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How to conjugate Competir in Spanish

competir to compete Irregular Verb

At a glance: Competir (to compete) is a irregular verb in Spanish. In the present tense: compito, compites, compite, competimos, competís, compiten. Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change e to i (compito, compites, compite, compiten); nosotros and vosotros are regular. It is also irregular in the preterite (compitió), subjunctive and gerund (compitiendo).

Past participle
competido competed
Gerund
compitiendo competing

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Indicative tenses of Competir

Competir in the Indicative Present

The Indicative Present of competir is used to talk about situations, events or thoughts that are happening now or in the near future. It is also used to talk about facts and truths. For example, “compito”, meaning “I compete”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Present is known as "El Presente".

PronounSpanishEnglish
YocompitoI compete
Túcompitesyou compete
Ella / Él / Ustedcompites/he competes
Nosotras / Nosotroscompetimoswe compete
Vosotras / Vosotroscompetísyou (plural) compete
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedescompitenthey compete

How it’s built: Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change e to i (compito, compites, compite, compiten); nosotros and vosotros are regular.

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

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Competir in the Indicative Preterite

The Indicative Preterite of competir is used to talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time. For example, “competí”, meaning “I competed”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Preterite is known as "El Pretérito Indefinido".

PronounSpanishEnglish
YocompetíI competed
Túcompetisteyou competed
Ella / Él / Ustedcompitiós/he competed
Nosotras / Nosotroscompetimoswe competed
Vosotras / Vosotroscompetisteisyou (plural) competed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedescompitieronthey competed

How it’s built: Ella/Él and ellas/ellos change e to i (compitió, compitieron); the other forms are regular.

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

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Competir in the Indicative Imperfect

The Indicative Imperfect of competir is used to describe regular and repeated actions that happened in the past and descriptions of things you used to do. For example, “competía”, meaning “I used to compete”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Imperfect is known as "El Pretérito Imperfecto".

PronounSpanishEnglish
YocompetíaI used to compete
Túcompetíasyou used to compete
Ella / Él / Ustedcompetías/he used to compete
Nosotras / Nosotroscompetíamoswe used to compete
Vosotras / Vosotroscompetíaisyou (plural) used to compete
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedescompetíanthey used to compete

How it’s built: Regular: stem compet- plus the -ir endings.

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Competir in the Indicative Present Continuous

The Indicative Present Continuous of competir is used to talk about something that is happening continuously or right now. For example, “estoy compitiendo”, meaning “I am competing”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Present Continuous is known as "El Presente Progresivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yoestoy compitiendoI am competing
Túestás compitiendoyou are competing
Ella / Él / Ustedestá compitiendos/he is competing
Nosotras / Nosotrosestamos compitiendowe are competing
Vosotras / Vosotrosestáis compitiendoyou (plural) are competing
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesestán compitiendothey are competing

How it’s built: Estar in the present (estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están) plus the irregular gerund compitiendo.

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

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Competir in the Indicative Informal Future

The Indicative Informal Future of competir is used to talk about something that will happen in the future, especially in the near future. For example, “voy a competir”, meaning “I am going to compete”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Informal Future is known as "El Futuro Próximo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yovoy a competirI am going to compete
Túvas a competiryou are going to compete
Ella / Él / Ustedva a competirs/he is going to compete
Nosotras / Nosotrosvamos a competirwe are going to compete
Vosotras / Vosotrosvais a competiryou (plural) are going to compete
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesvan a competirthey are going to compete

How it’s built: Ir in the present (voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van), then a, then the infinitive competir.

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Competir in the Indicative Future

The Indicative Future of competir is used to talk about something that will happen in the future. For example, “competiré”, meaning “I will compete”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Future is known as "El Futuro Simple".

PronounSpanishEnglish
YocompetiréI will compete
Túcompetirásyou will compete
Ella / Él / Ustedcompetirás/he will compete
Nosotras / Nosotroscompetiremoswe will compete
Vosotras / Vosotroscompetiréisyou (plural) will compete
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedescompetiránthey will compete

How it’s built: Regular: the infinitive competir plus the future endings.

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Competir in the Indicative Conditional

The Indicative Conditional of competir is used to talk about something that may happen in the future, hypothesis and probabilities. For example, “competiría”, meaning “I would compete”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional is known as "El Condicional Simple".

PronounSpanishEnglish
YocompetiríaI would compete
Túcompetiríasyou would compete
Ella / Él / Ustedcompetirías/he would compete
Nosotras / Nosotroscompetiríamoswe would compete
Vosotras / Vosotroscompetiríaisyou (plural) would compete
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedescompetiríanthey would compete

How it’s built: Regular: the infinitive competir plus the conditional endings.

