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How to conjugate Despedir in Spanish

despedir to dismiss, to fire (e.g. an employee) Irregular Verb

At a glance: Despedir (to dismiss, to fire (e.g. an employee)) is a widely used irregular verbs in Spanish. In the present tense: despido, despides, despide, despedimos, despedís, despiden. Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change e to i (despido, despides, despide, despiden); nosotros and vosotros are regular. It is also irregular in the preterite (despidió), subjunctive and gerund (despidiendo).

Past participle
despedido dismissed
Gerund
despidiendo dismissing
Similar
descartar, destituir, licenciar

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Indicative tenses of Despedir

Despedir in the Indicative Present

The Indicative Present of despedir 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, “despido”, meaning “I dismiss”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
YodespidoI dismiss
Túdespidesyou dismiss
Ella / Él / Usteddespides/he dismisses
Nosotras / Nosotrosdespedimoswe dismiss
Vosotras / Vosotrosdespedísyou (plural) dismiss
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesdespidenthey dismiss

How it’s built: Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change e to i (despido, despides, despide, despiden); nosotros and vosotros are regular.

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

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Despedir in the Indicative Preterite

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
YodespedíI dismissed
Túdespedisteyou dismissed
Ella / Él / Usteddespidiós/he dismissed
Nosotras / Nosotrosdespedimoswe dismissed
Vosotras / Vosotrosdespedisteisyou (plural) dismissed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesdespidieronthey dismissed

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

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

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Despedir in the Indicative Imperfect

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
YodespedíaI used to dismiss
Túdespedíasyou used to dismiss
Ella / Él / Usteddespedías/he used to dismiss
Nosotras / Nosotrosdespedíamoswe used to dismiss
Vosotras / Vosotrosdespedíaisyou (plural) used to dismiss
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesdespedíanthey used to dismiss

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

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Despedir in the Indicative Present Continuous

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yoestoy despidiendoI am dismissing
Túestás despidiendoyou are dismissing
Ella / Él / Ustedestá despidiendos/he is dismissing
Nosotras / Nosotrosestamos despidiendowe are dismissing
Vosotras / Vosotrosestáis despidiendoyou (plural) are dismissing
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesestán despidiendothey are dismissing

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

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

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Despedir in the Indicative Informal Future

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yovoy a despedirI am going to dismiss
Túvas a despediryou are going to dismiss
Ella / Él / Ustedva a despedirs/he is going to dismiss
Nosotras / Nosotrosvamos a despedirwe are going to dismiss
Vosotras / Vosotrosvais a despediryou (plural) are going to dismiss
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesvan a despedirthey are going to dismiss

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

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Despedir in the Indicative Future

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
YodespediréI will dismiss
Túdespedirásyou will dismiss
Ella / Él / Usteddespedirás/he will dismiss
Nosotras / Nosotrosdespediremoswe will dismiss
Vosotras / Vosotrosdespediréisyou (plural) will dismiss
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesdespediránthey will dismiss

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

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Despedir in the Indicative Conditional

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
YodespediríaI would dismiss
Túdespediríasyou would dismiss
Ella / Él / Usteddespedirías/he would dismiss
Nosotras / Nosotrosdespediríamoswe would dismiss
Vosotras / Vosotrosdespediríaisyou (plural) would dismiss
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesdespediríanthey would dismiss

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

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Despedir in the Indicative Present Perfect

The Indicative Present Perfect of despedir 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 despedido”, meaning “I have dismissed”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohe despedidoI have dismissed
Túhas despedidoyou have dismissed
Ella / Él / Ustedha despedidos/he has dismissed
Nosotras / Nosotroshemos despedidowe have dismissed
Vosotras / Vosotroshabéis despedidoyou (plural) have dismissed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshan despedidothey have dismissed

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

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Despedir in the Indicative Past Perfect

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohabía despedidoI had dismissed
Túhabías despedidoyou had dismissed
Ella / Él / Ustedhabía despedidos/he had dismissed
Nosotras / Nosotroshabíamos despedidowe had dismissed
Vosotras / Vosotroshabíais despedidoyou (plural) had dismissed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshabían despedidothey had dismissed

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

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Despedir in the Indicative Future Perfect

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohabré despedidoI will have dismissed
Túhabrás despedidoyou will have dismissed
Ella / Él / Ustedhabrá despedidos/he will have dismissed
Nosotras / Nosotroshabremos despedidowe will have dismissed
Vosotras / Vosotroshabréis despedidoyou (plural) will have dismissed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshabrán despedidothey will have dismissed

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

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Despedir in the Indicative Conditional Perfect

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohabría despedidoI would have dismissed
Túhabrías despedidoyou would have dismissed
Ella / Él / Ustedhabría despedidos/he would have dismissed
Nosotras / Nosotroshabríamos despedidowe would have dismissed
Vosotras / Vosotroshabríais despedidoyou (plural) would have dismissed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshabrían despedidothey would have dismissed

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

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Subjunctive tenses of Despedir

Despedir 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, “despida”, meaning “I dismiss”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
YodespidaI dismiss
Túdespidasyou dismiss
Ella / Él / Usteddespidas/he dismisses
Nosotras / Nosotrosdespidamoswe dismiss
Vosotras / Vosotrosdespidáisyou (plural) dismiss
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesdespidanthey dismiss

How it’s built: Every form follows the yo present, despido (despida, despidas, despida, despidamos, despidáis, despidan).

