Ella Verbsdespertarse to wake up, to wake (oneself), to awaken (oneself) Irregular Verb
At a glance: Despertarse (to wake up, to wake (oneself), to awaken (oneself)) is a widely used reflexive irregular verbs in Spanish. In the present tense: me despierto, te despiertas, se despierta, nos despertamos, os despertáis, se despiertan. Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change e to ie (despierto, despiertas, despierta, despiertan); nosotros and vosotros are regular. It is also irregular in the present subjunctive (me despierte).

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The Indicative Present of despertarse 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, “me despierto”, meaning “I wake up”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present is known as "El Presente".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me despierto | I wake up |
| Tú | te despiertas | you wake up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se despierta | s/he wakes up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos despertamos | we wake up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os despertáis | you (plural) wake up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se despiertan | they wake up |
How it’s built: Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change e to ie (despierto, despiertas, despierta, despiertan); nosotros and vosotros are regular. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
The Indicative Preterite of despertarse is used to talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time. For example, “me desperté”, meaning “I woke up”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Preterite is known as "El Pretérito Indefinido".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me desperté | I woke up |
| Tú | te despertaste | you woke up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se despertó | s/he woke up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos despertamos | we woke up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os despertasteis | you (plural) woke up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se despertaron | they woke up |
How it’s built: Regular: stem despert- plus the -ar endings. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Indicative Imperfect of despertarse is used to describe regular and repeated actions that happened in the past and descriptions of things you used to do. For example, “me despertaba”, meaning “I used to wake up”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Imperfect is known as "El Pretérito Imperfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me despertaba | I used to wake up |
| Tú | te despertabas | you used to wake up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se despertaba | s/he used to wake up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos despertábamos | we used to wake up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os despertabais | you (plural) used to wake up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se despertaban | they used to wake up |
How it’s built: Regular: stem despert- plus the -ar endings. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Indicative Present Continuous of despertarse is used to talk about something that is happening continuously or right now. For example, “me estoy despertando”, meaning “I am waking up”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present Continuous is known as "El Presente Progresivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me estoy despertando | I am waking up |
| Tú | te estás despertando | you are waking up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se está despertando | s/he is waking up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos estamos despertando | we are waking up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os estáis despertando | you (plural) are waking up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se están despertando | they are waking up |
How it’s built: Estar in the present (estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están) plus the gerund despertando. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Indicative Informal Future of despertarse is used to talk about something that will happen in the future, especially in the near future. For example, “me voy a despertar”, meaning “I am going to wake up”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Informal Future is known as "El Futuro Próximo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me voy a despertar | I am going to wake up |
| Tú | te vas a despertar | you are going to wake up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se va a despertar | s/he is going to wake up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos vamos a despertar | we are going to wake up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os vais a despertar | you (plural) are going to wake up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se van a despertar | they are going to wake up |
How it’s built: Ir in the present (voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van), then a, then the infinitive despertar. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Indicative Future of despertarse is used to talk about something that will happen in the future. For example, “me despertaré”, meaning “I will wake up”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Future is known as "El Futuro Simple".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me despertaré | I will wake up |
| Tú | te despertarás | you will wake up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se despertará | s/he will wake up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos despertaremos | we will wake up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os despertaréis | you (plural) will wake up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se despertarán | they will wake up |
How it’s built: Regular: the infinitive despertar plus the future endings. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Indicative Conditional of despertarse is used to talk about something that may happen in the future, hypothesis and probabilities. For example, “me despertaría”, meaning “I would wake up”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional is known as "El Condicional Simple".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me despertaría | I would wake up |
| Tú | te despertarías | you would wake up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se despertaría | s/he would wake up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos despertaríamos | we would wake up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os despertaríais | you (plural) would wake up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se despertarían | they would wake up |
How it’s built: Regular: the infinitive despertar plus the conditional endings. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Indicative Present Perfect of despertarse 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, “me he despertado”, meaning “I have woken up”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me he despertado | I have woken up |
| Tú | te has despertado | you have woken up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se ha despertado | s/he has woken up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos hemos despertado | we have woken up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os habéis despertado | you (plural) have woken up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se han despertado | they have woken up |
How it’s built: Haber in the present (he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han) plus the past participle despertado. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Indicative Past Perfect of despertarse is used to talk about actions that happened before another action in the past. For example, “me había despertado”, meaning “I had woken up”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me había despertado | I had woken up |
