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Comprometerse is a Spanish verb which translates into English as “to compromise (oneself), promise”.
It’s a reflexive verb, which means the subject performs the action upon themselves – e.g. “I wake myself”.
Reflexive verbs always carry a reflexive pronoun – me, te, se, nos or os – which is often placed before the conjugated verb (e.g. me comprometo) or after the infinitive (e.g. Él tiene que comprometerse).
Below are all of the conjugations for comprometerse in Spanish, in all three moods (indicative/indicativo, subjunctive/subjunctivo and imperative/imperativo) and all of the tenses, for each pronoun.
The vosotros pronoun is mainly used in mainland Spain, and is the informal second-person plural – it could be considered the Spanish version of “y’all”. It is rarely found in Latin America, where ustedes is used instead.
The vos form is used instead of tú in some Spanish speaking countries of South America, especially the Southern Cone (e.g. Argentina and Uruguay) and has a different conjugation.
| English Infinitive | to compromise (oneself), promise |
|---|---|
| Spanish Infinitive | comprometerse |
The gerund (gerundio) is used with the continuous tenses, e.g. present continuous (está comprometiéndose) and past continuous (estaba comprometiéndose). The easiest way to think of it is the equivalent of english’s -ing form (e.g. compromising).
The past participle (participio) is used with perfect tense ‘haber’ verbs, e.g. he comprometido and hubiera comprometido. These are the equivalent of English’s ‘have’ (e.g. have compromised).
| Gerundio / Gerund | comprometiéndose |
|---|---|
| Participio / Past Participle | comprometido |
The basic form of speech, el indicativo is used for making statements, talking about facts, events and things that are certain and objective.
The present tense is as it sounds – it’s for talking about things that are currently going on, which are habitual, or which generally exist. In English, this would be “I compromise” or “they compromise”.
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | me comprometo |
| Tú | te comprometes |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se compromete |
| Nosotros / as | nos comprometemos |
| Vosotros / as | os comprometéis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se comprometen |
| Vos | te comprometés |
Your simple past tense, e.g. “I compromised” or “she compromised” in English.
In Spanish, there are two past tenses where just one is used in English; the pretérite infefinido is typically used to refer to a concrete, specific moment in time.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me comprometí | I compromised |
| Tú | te comprometiste | You compromised |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se comprometió | He / she / you compromised |
| Nosotros / as | nos comprometimos | We compromised |
| Vosotros / as | os comprometisteis | You compromised |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se comprometieron | They / you compromised |
| Vos | te comprometiste | You compromised |
The pretérito imperfecto roughly translates as “I was compromising” or “she was compromising” in English, and is typically used to describe things and set a scene, talk about events without a specific timeframe, or talk about habitual events or states in the past.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me comprometía | I was compromising |
| Tú | te comprometías | You were compromising |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se comprometía | He was / she was / you were compromising |
| Nosotros / as | nos comprometíamos | We were compromising |
| Vosotros / as | os comprometíais | You were compromising |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se comprometían | They / you were compromising |
| Vos | te comprometías | You were compromising |
The perfect tense is for talking about things which happened in the past but are still related to the present or continue into the present.
In English, these use the auxiliary verbs ‘have’ and ‘has’ – i.e. “I have compromised” and “she has compromised”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me he comprometido | I have compromised |
| Tú | te has comprometido | You have compromised |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se ha comprometido | He has / she has / you have compromised |
| Nosotros / as | nos hemos comprometido | We have compromised |
| Vosotros / as | os habéis comprometido | You have compromised |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se han comprometido | They / you have compromised |
| Vos | te has comprometido | You have compromised |
The conditional is used in place of the English modal verb “would”, i.e. “I would compromise” or “she would compromise”. It can be used to talk about hypothetical situations.
| Pronoun | Spanish | Englush |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me comprometería | I would compromise |
| Tú | te comprometerías | You would compromise |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se comprometería | He / she / you would compromise |
| Nosotros / as | nos comprometeríamos | We would compromise |
| Vosotros / as | os comprometeríais | You would compromise |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se comprometerían | They / you would compromise |
| Vos | te comprometerías | You would compromise |
The future tense, simply put, replaces the English modal verb “will” – i.e. “I will compromise” or “they will compromise”.
It is more commonly used for making a hypothesis about the present. To talk about the future, Spanish speakers frequently use “ir + a + infinivo”, e.g. “van a comprometerse” means “They are going to compromise”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me comprometeré | I will compromise |
| Tú | te comprometerás | You will compromise |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se comprometerá | He / she / you will compromise |
| Nosotros / as | nos comprometeremos | We will compromise |
| Vosotros / as | os comprometeréis | You will compromise |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se comprometerán | They / you will compromise |
| Vos | te comprometerás | You will compromise |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | me comprometa |
| Tú | te comprometas |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se comprometa |
| Nosotros / as | nos comprometamos |
| Vosotros / as | os comprometáis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se comprometan |
| Vos | te comprometas |
There are two ways to form the imperfect subjunctive.
