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How to conjugate Investigar in Spanish

investigar to research, to investigate Irregular Verb

At a glance: Investigar (to research, to investigate) is a irregular verb in Spanish. In the present tense: investigo, investigas, investiga, investigamos, investigáis, investigan. The present tense is regular. In the preterite: yo adds a u (investigué); the other forms are regular. It is also irregular in the present subjunctive (investigue).

Past participle
investigado researched
Gerund
investigando researching
Sample Verb Conjugation Tables

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Indicative tenses of Investigar

Investigar in the Indicative Present

The Indicative Present of investigar 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, “investigo”, meaning “I research”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
YoinvestigoI research
Túinvestigasyou research
Ella / Él / Ustedinvestigas/he researches
Nosotras / Nosotrosinvestigamoswe research
Vosotras / Vosotrosinvestigáisyou (plural) research
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesinvestiganthey research

How it’s built: Regular: stem investig- plus the -ar endings.

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Investigar in the Indicative Preterite

The Indicative Preterite of investigar is used to talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time. For example, “investigué”, meaning “I researched”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
YoinvestiguéI researched
Túinvestigasteyou researched
Ella / Él / Ustedinvestigós/he researched
Nosotras / Nosotrosinvestigamoswe researched
Vosotras / Vosotrosinvestigasteisyou (plural) researched
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesinvestigaronthey researched

How it’s built: Yo adds a u (investigué); the other forms are regular.

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

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Investigar in the Indicative Imperfect

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
YoinvestigabaI used to research
Túinvestigabasyou used to research
Ella / Él / Ustedinvestigabas/he used to research
Nosotras / Nosotrosinvestigábamoswe used to research
Vosotras / Vosotrosinvestigabaisyou (plural) used to research
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesinvestigabanthey used to research

How it’s built: Regular: stem investig- plus the -ar endings.

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Investigar in the Indicative Present Continuous

The Indicative Present Continuous of investigar is used to talk about something that is happening continuously or right now. For example, “estoy investigando”, meaning “I am researching”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yoestoy investigandoI am researching
Túestás investigandoyou are researching
Ella / Él / Ustedestá investigandos/he is researching
Nosotras / Nosotrosestamos investigandowe are researching
Vosotras / Vosotrosestáis investigandoyou (plural) are researching
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesestán investigandothey are researching

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

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Investigar in the Indicative Informal Future

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yovoy a investigarI am going to research
Túvas a investigaryou are going to research
Ella / Él / Ustedva a investigars/he is going to research
Nosotras / Nosotrosvamos a investigarwe are going to research
Vosotras / Vosotrosvais a investigaryou (plural) are going to research
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesvan a investigarthey are going to research

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

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Investigar in the Indicative Future

The Indicative Future of investigar is used to talk about something that will happen in the future. For example, “investigaré”, meaning “I will research”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
YoinvestigaréI will research
Túinvestigarásyou will research
Ella / Él / Ustedinvestigarás/he will research
Nosotras / Nosotrosinvestigaremoswe will research
Vosotras / Vosotrosinvestigaréisyou (plural) will research
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesinvestigaránthey will research

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

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Investigar in the Indicative Conditional

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
YoinvestigaríaI would research
Túinvestigaríasyou would research
Ella / Él / Ustedinvestigarías/he would research
Nosotras / Nosotrosinvestigaríamoswe would research
Vosotras / Vosotrosinvestigaríaisyou (plural) would research
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesinvestigaríanthey would research

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

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Investigar in the Indicative Present Perfect

The Indicative Present Perfect of investigar 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 investigado”, meaning “I have researched”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohe investigadoI have researched
Túhas investigadoyou have researched
Ella / Él / Ustedha investigados/he has researched
Nosotras / Nosotroshemos investigadowe have researched
Vosotras / Vosotroshabéis investigadoyou (plural) have researched
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshan investigadothey have researched

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

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Investigar in the Indicative Past Perfect

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohabía investigadoI had researched
Túhabías investigadoyou had researched
Ella / Él / Ustedhabía investigados/he had researched
Nosotras / Nosotroshabíamos investigadowe had researched
Vosotras / Vosotroshabíais investigadoyou (plural) had researched
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshabían investigadothey had researched