| Tú | te habías despertado | you had woken up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se había despertado | s/he had woken up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos habíamos despertado | we had woken up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os habíais despertado | you (plural) had woken up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se habían despertado | they had woken up |
How it’s built: Haber in the imperfect (había, habías, había, habíamos, habíais, habían) plus the past participle despertado. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Indicative Future Perfect of despertarse is used to talk about something that will have happened in the future after something else has already happened. For example, “me habré despertado”, meaning “I will have woken up”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me habré despertado | I will have woken up |
| Tú | te habrás despertado | you will have woken up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se habrá despertado | s/he will have woken up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos habremos despertado | we will have woken up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os habréis despertado | you (plural) will have woken up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se habrán despertado | they will have woken up |
How it’s built: Haber in the future (habré, habrás, habrá, habremos, habréis, habrán) plus the past participle despertado. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Indicative Conditional Perfect of despertarse is used to talk about something that would have happened in the past but didn’t due to another action. For example, “me habría despertado”, meaning “I would have woken up”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional Perfect is known as "El Condicional Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me habría despertado | I would have woken up |
| Tú | te habrías despertado | you would have woken up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se habría despertado | s/he would have woken up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos habríamos despertado | we would have woken up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os habríais despertado | you (plural) would have woken up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se habrían despertado | they would have woken up |
How it’s built: Haber in the conditional (habría, habrías, habría, habríamos, habríais, habrían) plus the past participle despertado. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
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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, “me despierte”, meaning “I wake up”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present is known as "El Presente de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me despierte | I wake up |
| Tú | te despiertes | you wake up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se despierte | s/he wakes up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos despertemos | we wake up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os despertéis | you (plural) wake up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se despierten | they wake up |
How it’s built: Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos follow the yo present, despierto (despierte, despiertes, despierte, despierten); nosotros and vosotros are regular. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
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, “me despertara”, meaning “I woke up”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Imperfect is known as "El Imperfecto Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me despertara | I woke up |
| Tú | te despertaras | you woke up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se despertara | s/he woke up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos despertáramos | we woke up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os despertarais | you (plural) woke up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se despertaran | they woke up |
How it’s built: Regular: the ellas/ellos preterite, despertaron, without -ron, plus the -ra endings; nosotros adds an accent (despertáramos). The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Subjunctive Future is used to speak about hypothetical situations, and actions/events that may happen in the future. For example, “me despertare”, meaning “I will wake up”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future is known as "El Futuro de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me despertare | I will wake up |
| Tú | te despertares | you will wake up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se despertare | s/he will wake up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos despertáremos | we will wake up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os despertareis | you (plural) will wake up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se despertaren | they will wake up |
How it’s built: Regular: the ellas/ellos preterite, despertaron, without -ron, plus the -re endings; nosotros adds an accent (despertáremos). The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
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, “me haya despertado”, meaning “I have woken up”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me haya despertado | I have woken up |
| Tú | te hayas despertado | you have woken up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se haya despertado | s/he has woken up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos hayamos despertado | we have woken up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os hayáis despertado | you (plural) have woken up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se hayan despertado | they have woken up |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive present (haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan) plus the past participle despertado. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
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, “me hubiera despertado”, meaning “I had woken up”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me hubiera despertado | I had woken up |
| Tú | te hubieras despertado | you had woken up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se hubiera despertado | s/he had woken up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos hubiéramos despertado | we had woken up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os hubierais despertado | you (plural) had woken up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se hubieran despertado | they had woken up |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive imperfect (hubiera, hubieras, hubiera, hubiéramos, hubierais, hubieran) plus the past participle despertado. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Subjunctive Future Perfect is used to speak about something that will have happened if a hypothetical situations occurs in the future. For example, “me hubiere despertado”, meaning “I will have woken up”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me hubiere despertado | I will have woken up |
| Tú | te hubieres despertado | you will have woken up |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se hubiere despertado | s/he will have woken up |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos hubiéremos despertado | we will have woken up |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os hubiereis despertado | you (plural) will have woken up |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se hubieren despertado | they will have woken up |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive future (hubiere, hubieres, hubiere, hubiéremos, hubiereis, hubieren) plus the past participle despertado. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Imperative Affirmative is used to give orders and commands, to tell someone to do something. For example, “despiértese”, meaning “(to you formal) wake up!”.
