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How to conjugate Devolver in Spanish

devolver to give back, to return (something) Irregular Verb

At a glance: Devolver (to give back, to return (something)) is a widely used irregular verbs in Spanish. In the present tense: devuelvo, devuelves, devuelve, devolvemos, devolvéis, devuelven. Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change o to ue (devuelvo, devuelves, devuelve, devuelven); nosotros and vosotros are regular. It is also irregular in the present subjunctive (devuelva) and past participle (devuelto).

Past participle
devuelto given back
Gerund
devolviendo giving back

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Indicative tenses of Devolver

Devolver in the Indicative Present

The Indicative Present of devolver 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, “devuelvo”, meaning “I give back”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
YodevuelvoI give back
Túdevuelvesyou give back
Ella / Él / Usteddevuelves/he gives back
Nosotras / Nosotrosdevolvemoswe give back
Vosotras / Vosotrosdevolvéisyou (plural) give back
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesdevuelventhey give back

How it’s built: Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change o to ue (devuelvo, devuelves, devuelve, devuelven); nosotros and vosotros are regular.

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

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Devolver in the Indicative Preterite

The Indicative Preterite of devolver is used to talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time. For example, “devolví”, meaning “I gave back”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
YodevolvíI gave back
Túdevolvisteyou gave back
Ella / Él / Usteddevolviós/he gave back
Nosotras / Nosotrosdevolvimoswe gave back
Vosotras / Vosotrosdevolvisteisyou (plural) gave back
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesdevolvieronthey gave back

How it’s built: Regular: stem devolv- plus the -er endings.

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Devolver in the Indicative Imperfect

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
YodevolvíaI used to give back
Túdevolvíasyou used to give back
Ella / Él / Usteddevolvías/he used to give back
Nosotras / Nosotrosdevolvíamoswe used to give back
Vosotras / Vosotrosdevolvíaisyou (plural) used to give back
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesdevolvíanthey used to give back

How it’s built: Regular: stem devolv- plus the -er endings.

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Devolver in the Indicative Present Continuous

The Indicative Present Continuous of devolver is used to talk about something that is happening continuously or right now. For example, “estoy devolviendo”, meaning “I am giving back”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yoestoy devolviendoI am giving back
Túestás devolviendoyou are giving back
Ella / Él / Ustedestá devolviendos/he is giving back
Nosotras / Nosotrosestamos devolviendowe are giving back
Vosotras / Vosotrosestáis devolviendoyou (plural) are giving back
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesestán devolviendothey are giving back

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

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Devolver in the Indicative Informal Future

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yovoy a devolverI am going to give back
Túvas a devolveryou are going to give back
Ella / Él / Ustedva a devolvers/he is going to give back
Nosotras / Nosotrosvamos a devolverwe are going to give back
Vosotras / Vosotrosvais a devolveryou (plural) are going to give back
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesvan a devolverthey are going to give back

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

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Devolver in the Indicative Future

The Indicative Future of devolver is used to talk about something that will happen in the future. For example, “devolveré”, meaning “I will give back”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
YodevolveréI will give back
Túdevolverásyou will give back
Ella / Él / Usteddevolverás/he will give back
Nosotras / Nosotrosdevolveremoswe will give back
Vosotras / Vosotrosdevolveréisyou (plural) will give back
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesdevolveránthey will give back

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

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Devolver in the Indicative Conditional

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
YodevolveríaI would give back
Túdevolveríasyou would give back
Ella / Él / Usteddevolverías/he would give back
Nosotras / Nosotrosdevolveríamoswe would give back
Vosotras / Vosotrosdevolveríaisyou (plural) would give back
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesdevolveríanthey would give back

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

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Devolver in the Indicative Present Perfect

The Indicative Present Perfect of devolver 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 devuelto”, meaning “I have given back”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohe devueltoI have given back
Túhas devueltoyou have given back
Ella / Él / Ustedha devueltos/he has given back
Nosotras / Nosotroshemos devueltowe have given back
Vosotras / Vosotroshabéis devueltoyou (plural) have given back
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshan devueltothey have given back

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

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

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Devolver in the Indicative Past Perfect

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohabía devueltoI had given back
Túhabías devueltoyou had given back
Ella / Él / Ustedhabía devueltos/he had given back
Nosotras / Nosotroshabíamos devueltowe had given back
Vosotras / Vosotroshabíais devueltoyou (plural) had given back
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshabían devueltothey had given back

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

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

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Devolver in the Indicative Future Perfect

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohabré devueltoI will have given back
Túhabrás devueltoyou will have given back
Ella / Él / Ustedhabrá devueltos/he will have given back
Nosotras / Nosotroshabremos devueltowe will have given back
Vosotras / Vosotroshabréis devueltoyou (plural) will have given back
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshabrán devueltothey will have given back

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

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

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Devolver in the Indicative Conditional Perfect

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohabría devueltoI would have given back
Túhabrías devueltoyou would have given back
Ella / Él / Ustedhabría devueltos/he would have given back
Nosotras / Nosotroshabríamos devueltowe would have given back
Vosotras / Vosotroshabríais devueltoyou (plural) would have given back
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshabrían devueltothey would have given back

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

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

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Subjunctive tenses of Devolver

Devolver 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, “devuelva”, meaning “I give back”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
YodevuelvaI give back
Túdevuelvasyou give back
Ella / Él / Usteddevuelvas/he gives back
Nosotras / Nosotrosdevolvamoswe give back
Vosotras / Vosotrosdevolváisyou (plural) give back
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesdevuelvanthey give back

How it’s built: Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos follow the yo present, devuelvo (devuelva, devuelvas, devuelva, devuelvan); nosotros and vosotros are regular.

