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Desempeñar is a Spanish verb which translates into English as “to fulfill (an obligation), act, hold a position”.
Below are all of the conjugations for desempeñar 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 fulfill (an obligation), act, hold a position |
|---|---|
| Spanish Infinitive | desempeñar |
The gerund (gerundio) is used with the continuous tenses, e.g. present continuous (está desempeñando) and past continuous (estaba desempeñando). The easiest way to think of it is the equivalent of english’s -ing form (e.g. fulfilling (an obligation)).
The past participle (participio) is used with perfect tense ‘haber’ verbs, e.g. he desempeñado and hubiera desempeñado. These are the equivalent of English’s ‘have’ (e.g. have fulfilled (an obligation)).
| Gerundio / Gerund | desempeñando |
|---|---|
| Participio / Past Participle | desempeñado |
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 fulfill (an obligation)” or “they fulfill (an obligation)”.
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | desempeño |
| Tú | desempeñas |
| Él / Ella / Usted | desempeña |
| Nosotros / as | desempeñamos |
| Vosotros / as | desempeñáis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | desempeñan |
| Vos | desempeñás |
Your simple past tense, e.g. “I fulfilled (an obligation)” or “she fulfilled (an obligation)” 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 | desempeñé | I fulfilled (an obligation) |
| Tú | desempeñaste | You fulfilled (an obligation) |
| Él / Ella / Usted | desempeñó | He / she / you fulfilled (an obligation) |
| Nosotros / as | desempeñamos | We fulfilled (an obligation) |
| Vosotros / as | desempeñasteis | You fulfilled (an obligation) |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | desempeñaron | They / you fulfilled (an obligation) |
| Vos | desempeñaste | You fulfilled (an obligation) |
The pretérito imperfecto roughly translates as “I was fulfilling (an obligation)” or “she was fulfilling (an obligation)” 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 | desempeñaba | I was fulfilling (an obligation) |
| Tú | desempeñabas | You were fulfilling (an obligation) |
| Él / Ella / Usted | desempeñaba | He was / she was / you were fulfilling (an obligation) |
| Nosotros / as | desempeñábamos | We were fulfilling (an obligation) |
| Vosotros / as | desempeñabais | You were fulfilling (an obligation) |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | desempeñaban | They / you were fulfilling (an obligation) |
| Vos | desempeñabas | You were fulfilling (an obligation) |
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 fulfilled (an obligation)” and “she has fulfilled (an obligation)”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | he desempeñado | I have fulfilled (an obligation) |
| Tú | has desempeñado | You have fulfilled (an obligation) |
| Él / Ella / Usted | ha desempeñado | He has / she has / you have fulfilled (an obligation) |
| Nosotros / as | hemos desempeñado | We have fulfilled (an obligation) |
| Vosotros / as | habéis desempeñado | You have fulfilled (an obligation) |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | han desempeñado | They / you have fulfilled (an obligation) |
| Vos | has desempeñado | You have fulfilled (an obligation) |
The conditional is used in place of the English modal verb “would”, i.e. “I would fulfill (an obligation)” or “she would fulfill (an obligation)”. It can be used to talk about hypothetical situations.
| Pronoun | Spanish | Englush |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | desempeñaría | I would fulfill (an obligation) |
| Tú | desempeñarías | You would fulfill (an obligation) |
| Él / Ella / Usted | desempeñaría | He / she / you would fulfill (an obligation) |
| Nosotros / as | desempeñaríamos | We would fulfill (an obligation) |
| Vosotros / as | desempeñaríais | You would fulfill (an obligation) |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | desempeñarían | They / you would fulfill (an obligation) |
| Vos | desempeñarías | You would fulfill (an obligation) |
The future tense, simply put, replaces the English modal verb “will” – i.e. “I will fulfill (an obligation)” or “they will fulfill (an obligation)”.
