Ella VerbsHow to conjugate Defender in Spanish
defender to defend Irregular Verb
At a glance: Defender (to defend) is a widely used irregular verbs in Spanish. In the present tense: defiendo, defiendes, defiende, defendemos, defendéis, defienden. Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change e to ie (defiendo, defiendes, defiende, defienden); nosotros and vosotros are regular. It is also irregular in the present subjunctive (defienda).
- Past participle
- defendido defended
- Gerund
- defendiendo defending
Table of contents
- Indicative tenses of Defender
- Defender in the Indicative Present
- Defender in the Indicative Preterite
- Defender in the Indicative Imperfect
- Defender in the Indicative Present Continuous
- Defender in the Indicative Informal Future
- Defender in the Indicative Future
- Defender in the Indicative Conditional
- Defender in the Indicative Present Perfect
- Defender in the Indicative Past Perfect
- Defender in the Indicative Future Perfect
- Defender in the Indicative Conditional Perfect
- Subjunctive tenses of Defender
- Imperative tenses of Defender
- Verbs that follow the same patterns
- Frequently asked questions
- Downloadable cheat sheet (PDF)
- Practise Defender conjugations (free mobile app)
Defender conjugation tables as a PDF
A printable two-page cheat sheet, sent to your inbox.
Indicative tenses of Defender
Defender in the Indicative Present
The Indicative Present of defender 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, “defiendo”, meaning “I defend”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present is known as "El Presente".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | defiendo | I defend |
| Tú | defiendes | you defend |
| Ella / Él / Usted | defiende | s/he defends |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | defendemos | we defend |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | defendéis | you (plural) defend |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | defienden | they defend |
How it’s built: Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change e to ie (defiendo, defiendes, defiende, defienden); nosotros and vosotros are regular.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
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Defender in the Indicative Preterite
The Indicative Preterite of defender is used to talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time. For example, “defendí”, meaning “I defended”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Preterite is known as "El Pretérito Indefinido".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | defendí | I defended |
| Tú | defendiste | you defended |
| Ella / Él / Usted | defendió | s/he defended |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | defendimos | we defended |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | defendisteis | you (plural) defended |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | defendieron | they defended |
How it’s built: Regular: stem defend- plus the -er endings.
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Defender in the Indicative Imperfect
The Indicative Imperfect of defender is used to describe regular and repeated actions that happened in the past and descriptions of things you used to do. For example, “defendía”, meaning “I used to defend”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Imperfect is known as "El Pretérito Imperfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | defendía | I used to defend |
| Tú | defendías | you used to defend |
| Ella / Él / Usted | defendía | s/he used to defend |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | defendíamos | we used to defend |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | defendíais | you (plural) used to defend |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | defendían | they used to defend |
How it’s built: Regular: stem defend- plus the -er endings.
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Defender in the Indicative Present Continuous
The Indicative Present Continuous of defender is used to talk about something that is happening continuously or right now. For example, “estoy defendiendo”, meaning “I am defending”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present Continuous is known as "El Presente Progresivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | estoy defendiendo | I am defending |
| Tú | estás defendiendo | you are defending |
| Ella / Él / Usted | está defendiendo | s/he is defending |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | estamos defendiendo | we are defending |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | estáis defendiendo | you (plural) are defending |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | están defendiendo | they are defending |
How it’s built: Estar in the present (estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están) plus the gerund defendiendo.
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Defender in the Indicative Informal Future
The Indicative Informal Future of defender is used to talk about something that will happen in the future, especially in the near future. For example, “voy a defender”, meaning “I am going to defend”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Informal Future is known as "El Futuro Próximo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | voy a defender | I am going to defend |
| Tú | vas a defender | you are going to defend |
| Ella / Él / Usted | va a defender | s/he is going to defend |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | vamos a defender | we are going to defend |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | vais a defender | you (plural) are going to defend |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | van a defender | they are going to defend |
How it’s built: Ir in the present (voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van), then a, then the infinitive defender.
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Defender in the Indicative Future
The Indicative Future of defender is used to talk about something that will happen in the future. For example, “defenderé”, meaning “I will defend”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Future is known as "El Futuro Simple".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | defenderé | I will defend |
| Tú | defenderás | you will defend |
| Ella / Él / Usted | defenderá | s/he will defend |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | defenderemos | we will defend |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | defenderéis | you (plural) will defend |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | defenderán | they will defend |
How it’s built: Regular: the infinitive defender plus the future endings.
