he/she would receive |
| nosotros / nosotras | recibiríamos | we would receive |
| vosotros / vosotras | recibiríais | you all (vosotros) would receive |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | recibirían | they would receive |
Recibir follows the regular ir pattern in these five tenses.
The present forms are recibo, recibes, recibe, recibimos, recibís, reciben, in the order yo, tú, él/ella/usted, nosotros, vosotros and ellos/ellas/ustedes.
recibí, recibiste, recibió, recibimos, recibisteis, recibieron. For example, recibí means “I received”.
Recibir follows the regular ir pattern in these five tenses.
The preterite (recibí) presents a completed event; the imperfect (recibía) gives a past habit or background situation. The English glosses are “I received” and “I used to receive”, but context determines the best translation.
The yo forms are recibiré (“I will receive”) and recibiría (“I would receive”). The full charts above include every person.
Recibir means to receive.
Updated · English prompts, Spanish answers.