In Spanish, the Imperative Affirmative is known as "El Imperativo Afirmativo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | despiértate | (to you) wake up! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | despiértese | (to you formal) wake up! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | despertémonos | let's wake up! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | despertaos | (to you plural) wake up! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | despiértense | (to you plural formal) wake up! |
How it’s built: Tú takes the ella/él present and attaches te (despiértate); usted and ustedes take the subjunctive present and attach se (despiértese, despiértense); nosotros takes the subjunctive present, drops the s and attaches nos (despertémonos); vosotros drops the final r of the infinitive and attaches os (despertaos).
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
The Imperative Negative is used to give orders and commands, telling someone not to do something. For example, “no se despierte”, meaning “(to you formal) don't wake up!”.
In Spanish, the Imperative Negative is known as "El Imperativo Negativo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | no te despiertes | (to you) don't wake up! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | no se despierte | (to you formal) don't wake up! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | no nos despertemos | let's not wake up! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | no os despertéis | (to you plural) don't wake up! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | no se despierten | (to you plural formal) don't wake up! |
How it’s built: No plus the subjunctive present: no te despiertes, no se despierte, no nos despertemos, no os despertéis, no se despierten.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
Despertarse is an irregular Spanish verb. In the present tense: yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change e to ie (despierto, despiertas, despierta, despiertan); nosotros and vosotros are regular. It is also irregular in the present subjunctive (me despierte).
In the present tense (presente), despertarse is conjugated as: yo me despierto, tú te despiertas, él/ella/usted se despierta, nosotros nos despertamos, vosotros os despertáis, ellos/ellas/ustedes se despiertan. 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.
In the preterite (pretérito indefinido), despertarse is conjugated as: yo me desperté, tú te despertaste, él/ella/usted se despertó, nosotros nos despertamos, vosotros os despertasteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes se despertaron. The preterite is used To talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time.
In the imperfect (pretérito imperfecto), despertarse is conjugated as: yo me despertaba, tú te despertabas, él/ella/usted se despertaba, nosotros nos despertábamos, vosotros os despertabais, ellos/ellas/ustedes se despertaban. The imperfect is used To describe regular and repeated actions that happened in the past and descriptions of things you used to do.
In the future tense (futuro simple), despertarse is conjugated as: yo me despertaré, tú te despertarás, él/ella/usted se despertará, nosotros nos despertaremos, vosotros os despertaréis, ellos/ellas/ustedes se despertarán. The future tense is used To talk about something that will happen in the future.
In the present subjunctive (subjuntivo presente), despertarse is conjugated as: yo me despierte, tú te despiertes, él/ella/usted se despierte, nosotros nos despertemos, vosotros os despertéis, ellos/ellas/ustedes se despierten. 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.
Despertar means ‘to wake, to awaken’ and despertarse means ‘to wake up, to wake (oneself), to awaken (oneself)’. Despertarse is the reflexive form of despertar, 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 despierto becomes me despierto. In the affirmative tú imperative the pronoun attaches to the end of the verb, so despierta becomes despiértate.
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