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Defender in the Indicative Conditional
The Indicative Conditional of defender is used to talk about something that may happen in the future, hypothesis and probabilities. For example, “defendería”, meaning “I would defend”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional is known as "El Condicional Simple".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | defendería | I would defend |
| Tú | defenderías | you would defend |
| Ella / Él / Usted | defendería | s/he would defend |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | defenderíamos | we would defend |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | defenderíais | you (plural) would defend |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | defenderían | they would defend |
How it’s built: Regular: the infinitive defender plus the conditional endings.
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Defender in the Indicative Present Perfect
The Indicative Present Perfect of defender 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 defendido”, meaning “I have defended”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | he defendido | I have defended |
| Tú | has defendido | you have defended |
| Ella / Él / Usted | ha defendido | s/he has defended |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hemos defendido | we have defended |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habéis defendido | you (plural) have defended |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | han defendido | they have defended |
How it’s built: Haber in the present (he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han) plus the past participle defendido.
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Defender in the Indicative Past Perfect
The Indicative Past Perfect of defender is used to talk about actions that happened before another action in the past. For example, “había defendido”, meaning “I had defended”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | había defendido | I had defended |
| Tú | habías defendido | you had defended |
| Ella / Él / Usted | había defendido | s/he had defended |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habíamos defendido | we had defended |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habíais defendido | you (plural) had defended |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habían defendido | they had defended |
How it’s built: Haber in the imperfect (había, habías, había, habíamos, habíais, habían) plus the past participle defendido.
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Defender in the Indicative Future Perfect
The Indicative Future Perfect of defender is used to talk about something that will have happened in the future after something else has already happened. For example, “habré defendido”, meaning “I will have defended”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | habré defendido | I will have defended |
| Tú | habrás defendido | you will have defended |
| Ella / Él / Usted | habrá defendido | s/he will have defended |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habremos defendido | we will have defended |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habréis defendido | you (plural) will have defended |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrán defendido | they will have defended |
How it’s built: Haber in the future (habré, habrás, habrá, habremos, habréis, habrán) plus the past participle defendido.
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Defender in the Indicative Conditional Perfect
The Indicative Conditional Perfect of defender is used to talk about something that would have happened in the past but didn’t due to another action. For example, “habría defendido”, meaning “I would have defended”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional Perfect is known as "El Condicional Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | habría defendido | I would have defended |
| Tú | habrías defendido | you would have defended |
| Ella / Él / Usted | habría defendido | s/he would have defended |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habríamos defendido | we would have defended |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habríais defendido | you (plural) would have defended |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrían defendido | they would have defended |
How it’s built: Haber in the conditional (habría, habrías, habría, habríamos, habríais, habrían) plus the past participle defendido.
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Subjunctive tenses of Defender
Defender 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, “defienda”, meaning “I defend”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present is known as "El Presente de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | defienda | I defend |
| Tú | defiendas | you defend |
| Ella / Él / Usted | defienda | s/he defends |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | defendamos | we defend |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | defendáis | you (plural) defend |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | defiendan | they defend |
How it’s built: Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos follow the yo present, defiendo (defienda, defiendas, defienda, defiendan); nosotros and vosotros are regular.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
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Defender 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, “defendiera”, meaning “I defended”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Imperfect is known as "El Imperfecto Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | defendiera | I defended |
| Tú | defendieras | you defended |
| Ella / Él / Usted | defendiera | s/he defended |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | defendiéramos | we defended |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | defendierais | you (plural) defended |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | defendieran | they defended |
How it’s built: Regular: the ellas/ellos preterite, defendieron, without -ron, plus the -ra endings; nosotros adds an accent (defendiéramos).
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Defender 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, “defendiere”, meaning “I will defend”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future is known as "El Futuro de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | defendiere | I will defend |
| Tú | defendieres | you will defend |
| Ella / Él / Usted | defendiere | s/he will defend |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | defendiéremos | we will defend |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | defendiereis | you (plural) will defend |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | defendieren | they will defend |
How it’s built: Regular: the ellas/ellos preterite, defendieron, without -ron, plus the -re endings; nosotros adds an accent (defendiéremos).
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Defender 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 defendido”, meaning “I have defended”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | haya defendido | I have defended |
| Tú | hayas defendido | you have defended |
| Ella / Él / Usted | haya defendido | s/he has defended |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hayamos defendido | we have defended |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hayáis defendido | you (plural) have defended |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hayan defendido | they have defended |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive present (haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan) plus the past participle defendido.
