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How to conjugate Detenerse in Spanish

detenerse to stop, to pause (for a moment), to linger (over) Irregular Verb

At a glance: Detenerse (to stop, to pause (for a moment), to linger (over)) is a widely used reflexive irregular verbs in Spanish. In the present tense: me detengo, te detienes, se detiene, nos detenemos, os detenéis, se detienen. It is conjugated like tener. Yo adds a g (detengo); tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change e to ie (detienes, detiene, detienen); nosotros and vosotros are regular. It is also irregular in the preterite (me detuve), future (me detendré), conditional (me detendría) and subjunctive.

Past participle
detenido stopped
Gerund
deteniendo stopping
Similar
cesar, detener, parar, pararse

Detenerse conjugation tables as a PDF

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Indicative tenses of Detenerse

Detenerse in the Indicative Present

The Indicative Present of detenerse 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 detengo”, meaning “I stop”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome detengoI stop
Túte detienesyou stop
Ella / Él / Ustedse detienes/he stops
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos detenemoswe stop
Vosotras / Vosotrosos detenéisyou (plural) stop
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse detienenthey stop

How it’s built: Yo adds a g (detengo); tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change e to ie (detienes, detiene, detienen); 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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Detenerse in the Indicative Preterite

The Indicative Preterite of detenerse is used to talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time. For example, “me detuve”, meaning “I stopped”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome detuveI stopped
Túte detuvisteyou stopped
Ella / Él / Ustedse detuvos/he stopped
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos detuvimoswe stopped
Vosotras / Vosotrosos detuvisteisyou (plural) stopped
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse detuvieronthey stopped

How it’s built: Irregular stem detuv- plus the endings -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron. 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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Detenerse in the Indicative Imperfect

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome deteníaI used to stop
Túte deteníasyou used to stop
Ella / Él / Ustedse detenías/he used to stop
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos deteníamoswe used to stop
Vosotras / Vosotrosos deteníaisyou (plural) used to stop
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse deteníanthey used to stop

How it’s built: Regular: stem deten- plus the -er endings. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Detenerse in the Indicative Present Continuous

The Indicative Present Continuous of detenerse is used to talk about something that is happening continuously or right now. For example, “me estoy deteniendo”, meaning “I am stopping”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome estoy deteniendoI am stopping
Túte estás deteniendoyou are stopping
Ella / Él / Ustedse está deteniendos/he is stopping
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos estamos deteniendowe are stopping
Vosotras / Vosotrosos estáis deteniendoyou (plural) are stopping
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse están deteniendothey are stopping

How it’s built: Estar in the present (estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están) plus the gerund deteniendo. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Detenerse in the Indicative Informal Future

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome voy a detenerI am going to stop
Túte vas a deteneryou are going to stop
Ella / Él / Ustedse va a deteners/he is going to stop
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos vamos a detenerwe are going to stop
Vosotras / Vosotrosos vais a deteneryou (plural) are going to stop
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse van a detenerthey are going to stop

How it’s built: Ir in the present (voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van), then a, then the infinitive detener. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Detenerse in the Indicative Future

The Indicative Future of detenerse is used to talk about something that will happen in the future. For example, “me detendré”, meaning “I will stop”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome detendréI will stop
Túte detendrásyou will stop
Ella / Él / Ustedse detendrás/he will stop
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos detendremoswe will stop
Vosotras / Vosotrosos detendréisyou (plural) will stop
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse detendránthey will stop

How it’s built: Irregular stem detendr- instead of detener, plus the future endings. 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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Detenerse in the Indicative Conditional

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome detendríaI would stop
Túte detendríasyou would stop
Ella / Él / Ustedse detendrías/he would stop
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos detendríamoswe would stop
Vosotras / Vosotrosos detendríaisyou (plural) would stop
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse detendríanthey would stop

How it’s built: Irregular stem detendr- instead of detener, plus the conditional endings. 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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Detenerse in the Indicative Present Perfect