The first option sees verbs ending in -era (for -er and -ir verbs) and -ara (for -ar verbs), while the second sees verbs ending in -ese (for -er and -ir verbs) and -ase (for -ar verbs).
There is no difference between these two forms, and Spanish speakers use them interchangeably.
| Pronoun | Spanish era/ara | Spanish ese/ase |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me comprometiera | me comprometiese |
| Tú | te comprometieras | me comprometiese |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se comprometiera | se comprometiese |
| Nosotros / as | nos comprometiéramos | nos comprometiésemos |
| Vosotros / as | os comprometierais | os comprometieseis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se comprometieran | se comprometiesen |
| Vos | te comprometieras | me comprometiese |
The future subjunctive is no longer used in modern-day Spanish, apart from in literary and legal contexts, and there is no need to learn it.
It is formed the same as the past/imperfect subjunctive, but with -e endings instead of -a endings.
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | me comprometiere |
| Tú | te comprometieres |
| Él / Ella / Usted | se comprometiere |
| Nosotros / as | nos comprometiéremos |
| Vosotros / as | os comprometiereis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | se comprometieren |
| Vos | te comprometieres |
Used for forming positive and negative commands, e.g. “compromise!” and “don’t compromise!”.
| Pronoun | Spanish Affirmative | Spanish Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Tú | comprométete | no te comprometas |
| Él / Ella / Usted | comprométase | no se comprometa |
| Nosotros / as | comprometámonos | no nos comprometamos |
| Vosotros / as | comprometeos | no os comprometáis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | comprométanse | no se comprometan |
| Vos | comprometete | no te comprometas |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | haya comprometido |
| Tú | hayas comprometido |
| Él / Ella / Usted | haya comprometido |
| Nosotros / as | hayamos comprometido |
| Vosotros / as | hayáis comprometido |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hayan comprometido |
| Vos | hayas comprometido |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera comprometido / hubiese comprometido |
| Tú | hubieras comprometido / hubieses comprometido |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiera comprometido / hubiese comprometido |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéramos comprometido / hubiésemos comprometido |
| Vosotros / as | hubierais comprometido / hubieseis comprometido |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieran comprometido / hubiesen comprometido |
| Vos | hubieras comprometido / hubieses comprometido |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere comprometido |
| Tú | hubieres comprometido |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiere comprometido |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéremos comprometido |
| Vosotros / as | hubiereis comprometido |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieren comprometido |
| Vos | hubieres comprometido |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | esté comprometiéndose |
| Tú | estés comprometiéndose |
| Él / Ella / Usted | esté comprometiéndose |
| Nosotros / as | estemos comprometiéndose |
| Vosotros / as | estéis comprometiéndose |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estén comprometiéndose |
| Vos | estés comprometiéndose |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviera comprometiéndose / estuviese comprometiéndose |
| Tú | estuvieras comprometiéndose / estuvieses comprometiéndose |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviera comprometiéndose / estuviese comprometiéndose |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéramos comprometiéndose / estuviésamos comprometiéndose |
| Vosotros / as | estuvierais comprometiéndose / estuvieseis comprometiéndose |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviera comprometiéndose / estuviese comprometiéndose |
| Vos | estuvieras comprometiéndose / estuvieses comprometiéndose |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviere comprometiéndose |
| Tú | estuvieres comprometiéndose |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviere comprometiéndose |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéremos comprometiéndose |
| Vosotros / as | estuviereis comprometiéndose |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviere comprometiéndose |
| Vos | estuvieres comprometiéndose |
Voseo is the practice of using ‘vos’ instead of ‘tú’ as the second-person singular pronoun, and is common throughout much of South America.
There are various versions of ‘voseo’ used throughout the Spanish-speaking world. The conjugations for the most common type – used throughout Argentina, parts of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguya and Uruguay are below.
The present indicative (presente de indicativo) and affirmative imperative (imperativo) have different conjugations from the tú form, while all other tenses generally use the tú form.
| Tense | Vos Conjugation |
|---|---|
| Present Indicative Presente de Indicativo | Vos te comprometés |
| Simle Past / Preterite Preterite de Indicativo | Vos te comprometiste |
| Imperfect Past Preterite Imperfecto de Indicativo | Vos te comprometías |
| Conditional Condicional | Vos te comprometerías |
| Future Futuro de Indicativo | Vos te comprometerás |
| Present Subjunctive Presente de Subjunctivo | Vos te comprometas |
| Imperfect Subjunctive Imperfecto de Subjunctivo | Vos te comprometieras / Vos me comprometiese |
| Affirmative Imperative Imperativo | Vos comprometete |
| Negative Imperative Imperativo Negativo | Vos no te comprometas |