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 desempeñar” means “They are going to fulfill (an obligation)”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | desempeñaré | I will fulfill (an obligation) |
| Tú | desempeñarás | You will fulfill (an obligation) |
| Él / Ella / Usted | desempeñará | He / she / you will fulfill (an obligation) |
| Nosotros / as | desempeñaremos | We will fulfill (an obligation) |
| Vosotros / as | desempeñaréis | You will fulfill (an obligation) |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | desempeñarán | They / you will fulfill (an obligation) |
| Vos | desempeñarás | You will fulfill (an obligation) |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | desempeñe |
| Tú | desempeñes |
| Él / Ella / Usted | desempeñe |
| Nosotros / as | desempeñemos |
| Vosotros / as | desempeñéis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | desempeñen |
| Vos | desempeñes |
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 | desempeñara | desempeñase |
| Tú | desempeñaras | desempeñase |
| Él / Ella / Usted | desempeñara | desempeñase |
| Nosotros / as | desempeñáramos | desempeñásemos |
| Vosotros / as | desempeñarais | desempeñaseis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | desempeñaran | desempeñasen |
| Vos | desempeñaras | desempeñase |
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 | desempeñare |
| Tú | desempeñares |
| Él / Ella / Usted | desempeñare |
| Nosotros / as | desempeñáremos |
| Vosotros / as | desempeñareis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | desempeñaren |
| Vos | desempeñares |
Used for forming positive and negative commands, e.g. “fulfill (an obligation)!” and “don’t fulfill (an obligation)!”.
| Pronoun | Spanish Affirmative | Spanish Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Tú | desempeña | no desempeñes |
| Él / Ella / Usted | desempeñe | no desempeñe |
| Nosotros / as | desempeñemos | no desempeñemos |
| Vosotros / as | desempeñad | no desempeñéis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | desempeñen | no desempeñen |
| Vos | desempeñá | no desempeñes |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | haya desempeñado |
| Tú | hayas desempeñado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | haya desempeñado |
| Nosotros / as | hayamos desempeñado |
| Vosotros / as | hayáis desempeñado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hayan desempeñado |
| Vos | hayas desempeñado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera desempeñado / hubiese desempeñado |
| Tú | hubieras desempeñado / hubieses desempeñado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiera desempeñado / hubiese desempeñado |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéramos desempeñado / hubiésemos desempeñado |
| Vosotros / as | hubierais desempeñado / hubieseis desempeñado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieran desempeñado / hubiesen desempeñado |
| Vos | hubieras desempeñado / hubieses desempeñado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere desempeñado |
| Tú | hubieres desempeñado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiere desempeñado |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéremos desempeñado |
| Vosotros / as | hubiereis desempeñado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieren desempeñado |
| Vos | hubieres desempeñado |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | esté desempeñando |
| Tú | estés desempeñando |
| Él / Ella / Usted | esté desempeñando |
| Nosotros / as | estemos desempeñando |
| Vosotros / as | estéis desempeñando |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estén desempeñando |
| Vos | estés desempeñando |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviera desempeñando / estuviese desempeñando |
| Tú | estuvieras desempeñando / estuvieses desempeñando |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviera desempeñando / estuviese desempeñando |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéramos desempeñando / estuviésamos desempeñando |
| Vosotros / as | estuvierais desempeñando / estuvieseis desempeñando |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviera desempeñando / estuviese desempeñando |
| Vos | estuvieras desempeñando / estuvieses desempeñando |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviere desempeñando |
| Tú | estuvieres desempeñando |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviere desempeñando |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéremos desempeñando |
| Vosotros / as | estuviereis desempeñando |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviere desempeñando |
| Vos | estuvieres desempeñando |
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 desempeñás |
| Simle Past / Preterite Preterite de Indicativo | Vos desempeñaste |
| Imperfect Past Preterite Imperfecto de Indicativo | Vos desempeñabas |
| Conditional Condicional | Vos desempeñarías |
| Future Futuro de Indicativo | Vos desempeñarás |
| Present Subjunctive Presente de Subjunctivo | Vos desempeñes |
| Imperfect Subjunctive Imperfecto de Subjunctivo | Vos desempeñaras / Vos desempeñase |
| Affirmative Imperative Imperativo | Vos desempeñá |
| Negative Imperative Imperativo Negativo | Vos no desempeñes |