Ella Verbsentender to understand Irregular Verb Top 100
At a glance: Entender (to understand) is one of the most common irregular verbs in Spanish. In the present tense: entiendo, entiendes, entiende, entendemos, entendéis, entienden. Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change e to ie (entiendo, entiendes, entiende, entienden); nosotros and vosotros are regular. It is also irregular in the present subjunctive (entienda).

Entender conjugation tables as a PDF
A printable two-page cheat sheet, sent to your inbox.
The Indicative Present of entender 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, “entiendo las reglas”, meaning “I understand the rules”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present is known as "El Presente".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | entiendo | I understand |
| Tú | entiendes | you understand |
| Ella / Él / Usted | entiende | s/he understands |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | entendemos | we understand |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | entendéis | you (plural) understand |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | entienden | they understand |
How it’s built: Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change e to ie (entiendo, entiendes, entiende, entienden); nosotros and vosotros are regular.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
The Indicative Preterite of entender is used to talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time. For example, “entendí las reglas”, meaning “I understood the rules”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Preterite is known as "El Pretérito Indefinido".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | entendí | I understood |
| Tú | entendiste | you understood |
| Ella / Él / Usted | entendió | s/he understood |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | entendimos | we understood |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | entendisteis | you (plural) understood |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | entendieron | they understood |
How it’s built: Regular: stem entend- plus the -er endings.
The Indicative Imperfect of entender is used to describe regular and repeated actions that happened in the past and descriptions of things you used to do. For example, “entendía las reglas”, meaning “I used to understand the rules”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Imperfect is known as "El Pretérito Imperfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | entendía | I used to understand |
| Tú | entendías | you used to understand |
| Ella / Él / Usted | entendía | s/he used to understand |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | entendíamos | we used to understand |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | entendíais | you (plural) used to understand |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | entendían | they used to understand |
How it’s built: Regular: stem entend- plus the -er endings.
The Indicative Present Continuous of entender is used to talk about something that is happening continuously or right now. For example, “estoy entendiendo las reglas”, meaning “I am understanding the rules”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present Continuous is known as "El Presente Progresivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | estoy entendiendo | I am understanding |
| Tú | estás entendiendo | you are understanding |
| Ella / Él / Usted | está entendiendo | s/he is understanding |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | estamos entendiendo | we are understanding |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | estáis entendiendo | you (plural) are understanding |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | están entendiendo | they are understanding |
How it’s built: Estar in the present (estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están) plus the gerund entendiendo.
The Indicative Informal Future of entender is used to talk about something that will happen in the future, especially in the near future. For example, “voy a entender las reglas”, meaning “I am going to understand the rules”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Informal Future is known as "El Futuro Próximo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | voy a entender | I am going to understand |
| Tú | vas a entender | you are going to understand |
| Ella / Él / Usted | va a entender | s/he is going to understand |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | vamos a entender | we are going to understand |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | vais a entender | you (plural) are going to understand |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | van a entender | they are going to understand |
How it’s built: Ir in the present (voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van), then a, then the infinitive entender.
The Indicative Future of entender is used to talk about something that will happen in the future. For example, “entenderé las reglas”, meaning “I will understand the rules”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Future is known as "El Futuro Simple".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | entenderé | I will understand |
| Tú | entenderás | you will understand |
| Ella / Él / Usted | entenderá | s/he will understand |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | entenderemos | we will understand |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | entenderéis | you (plural) will understand |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | entenderán | they will understand |
How it’s built: Regular: the infinitive entender plus the future endings.
The Indicative Conditional of entender is used to talk about something that may happen in the future, hypothesis and probabilities. For example, “entendería las reglas”, meaning “I would understand the rules”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional is known as "El Condicional Simple".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | entendería | I would understand |
| Tú | entenderías | you would understand |
| Ella / Él / Usted | entendería | s/he would understand |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | entenderíamos | we would understand |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | entenderíais | you (plural) would understand |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | entenderían | they would understand |
How it’s built: Regular: the infinitive entender plus the conditional endings.
The Indicative Present Perfect of entender 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 entendido las reglas”, meaning “I have understood the rules”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | he entendido | I have understood |
| Tú | has entendido | you have understood |
| Ella / Él / Usted | ha entendido | s/he has understood |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hemos entendido | we have understood |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habéis entendido | you (plural) have understood |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | han entendido | they have understood |
How it’s built: Haber in the present (he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han) plus the past participle entendido.