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Defender 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 defendido”, meaning “I had defended”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera defendido | I had defended |
| Tú | hubieras defendido | you had defended |
| Ella / Él / Usted | hubiera defendido | s/he had defended |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéramos defendido | we had defended |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hubierais defendido | you (plural) had defended |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieran defendido | they had defended |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive imperfect (hubiera, hubieras, hubiera, hubiéramos, hubierais, hubieran) plus the past participle defendido.
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Defender 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 defendido”, meaning “I will have defended”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere defendido | I will have defended |
| Tú | hubieres defendido | you will have defended |
| Ella / Él / Usted | hubiere defendido | s/he will have defended |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéremos defendido | we will have defended |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hubiereis defendido | you (plural) will have defended |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieren defendido | they will have defended |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive future (hubiere, hubieres, hubiere, hubiéremos, hubiereis, hubieren) plus the past participle defendido.
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Imperative tenses of Defender
Defender in the Imperative Affirmative
The Imperative Affirmative is used to give orders and commands, to tell someone to do something. For example, “defienda”, meaning “(to you formal) defend!”.
In Spanish, the Imperative Affirmative is known as "El Imperativo Afirmativo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | defiende | (to you) defend! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | defienda | (to you formal) defend! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | defendamos | let's defend! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | defended | (to you plural) defend! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | defiendan | (to you plural formal) defend! |
How it’s built: Tú takes the ella/él present (defiende); usted, nosotros and ustedes take the subjunctive present (defienda, defendamos, defiendan); vosotros swaps the final r of the infinitive for a d (defended).
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
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Defender in the Imperative Negative
The Imperative Negative is used to give orders and commands, telling someone not to do something. For example, “no defienda”, meaning “(to you formal) don't defend!”.
In Spanish, the Imperative Negative is known as "El Imperativo Negativo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | no defiendas | (to you) don't defend! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | no defienda | (to you formal) don't defend! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | no defendamos | let's not defend! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | no defendáis | (to you plural) don't defend! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | no defiendan | (to you plural formal) don't defend! |
How it’s built: No plus the subjunctive present: no defiendas, no defienda, no defendamos, no defendáis, no defiendan.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
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Frequently asked questions about Defender
Is defender a regular or irregular verb?
Defender is an irregular Spanish verb. In the present tense: yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change e to ie (defiendo, defiendes, defiende, defienden); nosotros and vosotros are regular. It is also irregular in the present subjunctive (defienda).
How do you conjugate defender in the present tense (presente)?
In the present tense (presente), defender is conjugated as: yo defiendo, tú defiendes, él/ella/usted defiende, nosotros defendemos, vosotros defendéis, ellos/ellas/ustedes defienden. 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 defender in the preterite (pretérito indefinido)?
In the preterite (pretérito indefinido), defender is conjugated as: yo defendí, tú defendiste, él/ella/usted defendió, nosotros defendimos, vosotros defendisteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes defendieron. The preterite is used To talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time.
How do you conjugate defender in the imperfect (pretérito imperfecto)?
In the imperfect (pretérito imperfecto), defender is conjugated as: yo defendía, tú defendías, él/ella/usted defendía, nosotros defendíamos, vosotros defendíais, ellos/ellas/ustedes defendían. 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 defender in the future tense (futuro simple)?
In the future tense (futuro simple), defender is conjugated as: yo defenderé, tú defenderás, él/ella/usted defenderá, nosotros defenderemos, vosotros defenderéis, ellos/ellas/ustedes defenderán. The future tense is used To talk about something that will happen in the future.
How do you conjugate defender in the present subjunctive (subjuntivo presente)?
In the present subjunctive (subjuntivo presente), defender is conjugated as: yo defienda, tú defiendas, él/ella/usted defienda, nosotros defendamos, vosotros defendáis, ellos/ellas/ustedes defiendan. 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.
What’s the difference between defender and defenderse?
Defender means ‘to defend’ and defenderse means ‘to defend (oneself)’. Defenderse is the reflexive form of defender, so it always takes a reflexive pronoun – me, te, se, nos, os or se – that matches the subject. The verb itself is conjugated the same way: in the present tense, yo defiendo becomes me defiendo. In the affirmative tú imperative the pronoun attaches to the end of the verb, so defiende becomes defiéndete.
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Downloadable cheat sheets
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Want to explore other verb conjugations?
Why not check out Defenderse – to defend (oneself) or see the complete list of verbs here.
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