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Existir is a Spanish verb which translates into English as “to exist”.
Below are all of the conjugations for existir 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 exist |
|---|---|
| Spanish Infinitive | existir |
The gerund (gerundio) is used with the continuous tenses, e.g. present continuous (está existiendo) and past continuous (estaba existiendo). The easiest way to think of it is the equivalent of english’s -ing form (e.g. existing).
The past participle (participio) is used with perfect tense ‘haber’ verbs, e.g. he existido and hubiera existido. These are the equivalent of English’s ‘have’ (e.g. have existed).
| Gerundio / Gerund | existiendo |
|---|---|
| Participio / Past Participle | existido |
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 exist” or “they exist”.
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | existo |
| Tú | existes |
| Él / Ella / Usted | existe |
| Nosotros / as | existimos |
| Vosotros / as | existís |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | existen |
| Vos | existís |
Your simple past tense, e.g. “I existed” or “she existed” 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 | existí | I existed |
| Tú | exististe | You existed |
| Él / Ella / Usted | existió | He / she / you existed |
| Nosotros / as | existimos | We existed |
| Vosotros / as | exististeis | You existed |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | existieron | They / you existed |
| Vos | exististe | You existed |
The pretérito imperfecto roughly translates as “I was existing” or “she was existing” 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 | existía | I was existing |
| Tú | existías | You were existing |
| Él / Ella / Usted | existía | He was / she was / you were existing |
| Nosotros / as | existíamos | We were existing |
| Vosotros / as | existíais | You were existing |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | existían | They / you were existing |
| Vos | existías | You were existing |
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 existed” and “she has existed”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | he existido | I have existed |
| Tú | has existido | You have existed |
| Él / Ella / Usted | ha existido | He has / she has / you have existed |
| Nosotros / as | hemos existido | We have existed |
| Vosotros / as | habéis existido | You have existed |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | han existido | They / you have existed |
| Vos | has existido | You have existed |
The conditional is used in place of the English modal verb “would”, i.e. “I would exist” or “she would exist”. It can be used to talk about hypothetical situations.
| Pronoun | Spanish | Englush |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | existiría | I would exist |
| Tú | existirías | You would exist |
| Él / Ella / Usted | existiría | He / she / you would exist |
| Nosotros / as | existiríamos | We would exist |
| Vosotros / as | existiríais | You would exist |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | existirían | They / you would exist |
| Vos | existirías | You would exist |
The future tense, simply put, replaces the English modal verb “will” – i.e. “I will exist” or “they will exist”.
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 existir” means “They are going to exist”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | existiré | I will exist |
| Tú | existirás | You will exist |
| Él / Ella / Usted | existirá | He / she / you will exist |
| Nosotros / as | existiremos | We will exist |
| Vosotros / as | existiréis | You will exist |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | existirán | They / you will exist |
| Vos | existirás | You will exist |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | exista |
| Tú | existas |
| Él / Ella / Usted | exista |
| Nosotros / as | existamos |
| Vosotros / as | existáis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | existan |
| Vos | existas |
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 | existiera | existiese |
| Tú | existieras | existiese |
| Él / Ella / Usted | existiera | existiese |
| Nosotros / as | existiéramos | existiésemos |
| Vosotros / as | existierais | existieseis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | existieran | existiesen |
| Vos | existieras | existiese |
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 | existiere |
| Tú | existieres |
| Él / Ella / Usted | existiera |
| Nosotros / as | existiéremos |
| Vosotros / as | existiereis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | existieren |
| Vos | existieres |
Used for forming positive and negative commands, e.g. “exist!” and “don’t exist!”.
| Pronoun | Spanish Affirmative | Spanish Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Tú | existe | no existas |
| Él / Ella / Usted | exista | no exista |
| Nosotros / as | existamos | no existamos |
| Vosotros / as | existid | no existáis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | existan | no existan |
| Vos | existí | no existas |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | haya existido |
| Tú | hayas existido |
| Él / Ella / Usted | haya existido |
| Nosotros / as | hayamos existido |
| Vosotros / as | hayáis existido |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hayan existido |
| Vos | hayas existido |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera existido / hubiese existido |
| Tú | hubieras existido / hubieses existido |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiera existido / hubiese existido |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéramos existido / hubiésemos existido |
| Vosotros / as | hubierais existido / hubieseis existido |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieran existido / hubiesen existido |
| Vos | hubieras existido / hubieses existido |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere existido |
| Tú | hubieres existido |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiere existido |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéremos existido |
| Vosotros / as | hubiereis existido |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieren existido |
| Vos | hubieres existido |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | esté existiendo |
| Tú | estés existiendo |
| Él / Ella / Usted | esté existiendo |
| Nosotros / as | estemos existiendo |
| Vosotros / as | estéis existiendo |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estén existiendo |
| Vos | estés existiendo |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviera existiendo / estuviese existiendo |
| Tú | estuvieras existiendo / estuvieses existiendo |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviera existiendo / estuviese existiendo |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéramos existiendo / estuviésamos existiendo |
| Vosotros / as | estuvierais existiendo / estuvieseis existiendo |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviera existiendo / estuviese existiendo |
| Vos | estuvieras existiendo / estuvieses existiendo |
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviere existiendo |
| Tú | estuvieres existiendo |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviere existiendo |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéremos existiendo |
| Vosotros / as | estuviereis existiendo |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviere existiendo |
| Vos | estuvieres existiendo |
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 existís |
| Simle Past / Preterite Preterite de Indicativo | Vos exististe |
| Imperfect Past Preterite Imperfecto de Indicativo | Vos existías |
| Conditional Condicional | Vos existirías |
| Future Futuro de Indicativo | Vos existirás |
| Present Subjunctive Presente de Subjunctivo | Vos existas |
| Imperfect Subjunctive Imperfecto de Subjunctivo | Vos existieras / Vos existiese |
| Affirmative Imperative Imperativo | Vos existí |
| Negative Imperative Imperativo Negativo | Vos no existas |