The Indicative Past Perfect of entender is used to talk about actions that happened before another action in the past. For example, “había entendido las reglas”, meaning “I had understood the rules”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | había entendido | I had understood |
| Tú | habías entendido | you had understood |
| Ella / Él / Usted | había entendido | s/he had understood |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habíamos entendido | we had understood |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habíais entendido | you (plural) had understood |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habían entendido | they had understood |
How it’s built: Haber in the imperfect (había, habías, había, habíamos, habíais, habían) plus the past participle entendido.
The Indicative Future Perfect of entender is used to talk about something that will have happened in the future after something else has already happened. For example, “habré entendido las reglas”, meaning “I will have understood the rules”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | habré entendido | I will have understood |
| Tú | habrás entendido | you will have understood |
| Ella / Él / Usted | habrá entendido | s/he will have understood |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habremos entendido | we will have understood |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habréis entendido | you (plural) will have understood |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrán entendido | they will have understood |
How it’s built: Haber in the future (habré, habrás, habrá, habremos, habréis, habrán) plus the past participle entendido.
The Indicative Conditional Perfect of entender is used to talk about something that would have happened in the past but didn’t due to another action. For example, “habría entendido las reglas”, meaning “I would have understood the rules”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional Perfect is known as "El Condicional Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | habría entendido | I would have understood |
| Tú | habrías entendido | you would have understood |
| Ella / Él / Usted | habría entendido | s/he would have understood |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habríamos entendido | we would have understood |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habríais entendido | you (plural) would have understood |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrían entendido | they would have understood |
How it’s built: Haber in the conditional (habría, habrías, habría, habríamos, habríais, habrían) plus the past participle entendido.
Want entender to come out without thinking?
The app teaches the “I before E” pattern step by step, then quizzes you until forms like entiendo are automatic.
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, “entienda”, meaning “I understand”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present is known as "El Presente de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | entienda | I understand |
| Tú | entiendas | you understand |
| Ella / Él / Usted | entienda | s/he understands |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | entendamos | we understand |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | entendáis | you (plural) understand |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | entiendan | they understand |
How it’s built: Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos follow the yo present, entiendo (entienda, entiendas, entienda, entiendan); nosotros and vosotros are regular.
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, “entendiera”, meaning “I understood”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Imperfect is known as "El Imperfecto Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | entendiera | I understood |
| Tú | entendieras | you understood |
| Ella / Él / Usted | entendiera | s/he understood |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | entendiéramos | we understood |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | entendierais | you (plural) understood |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | entendieran | they understood |
How it’s built: Regular: the ellas/ellos preterite, entendieron, without -ron, plus the -ra endings; nosotros adds an accent (entendiéramos).
The Subjunctive Future is used to speak about hypothetical situations, and actions/events that may happen in the future. For example, “entendiere”, meaning “I will understand”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future is known as "El Futuro de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | entendiere | I will understand |
| Tú | entendieres | you will understand |
| Ella / Él / Usted | entendiere | s/he will understand |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | entendiéremos | we will understand |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | entendiereis | you (plural) will understand |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | entendieren | they will understand |
How it’s built: Regular: the ellas/ellos preterite, entendieron, without -ron, plus the -re endings; nosotros adds an accent (entendiéremos).
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 entendido”, meaning “I have understood”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | haya entendido | I have understood |
| Tú | hayas entendido | you have understood |
| Ella / Él / Usted | haya entendido | s/he has understood |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hayamos entendido | we have understood |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hayáis entendido | you (plural) have understood |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hayan entendido | they have understood |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive present (haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan) plus the past participle entendido.
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 entendido”, meaning “I had understood”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera entendido | I had understood |
| Tú | hubieras entendido | you had understood |
| Ella / Él / Usted | hubiera entendido | s/he had understood |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéramos entendido | we had understood |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hubierais entendido | you (plural) had understood |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieran entendido | they had understood |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive imperfect (hubiera, hubieras, hubiera, hubiéramos, hubierais, hubieran) plus the past participle entendido.
