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How to conjugate Despertarse in Spanish

despertarse 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).

Past participle
despertado woken up
Gerund
despertando waking up

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Indicative tenses of Despertarse

Despertarse in the Indicative Present

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".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome despiertoI wake up
Túte despiertasyou wake up
Ella / Él / Ustedse despiertas/he wakes up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos despertamoswe wake up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos despertáisyou (plural) wake up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse despiertanthey 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.

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Despertarse in the Indicative Preterite

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".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome despertéI woke up
Túte despertasteyou woke up
Ella / Él / Ustedse despertós/he woke up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos despertamoswe woke up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos despertasteisyou (plural) woke up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse despertaronthey 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.

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Despertarse in the Indicative Imperfect

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".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome despertabaI used to wake up
Túte despertabasyou used to wake up
Ella / Él / Ustedse despertabas/he used to wake up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos despertábamoswe used to wake up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos despertabaisyou (plural) used to wake up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse despertabanthey 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.

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Despertarse in the Indicative Present Continuous

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".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome estoy despertandoI am waking up
Túte estás despertandoyou are waking up
Ella / Él / Ustedse está despertandos/he is waking up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos estamos despertandowe are waking up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos estáis despertandoyou (plural) are waking up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse están despertandothey 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.

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Despertarse in the Indicative Informal Future

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".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome voy a despertarI am going to wake up
Túte vas a despertaryou are going to wake up
Ella / Él / Ustedse va a despertars/he is going to wake up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos vamos a despertarwe are going to wake up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos vais a despertaryou (plural) are going to wake up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse van a despertarthey 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.

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Despertarse in the Indicative Future

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".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome despertaréI will wake up
Túte despertarásyou will wake up
Ella / Él / Ustedse despertarás/he will wake up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos despertaremoswe will wake up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos despertaréisyou (plural) will wake up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse despertaránthey 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.

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Despertarse in the Indicative Conditional

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".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome despertaríaI would wake up
Túte despertaríasyou would wake up
Ella / Él / Ustedse despertarías/he would wake up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos despertaríamoswe would wake up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos despertaríaisyou (plural) would wake up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse despertaríanthey 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.

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Despertarse in the Indicative Present Perfect

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".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome he despertadoI have woken up
Túte has despertadoyou have woken up
Ella / Él / Ustedse ha despertados/he has woken up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos hemos despertadowe have woken up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos habéis despertadoyou (plural) have woken up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse han despertadothey 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.

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Despertarse in the Indicative Past Perfect

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".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome había despertadoI had woken up
Túte habías despertadoyou had woken up
Ella / Él / Ustedse había despertados/he had woken up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos habíamos despertadowe had woken up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos habíais despertadoyou (plural) had woken up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse habían despertadothey 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.

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Despertarse in the Indicative Future Perfect

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".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome habré despertadoI will have woken up
Túte habrás despertadoyou will have woken up
Ella / Él / Ustedse habrá despertados/he will have woken up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos habremos despertadowe will have woken up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos habréis despertadoyou (plural) will have woken up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse habrán despertadothey 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.

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Despertarse in the Indicative Conditional Perfect

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".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome habría despertadoI would have woken up
Túte habrías despertadoyou would have woken up
Ella / Él / Ustedse habría despertados/he would have woken up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos habríamos despertadowe would have woken up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos habríais despertadoyou (plural) would have woken up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse habrían despertadothey 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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Subjunctive tenses of Despertarse

Despertarse 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, “me despierte”, meaning “I wake up”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome despierteI wake up
Túte despiertesyou wake up
Ella / Él / Ustedse despiertes/he wakes up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos despertemoswe wake up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos despertéisyou (plural) wake up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse despiertenthey 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.

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Despertarse 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, “me despertara”, meaning “I woke up”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome despertaraI woke up
Túte despertarasyou woke up
Ella / Él / Ustedse despertaras/he woke up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos despertáramoswe woke up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos despertaraisyou (plural) woke up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse despertaranthey 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.

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Despertarse 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, “me despertare”, meaning “I will wake up”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome despertareI will wake up
Túte despertaresyou will wake up
Ella / Él / Ustedse despertares/he will wake up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos despertáremoswe will wake up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos despertareisyou (plural) will wake up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse despertarenthey 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.

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Despertarse 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, “me haya despertado”, meaning “I have woken up”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome haya despertadoI have woken up
Túte hayas despertadoyou have woken up
Ella / Él / Ustedse haya despertados/he has woken up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos hayamos despertadowe have woken up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos hayáis despertadoyou (plural) have woken up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse hayan despertadothey 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.

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Despertarse 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, “me hubiera despertado”, meaning “I had woken up”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome hubiera despertadoI had woken up
Túte hubieras despertadoyou had woken up
Ella / Él / Ustedse hubiera despertados/he had woken up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos hubiéramos despertadowe had woken up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos hubierais despertadoyou (plural) had woken up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse hubieran despertadothey 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.

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Despertarse 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, “me hubiere despertado”, meaning “I will have woken up”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome hubiere despertadoI will have woken up
Túte hubieres despertadoyou will have woken up
Ella / Él / Ustedse hubiere despertados/he will have woken up
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos hubiéremos despertadowe will have woken up
Vosotras / Vosotrosos hubiereis despertadoyou (plural) will have woken up
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse hubieren despertadothey 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.

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Imperative tenses of Despertarse

Despertarse in the Imperative Affirmative

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".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yo--
Túdespiértate(to you) wake up!
Ella / Él / Usteddespiértese(to you formal) wake up!
Nosotras / Nosotrosdespertémonoslet's wake up!
Vosotras / Vosotrosdespertaos(to you plural) wake up!
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesdespiértense(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.

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Despertarse in the Imperative Negative

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".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yo--
Túno te despiertes(to you) don't wake up!
Ella / Él / Ustedno se despierte(to you formal) don't wake up!
Nosotras / Nosotrosno nos despertemoslet's not wake up!
Vosotras / Vosotrosno os despertéis(to you plural) don't wake up!
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesno 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.

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Frequently asked questions about Despertarse

Is despertarse a regular or irregular verb?

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).

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

What’s the difference between despertar and despertarse?

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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