The Indicative Present Perfect of detenerse 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 detenido”, meaning “I have stopped”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome he detenidoI have stopped
Túte has detenidoyou have stopped
Ella / Él / Ustedse ha detenidos/he has stopped
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos hemos detenidowe have stopped
Vosotras / Vosotrosos habéis detenidoyou (plural) have stopped
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse han detenidothey have stopped

How it’s built: Haber in the present (he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han) plus the past participle detenido. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Detenerse in the Indicative Past Perfect

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome había detenidoI had stopped
Túte habías detenidoyou had stopped
Ella / Él / Ustedse había detenidos/he had stopped
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos habíamos detenidowe had stopped
Vosotras / Vosotrosos habíais detenidoyou (plural) had stopped
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse habían detenidothey had stopped

How it’s built: Haber in the imperfect (había, habías, había, habíamos, habíais, habían) plus the past participle detenido. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Detenerse in the Indicative Future Perfect

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome habré detenidoI will have stopped
Túte habrás detenidoyou will have stopped
Ella / Él / Ustedse habrá detenidos/he will have stopped
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos habremos detenidowe will have stopped
Vosotras / Vosotrosos habréis detenidoyou (plural) will have stopped
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse habrán detenidothey will have stopped

How it’s built: Haber in the future (habré, habrás, habrá, habremos, habréis, habrán) plus the past participle detenido. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Detenerse in the Indicative Conditional Perfect

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome habría detenidoI would have stopped
Túte habrías detenidoyou would have stopped
Ella / Él / Ustedse habría detenidos/he would have stopped
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos habríamos detenidowe would have stopped
Vosotras / Vosotrosos habríais detenidoyou (plural) would have stopped
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse habrían detenidothey would have stopped

How it’s built: Haber in the conditional (habría, habrías, habría, habríamos, habríais, habrían) plus the past participle detenido. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Subjunctive tenses of Detenerse

Detenerse 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 detenga”, meaning “I stop”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome detengaI stop
Túte detengasyou stop
Ella / Él / Ustedse detengas/he stops
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos detengamoswe stop
Vosotras / Vosotrosos detengáisyou (plural) stop
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse detenganthey stop

How it’s built: Every form follows the yo present, detengo (detenga, detengas, detenga, detengamos, detengáis, detengan). The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Detenerse 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 detuviera”, meaning “I stopped”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome detuvieraI stopped
Túte detuvierasyou stopped
Ella / Él / Ustedse detuvieras/he stopped
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos detuviéramoswe stopped
Vosotras / Vosotrosos detuvieraisyou (plural) stopped
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse detuvieranthey stopped

How it’s built: Built on the irregular ellas/ellos preterite, detuvieron: drop -ron and add the -ra endings; nosotros adds an accent (detuviéramos). 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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Detenerse 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 detuviere”, meaning “I will stop”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome detuviereI will stop
Túte detuvieresyou will stop
Ella / Él / Ustedse detuvieres/he will stop
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos detuviéremoswe will stop
Vosotras / Vosotrosos detuviereisyou (plural) will stop
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse detuvierenthey will stop

How it’s built: Built on the irregular ellas/ellos preterite, detuvieron: drop -ron and add the -re endings; nosotros adds an accent (detuviéremos). 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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Detenerse 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 detenido”, meaning “I have stopped”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome haya detenidoI have stopped
Túte hayas detenidoyou have stopped
Ella / Él / Ustedse haya detenidos/he has stopped
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos hayamos detenidowe have stopped
Vosotras / Vosotrosos hayáis detenidoyou (plural) have stopped
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse hayan detenidothey have stopped

How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive present (haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan) plus the past participle detenido. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Detenerse 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 detenido”, meaning “I had stopped”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome hubiera detenidoI had stopped
Túte hubieras detenidoyou had stopped
Ella / Él / Ustedse hubiera detenidos/he had stopped
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos hubiéramos detenidowe had stopped
Vosotras / Vosotrosos hubierais detenidoyou (plural) had stopped
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse hubieran detenidothey had stopped