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Despedir 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, “despidiera”, meaning “I dismissed”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
YodespidieraI dismissed
Túdespidierasyou dismissed
Ella / Él / Usteddespidieras/he dismissed
Nosotras / Nosotrosdespidiéramoswe dismissed
Vosotras / Vosotrosdespidieraisyou (plural) dismissed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesdespidieranthey dismissed

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

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

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Despedir 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, “despidiere”, meaning “I will dismiss”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
YodespidiereI will dismiss
Túdespidieresyou will dismiss
Ella / Él / Usteddespidieres/he will dismiss
Nosotras / Nosotrosdespidiéremoswe will dismiss
Vosotras / Vosotrosdespidiereisyou (plural) will dismiss
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesdespidierenthey will dismiss

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

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

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Despedir 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 despedido”, meaning “I have dismissed”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohaya despedidoI have dismissed
Túhayas despedidoyou have dismissed
Ella / Él / Ustedhaya despedidos/he has dismissed
Nosotras / Nosotroshayamos despedidowe have dismissed
Vosotras / Vosotroshayáis despedidoyou (plural) have dismissed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshayan despedidothey have dismissed

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

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Despedir 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 despedido”, meaning “I had dismissed”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohubiera despedidoI had dismissed
Túhubieras despedidoyou had dismissed
Ella / Él / Ustedhubiera despedidos/he had dismissed
Nosotras / Nosotroshubiéramos despedidowe had dismissed
Vosotras / Vosotroshubierais despedidoyou (plural) had dismissed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshubieran despedidothey had dismissed

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

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Despedir 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 despedido”, meaning “I will have dismissed”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohubiere despedidoI will have dismissed
Túhubieres despedidoyou will have dismissed
Ella / Él / Ustedhubiere despedidos/he will have dismissed
Nosotras / Nosotroshubiéremos despedidowe will have dismissed
Vosotras / Vosotroshubiereis despedidoyou (plural) will have dismissed
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshubieren despedidothey will have dismissed

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

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Imperative tenses of Despedir

Despedir in the Imperative Affirmative

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yo--
Túdespide(to you) dismiss!
Ella / Él / Usteddespida(to you formal) dismiss!
Nosotras / Nosotrosdespidamoslet's dismiss!
Vosotras / Vosotrosdespedid(to you plural) dismiss!
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesdespidan(to you plural formal) dismiss!

How it’s built: Tú takes the ella/él present (despide); usted, nosotros and ustedes take the subjunctive present (despida, despidamos, despidan); vosotros swaps the final r of the infinitive for a d (despedid).

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

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Despedir in the Imperative Negative

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yo--
Túno despidas(to you) don't dismiss!
Ella / Él / Ustedno despida(to you formal) don't dismiss!
Nosotras / Nosotrosno despidamoslet's not dismiss!
Vosotras / Vosotrosno despidáis(to you plural) don't dismiss!
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesno despidan(to you plural formal) don't dismiss!

How it’s built: No plus the subjunctive present: no despidas, no despida, no despidamos, no despidáis, no despidan.

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Frequently asked questions about Despedir

Is despedir a regular or irregular verb?

Despedir is an irregular Spanish verb. In the present tense: yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change e to i (despido, despides, despide, despiden); nosotros and vosotros are regular. It is also irregular in the preterite (despidió), subjunctive and gerund (despidiendo).

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

In the present tense (presente), despedir is conjugated as: yo despido, tú despides, él/ella/usted despide, nosotros despedimos, vosotros despedís, ellos/ellas/ustedes despiden. 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 despedir in the preterite (pretérito indefinido)?

In the preterite (pretérito indefinido), despedir is conjugated as: yo despedí, tú despediste, él/ella/usted despidió, nosotros despedimos, vosotros despedisteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes despidieron. The preterite is used To talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time.

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

In the imperfect (pretérito imperfecto), despedir is conjugated as: yo despedía, tú despedías, él/ella/usted despedía, nosotros despedíamos, vosotros despedíais, ellos/ellas/ustedes despedían. 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 despedir in the future tense (futuro simple)?

In the future tense (futuro simple), despedir is conjugated as: yo despediré, tú despedirás, él/ella/usted despedirá, nosotros despediremos, vosotros despediréis, ellos/ellas/ustedes despedirán. The future tense is used To talk about something that will happen in the future.

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

In the present subjunctive (subjuntivo presente), despedir is conjugated as: yo despida, tú despidas, él/ella/usted despida, nosotros despidamos, vosotros despidáis, ellos/ellas/ustedes despidan. 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 despedir and despedirse?

Despedir means ‘to dismiss, to fire (e.g. an employee)’ and despedirse means ‘to say goodbye’. Despedirse is the reflexive form of despedir, 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 despido becomes me despido. In the affirmative tú imperative the pronoun attaches to the end of the verb, so despide becomes despídete.


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