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Devolver 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, “devolviera”, meaning “I gave back”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
YodevolvieraI gave back
Túdevolvierasyou gave back
Ella / Él / Usteddevolvieras/he gave back
Nosotras / Nosotrosdevolviéramoswe gave back
Vosotras / Vosotrosdevolvieraisyou (plural) gave back
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesdevolvieranthey gave back

How it’s built: Regular: the ellas/ellos preterite, devolvieron, without -ron, plus the -ra endings; nosotros adds an accent (devolviéramos).

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Devolver 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, “devolviere”, meaning “I will give back”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
YodevolviereI will give back
Túdevolvieresyou will give back
Ella / Él / Usteddevolvieres/he will give back
Nosotras / Nosotrosdevolviéremoswe will give back
Vosotras / Vosotrosdevolviereisyou (plural) will give back
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesdevolvierenthey will give back

How it’s built: Regular: the ellas/ellos preterite, devolvieron, without -ron, plus the -re endings; nosotros adds an accent (devolviéremos).

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Devolver 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 devuelto”, meaning “I have given back”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohaya devueltoI have given back
Túhayas devueltoyou have given back
Ella / Él / Ustedhaya devueltos/he has given back
Nosotras / Nosotroshayamos devueltowe have given back
Vosotras / Vosotroshayáis devueltoyou (plural) have given back
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshayan devueltothey have given back

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

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

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Devolver 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 devuelto”, meaning “I had given back”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohubiera devueltoI had given back
Túhubieras devueltoyou had given back
Ella / Él / Ustedhubiera devueltos/he had given back
Nosotras / Nosotroshubiéramos devueltowe had given back
Vosotras / Vosotroshubierais devueltoyou (plural) had given back
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshubieran devueltothey had given back

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

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

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Devolver 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 devuelto”, meaning “I will have given back”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohubiere devueltoI will have given back
Túhubieres devueltoyou will have given back
Ella / Él / Ustedhubiere devueltos/he will have given back
Nosotras / Nosotroshubiéremos devueltowe will have given back
Vosotras / Vosotroshubiereis devueltoyou (plural) will have given back
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshubieren devueltothey will have given back

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

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Imperative tenses of Devolver

Devolver in the Imperative Affirmative

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yo--
Túdevuelve(to you) give back!
Ella / Él / Usteddevuelva(to you formal) give back!
Nosotras / Nosotrosdevolvamoslet's give back!
Vosotras / Vosotrosdevolved(to you plural) give back!
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesdevuelvan(to you plural formal) give back!

How it’s built: Tú takes the ella/él present (devuelve); usted, nosotros and ustedes take the subjunctive present (devuelva, devolvamos, devuelvan); vosotros swaps the final r of the infinitive for a d (devolved).

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Devolver in the Imperative Negative

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yo--
Túno devuelvas(to you) don't give back!
Ella / Él / Ustedno devuelva(to you formal) don't give back!
Nosotras / Nosotrosno devolvamoslet's not give back!
Vosotras / Vosotrosno devolváis(to you plural) don't give back!
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesno devuelvan(to you plural formal) don't give back!

How it’s built: No plus the subjunctive present: no devuelvas, no devuelva, no devolvamos, no devolváis, no devuelvan.

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Frequently asked questions about Devolver

Is devolver a regular or irregular verb?

Devolver is an irregular Spanish verb. In the present tense: yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change o to ue (devuelvo, devuelves, devuelve, devuelven); nosotros and vosotros are regular. It is also irregular in the present subjunctive (devuelva) and past participle (devuelto).

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

In the present tense (presente), devolver is conjugated as: yo devuelvo, tú devuelves, él/ella/usted devuelve, nosotros devolvemos, vosotros devolvéis, ellos/ellas/ustedes devuelven. 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 devolver in the preterite (pretérito indefinido)?

In the preterite (pretérito indefinido), devolver is conjugated as: yo devolví, tú devolviste, él/ella/usted devolvió, nosotros devolvimos, vosotros devolvisteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes devolvieron. The preterite is used To talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time.

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

In the imperfect (pretérito imperfecto), devolver is conjugated as: yo devolvía, tú devolvías, él/ella/usted devolvía, nosotros devolvíamos, vosotros devolvíais, ellos/ellas/ustedes devolvían. 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 devolver in the future tense (futuro simple)?

In the future tense (futuro simple), devolver is conjugated as: yo devolveré, tú devolverás, él/ella/usted devolverá, nosotros devolveremos, vosotros devolveréis, ellos/ellas/ustedes devolverán. The future tense is used To talk about something that will happen in the future.

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

In the present subjunctive (subjuntivo presente), devolver is conjugated as: yo devuelva, tú devuelvas, él/ella/usted devuelva, nosotros devolvamos, vosotros devolváis, ellos/ellas/ustedes devuelvan. 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.


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