How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive imperfect (hubiera, hubieras, hubiera, hubiéramos, hubierais, hubieran) plus the past participle detenido. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Detenerse 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 detenido”, meaning “I will have stopped”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yome hubiere detenidoI will have stopped
Túte hubieres detenidoyou will have stopped
Ella / Él / Ustedse hubiere detenidos/he will have stopped
Nosotras / Nosotrosnos hubiéremos detenidowe will have stopped
Vosotras / Vosotrosos hubiereis detenidoyou (plural) will have stopped
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesse hubieren detenidothey will have stopped

How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive future (hubiere, hubieres, hubiere, hubiéremos, hubiereis, hubieren) plus the past participle detenido. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.

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Imperative tenses of Detenerse

Detenerse in the Imperative Affirmative

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yo--
Túdetente(to you) stop!
Ella / Él / Usteddeténgase(to you formal) stop!
Nosotras / Nosotrosdetengámonoslet's stop!
Vosotras / Vosotrosdeteneos(to you plural) stop!
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesdeténganse(to you plural formal) stop!

How it’s built: Tú is irregular (detente); usted and ustedes take the subjunctive present and attach se (deténgase, deténganse); nosotros takes the subjunctive present, drops the s and attaches nos (detengámonos); vosotros drops the final r of the infinitive and attaches os (deteneos).

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Detenerse in the Imperative Negative

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yo--
Túno te detengas(to you) don't stop!
Ella / Él / Ustedno se detenga(to you formal) don't stop!
Nosotras / Nosotrosno nos detengamoslet's not stop!
Vosotras / Vosotrosno os detengáis(to you plural) don't stop!
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesno se detengan(to you plural formal) don't stop!

How it’s built: No plus the subjunctive present: no te detengas, no se detenga, no nos detengamos, no os detengáis, no se detengan.

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Frequently asked questions about Detenerse

Is detenerse a regular or irregular verb?

Detenerse is an irregular Spanish verb. It is conjugated like tener. In the present tense: yo adds a g (detengo); tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change e to ie (detienes, detiene, detienen); nosotros and vosotros are regular. It is also irregular in the preterite (me detuve), future (me detendré), conditional (me detendría) and subjunctive.

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

In the present tense (presente), detenerse is conjugated as: yo me detengo, tú te detienes, él/ella/usted se detiene, nosotros nos detenemos, vosotros os detenéis, ellos/ellas/ustedes se detienen. 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 detenerse in the preterite (pretérito indefinido)?

In the preterite (pretérito indefinido), detenerse is conjugated as: yo me detuve, tú te detuviste, él/ella/usted se detuvo, nosotros nos detuvimos, vosotros os detuvisteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes se detuvieron. The preterite is used To talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time.

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

In the imperfect (pretérito imperfecto), detenerse is conjugated as: yo me detenía, tú te detenías, él/ella/usted se detenía, nosotros nos deteníamos, vosotros os deteníais, ellos/ellas/ustedes se detenían. 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 detenerse in the future tense (futuro simple)?

In the future tense (futuro simple), detenerse is conjugated as: yo me detendré, tú te detendrás, él/ella/usted se detendrá, nosotros nos detendremos, vosotros os detendréis, ellos/ellas/ustedes se detendrán. The future tense is used To talk about something that will happen in the future.

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

In the present subjunctive (subjuntivo presente), detenerse is conjugated as: yo me detenga, tú te detengas, él/ella/usted se detenga, nosotros nos detengamos, vosotros os detengáis, ellos/ellas/ustedes se detengan. 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 detener and detenerse?

Detener means ‘to stop, to arrest, to detain’ and detenerse means ‘to stop, to pause (for a moment), to linger (over)’. Detenerse is the reflexive form of detener, 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 detengo becomes me detengo. In the affirmative tú imperative the pronoun attaches to the end of the verb, so detén becomes detente.


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