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 entendido”, meaning “I will have understood”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere entendido | I will have understood |
| Tú | hubieres entendido | you will have understood |
| Ella / Él / Usted | hubiere entendido | s/he will have understood |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéremos entendido | we will have understood |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hubiereis entendido | you (plural) will have understood |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieren entendido | they will have understood |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive future (hubiere, hubieres, hubiere, hubiéremos, hubiereis, hubieren) plus the past participle entendido.
The Imperative Affirmative is used to give orders and commands, to tell someone to do something. For example, “entienda”, meaning “(to you formal) understand!”.
In Spanish, the Imperative Affirmative is known as "El Imperativo Afirmativo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | entiende | (to you) understand! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | entienda | (to you formal) understand! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | entendamos | let's understand! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | entended | (to you plural) understand! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | entiendan | (to you plural formal) understand! |
How it’s built: Tú takes the ella/él present (entiende); usted, nosotros and ustedes take the subjunctive present (entienda, entendamos, entiendan); vosotros swaps the final r of the infinitive for a d (entended).
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 entienda”, meaning “(to you formal) don't understand!”.
In Spanish, the Imperative Negative is known as "El Imperativo Negativo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | no entiendas | (to you) don't understand! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | no entienda | (to you formal) don't understand! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | no entendamos | let's not understand! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | no entendáis | (to you plural) don't understand! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | no entiendan | (to you plural formal) don't understand! |
How it’s built: No plus the subjunctive present: no entiendas, no entienda, no entendamos, no entendáis, no entiendan.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
Entender is an irregular Spanish verb. In the present tense: yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change e to ie (entiendo, entiendes, entiende, entienden); nosotros and vosotros are regular. It is also irregular in the present subjunctive (entienda).
In the present tense (presente), entender is conjugated as: yo entiendo, tú entiendes, él/ella/usted entiende, nosotros entendemos, vosotros entendéis, ellos/ellas/ustedes entienden. 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), entender is conjugated as: yo entendí, tú entendiste, él/ella/usted entendió, nosotros entendimos, vosotros entendisteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes entendieron. The preterite is used To talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time.
In the imperfect (pretérito imperfecto), entender is conjugated as: yo entendía, tú entendías, él/ella/usted entendía, nosotros entendíamos, vosotros entendíais, ellos/ellas/ustedes entendían. 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), entender is conjugated as: yo entenderé, tú entenderás, él/ella/usted entenderá, nosotros entenderemos, vosotros entenderéis, ellos/ellas/ustedes entenderán. The future tense is used To talk about something that will happen in the future.
In the present subjunctive (subjuntivo presente), entender is conjugated as: yo entienda, tú entiendas, él/ella/usted entienda, nosotros entendamos, vosotros entendáis, ellos/ellas/ustedes entiendan. 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.
Here are everyday sentences using entender: Hay muchas palabras que no entiendo. (There are many words that I don't understand.) Soy tan tonto... estoy intentando explicarte cosas que no entiendo ni yo. (I'm so dumb... I'm trying to explain things to you that I don't understand myself.) No entiendo el alemán. (I don't understand German.) Entiendo perfectamente tu postura. (I understand your position perfectly.) No entiendo lo que quieres decir. (I don't get what you mean.)
Download and print a cheat sheet of Entender Spanish conjugation tables in image or PDF format:

Get full conjugation tables for Entender and 2,500+ other verbs on-the-go with Ella Verbs for iOS, Android, and web.
We also guide you through learning all Spanish tenses and test your knowledge with conjugation quizzes. Download it for free!

👋 Hola! We built Ella Verbs to help people (and ourselves!) master one of the hardest parts of Spanish – verb conjugation. It guides you through learning all tenses in an easy-to-follow way, giving you levels of bite-sized lessons and fun quizzes. Here is a 6 minute overview of all of the app’s features:
It has changed a lot over the 9+ years we have been working on it, but the goal remains the same – to help you master Spanish conjugation! You can download and try it for free, and, if you do, please send any and all feedback our way!
– Jane & Brian
Why not check out Enterar – to inform or see the complete list of verbs here.

Join 250,000+ others and master your Spanish conjugation with the top-rated verb app, Ella Verbs
Great program that has and is helping me immensely. Four years [studying Spanish] and after just a couple of days with this app I finally am 'getting' the verb thing into my head. After the first couple of lessons I finally feel comfortable conversing with the natives here in Panama. I still have a long way to go but this application was the key for me. Thank you!
Google Play Store