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Competir in the Indicative Present Perfect

The Indicative Present Perfect of competir is used to describe actions that started recently (in the past) and are still happening now or things that have been done recently. For example, “he competido”, meaning “I have competed”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohe competidoI have competed
Túhas competidoyou have competed
Ella / Él / Ustedha competidos/he has competed
Nosotras / Nosotroshemos competidowe have competed
Vosotras / Vosotroshabéis competidoyou (plural) have competed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshan competidothey have competed

How it’s built: Haber in the present (he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han) plus the past participle competido.

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Competir in the Indicative Past Perfect

The Indicative Past Perfect of competir is used to talk about actions that happened before another action in the past. For example, “había competido”, meaning “I had competed”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohabía competidoI had competed
Túhabías competidoyou had competed
Ella / Él / Ustedhabía competidos/he had competed
Nosotras / Nosotroshabíamos competidowe had competed
Vosotras / Vosotroshabíais competidoyou (plural) had competed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshabían competidothey had competed

How it’s built: Haber in the imperfect (había, habías, había, habíamos, habíais, habían) plus the past participle competido.

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Competir in the Indicative Future Perfect

The Indicative Future Perfect of competir is used to talk about something that will have happened in the future after something else has already happened. For example, “habré competido”, meaning “I will have competed”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohabré competidoI will have competed
Túhabrás competidoyou will have competed
Ella / Él / Ustedhabrá competidos/he will have competed
Nosotras / Nosotroshabremos competidowe will have competed
Vosotras / Vosotroshabréis competidoyou (plural) will have competed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshabrán competidothey will have competed

How it’s built: Haber in the future (habré, habrás, habrá, habremos, habréis, habrán) plus the past participle competido.

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Competir in the Indicative Conditional Perfect

The Indicative Conditional Perfect of competir is used to talk about something that would have happened in the past but didn’t due to another action. For example, “habría competido”, meaning “I would have competed”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional Perfect is known as "El Condicional Perfecto".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohabría competidoI would have competed
Túhabrías competidoyou would have competed
Ella / Él / Ustedhabría competidos/he would have competed
Nosotras / Nosotroshabríamos competidowe would have competed
Vosotras / Vosotroshabríais competidoyou (plural) would have competed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshabrían competidothey would have competed

How it’s built: Haber in the conditional (habría, habrías, habría, habríamos, habríais, habrían) plus the past participle competido.

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Subjunctive tenses of Competir

Competir in the Subjunctive Present

The Subjunctive Present is used to talk about situations of uncertainty, or emotions such as wishes, desires and hopes. It differs from the indicative mood due to the uncertainty of the events which are being spoken about. For example, “compita”, meaning “I compete”.

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present is known as "El Presente de Subjuntivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
YocompitaI compete
Túcompitasyou compete
Ella / Él / Ustedcompitas/he competes
Nosotras / Nosotroscompitamoswe compete
Vosotras / Vosotroscompitáisyou (plural) compete
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedescompitanthey compete

How it’s built: Every form follows the yo present, compito (compita, compitas, compita, compitamos, compitáis, compitan).

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

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Competir in the Subjunctive Imperfect

The Subjunctive Imperfect is used to speak about unlikely or uncertain events in the past or to cast an opinion (emotional) about something that happened in the past. For example, “compitiera”, meaning “I competed”.

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Imperfect is known as "El Imperfecto Subjuntivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
YocompitieraI competed
Túcompitierasyou competed
Ella / Él / Ustedcompitieras/he competed
Nosotras / Nosotroscompitiéramoswe competed
Vosotras / Vosotroscompitieraisyou (plural) competed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedescompitieranthey competed

How it’s built: Built on the irregular ellas/ellos preterite, compitieron: drop -ron and add the -ra endings; nosotros adds an accent (compitiéramos).

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

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Competir in the Subjunctive Future

The Subjunctive Future is used to speak about hypothetical situations, and actions/events that may happen in the future. For example, “compitiere”, meaning “I will compete”.

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future is known as "El Futuro de Subjuntivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
YocompitiereI will compete
Túcompitieresyou will compete
Ella / Él / Ustedcompitieres/he will compete
Nosotras / Nosotroscompitiéremoswe will compete
Vosotras / Vosotroscompitiereisyou (plural) will compete
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedescompitierenthey will compete

How it’s built: Built on the irregular ellas/ellos preterite, compitieron: drop -ron and add the -re endings; nosotros adds an accent (compitiéremos).

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

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Competir in the Subjunctive Present Perfect

The Subjunctive Present Perfect is used to describe past actions or events that are still connected to the present day and to speak about an action that will have happened by a certain time in the future. For example, “haya competido”, meaning “I have competed”.

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto de Subjuntivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohaya competidoI have competed
Túhayas competidoyou have competed
Ella / Él / Ustedhaya competidos/he has competed
Nosotras / Nosotroshayamos competidowe have competed
Vosotras / Vosotroshayáis competidoyou (plural) have competed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshayan competidothey have competed

How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive present (haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan) plus the past participle competido.

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Competir in the Subjunctive Past Perfect

The Subjunctive Past Perfect is used to speak about hypothetical situations, and actions/events that occurred before other actions/events in the past. For example, “hubiera competido”, meaning “I had competed”.

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohubiera competidoI had competed
Túhubieras competidoyou had competed
Ella / Él / Ustedhubiera competidos/he had competed
Nosotras / Nosotroshubiéramos competidowe had competed
Vosotras / Vosotroshubierais competidoyou (plural) had competed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshubieran competidothey had competed

How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive imperfect (hubiera, hubieras, hubiera, hubiéramos, hubierais, hubieran) plus the past participle competido.

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Competir in the Subjunctive Future Perfect

The Subjunctive Future Perfect is used to speak about something that will have happened if a hypothetical situations occurs in the future. For example, “hubiere competido”, meaning “I will have competed”.

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto de Subjuntivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohubiere competidoI will have competed
Túhubieres competidoyou will have competed
Ella / Él / Ustedhubiere competidos/he will have competed
Nosotras / Nosotroshubiéremos competidowe will have competed
Vosotras / Vosotroshubiereis competidoyou (plural) will have competed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshubieren competidothey will have competed

How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive future (hubiere, hubieres, hubiere, hubiéremos, hubiereis, hubieren) plus the past participle competido.

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Imperative tenses of Competir

Competir in the Imperative Affirmative

The Imperative Affirmative is used to give orders and commands, to tell someone to do something. For example, “compita”, meaning “(to you formal) compete!”.

In Spanish, the Imperative Affirmative is known as "El Imperativo Afirmativo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yo--
Túcompite(to you) compete!
Ella / Él / Ustedcompita(to you formal) compete!
Nosotras / Nosotroscompitamoslet's compete!
Vosotras / Vosotroscompetid(to you plural) compete!
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedescompitan(to you plural formal) compete!

How it’s built: Tú takes the ella/él present (compite); usted, nosotros and ustedes take the subjunctive present (compita, compitamos, compitan); vosotros swaps the final r of the infinitive for a d (competid).

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

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Competir in the Imperative Negative

The Imperative Negative is used to give orders and commands, telling someone not to do something. For example, “no compita”, meaning “(to you formal) don't compete!”.

In Spanish, the Imperative Negative is known as "El Imperativo Negativo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yo--
Túno compitas(to you) don't compete!
Ella / Él / Ustedno compita(to you formal) don't compete!
Nosotras / Nosotrosno compitamoslet's not compete!
Vosotras / Vosotrosno compitáis(to you plural) don't compete!
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesno compitan(to you plural formal) don't compete!

How it’s built: No plus the subjunctive present: no compitas, no compita, no compitamos, no compitáis, no compitan.

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

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Frequently asked questions about Competir

Is competir a regular or irregular verb?

Competir is an irregular Spanish verb. In the present tense: yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change e to i (compito, compites, compite, compiten); nosotros and vosotros are regular. It is also irregular in the preterite (compitió), subjunctive and gerund (compitiendo).

How do you conjugate competir in the present tense (presente)?

In the present tense (presente), competir is conjugated as: yo compito, tú compites, él/ella/usted compite, nosotros competimos, vosotros competís, ellos/ellas/ustedes compiten. The present tense is used To talk about situations, events or thoughts that are happening now or in the near future. It is also used to talk about facts and truths.

How do you conjugate competir in the preterite (pretérito indefinido)?

In the preterite (pretérito indefinido), competir is conjugated as: yo competí, tú competiste, él/ella/usted compitió, nosotros competimos, vosotros competisteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes compitieron. The preterite is used To talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time.

How do you conjugate competir in the imperfect (pretérito imperfecto)?

In the imperfect (pretérito imperfecto), competir is conjugated as: yo competía, tú competías, él/ella/usted competía, nosotros competíamos, vosotros competíais, ellos/ellas/ustedes competían. The imperfect is used To describe regular and repeated actions that happened in the past and descriptions of things you used to do.

How do you conjugate competir in the future tense (futuro simple)?

In the future tense (futuro simple), competir is conjugated as: yo competiré, tú competirás, él/ella/usted competirá, nosotros competiremos, vosotros competiréis, ellos/ellas/ustedes competirán. The future tense is used To talk about something that will happen in the future.

How do you conjugate competir in the present subjunctive (subjuntivo presente)?

In the present subjunctive (subjuntivo presente), competir is conjugated as: yo compita, tú compitas, él/ella/usted compita, nosotros compitamos, vosotros compitáis, ellos/ellas/ustedes compitan. The present subjunctive is used To talk about situations of uncertainty, or emotions such as wishes, desires and hopes. It differs from the indicative mood due to the uncertainty of the events which are being spoken about.


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