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

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Investigar in the Indicative Future Perfect

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohabré investigadoI will have researched
Túhabrás investigadoyou will have researched
Ella / Él / Ustedhabrá investigados/he will have researched
Nosotras / Nosotroshabremos investigadowe will have researched
Vosotras / Vosotroshabréis investigadoyou (plural) will have researched
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshabrán investigadothey will have researched

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

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Investigar in the Indicative Conditional Perfect

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohabría investigadoI would have researched
Túhabrías investigadoyou would have researched
Ella / Él / Ustedhabría investigados/he would have researched
Nosotras / Nosotroshabríamos investigadowe would have researched
Vosotras / Vosotroshabríais investigadoyou (plural) would have researched
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshabrían investigadothey would have researched

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

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Subjunctive tenses of Investigar

Investigar 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, “investigue”, meaning “I research”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
YoinvestigueI research
Túinvestiguesyou research
Ella / Él / Ustedinvestigues/he researches
Nosotras / Nosotrosinvestiguemoswe research
Vosotras / Vosotrosinvestiguéisyou (plural) research
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesinvestiguenthey research

How it’s built: Every form adds a u (investigue, investigues, investigue, investiguemos, investiguéis, investiguen).

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

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Investigar 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, “investigara”, meaning “I researched”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
YoinvestigaraI researched
Túinvestigarasyou researched
Ella / Él / Ustedinvestigaras/he researched
Nosotras / Nosotrosinvestigáramoswe researched
Vosotras / Vosotrosinvestigaraisyou (plural) researched
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesinvestigaranthey researched

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

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Investigar 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, “investigare”, meaning “I will research”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
YoinvestigareI will research
Túinvestigaresyou will research
Ella / Él / Ustedinvestigares/he will research
Nosotras / Nosotrosinvestigáremoswe will research
Vosotras / Vosotrosinvestigareisyou (plural) will research
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesinvestigarenthey will research

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

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Investigar 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 investigado”, meaning “I have researched”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohaya investigadoI have researched
Túhayas investigadoyou have researched
Ella / Él / Ustedhaya investigados/he has researched
Nosotras / Nosotroshayamos investigadowe have researched
Vosotras / Vosotroshayáis investigadoyou (plural) have researched
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshayan investigadothey have researched

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

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Investigar 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 investigado”, meaning “I had researched”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohubiera investigadoI had researched
Túhubieras investigadoyou had researched
Ella / Él / Ustedhubiera investigados/he had researched
Nosotras / Nosotroshubiéramos investigadowe had researched
Vosotras / Vosotroshubierais investigadoyou (plural) had researched
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshubieran investigadothey had researched

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

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Investigar 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 investigado”, meaning “I will have researched”.

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohubiere investigadoI will have researched
Túhubieres investigadoyou will have researched
Ella / Él / Ustedhubiere investigados/he will have researched
Nosotras / Nosotroshubiéremos investigadowe will have researched
Vosotras / Vosotroshubiereis investigadoyou (plural) will have researched
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshubieren investigadothey will have researched

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

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Imperative tenses of Investigar

Investigar in the Imperative Affirmative

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yo--
Túinvestiga(to you) research!
Ella / Él / Ustedinvestigue(to you formal) research!
Nosotras / Nosotrosinvestiguemoslet's research!
Vosotras / Vosotrosinvestigad(to you plural) research!
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesinvestiguen(to you plural formal) research!

How it’s built: Tú takes the ella/él present (investiga); usted, nosotros and ustedes take the subjunctive present (investigue, investiguemos, investiguen); vosotros swaps the final r of the infinitive for a d (investigad).

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

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Investigar in the Imperative Negative

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

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

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yo--
Túno investigues(to you) don't research!
Ella / Él / Ustedno investigue(to you formal) don't research!
Nosotras / Nosotrosno investiguemoslet's not research!
Vosotras / Vosotrosno investiguéis(to you plural) don't research!
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesno investiguen(to you plural formal) don't research!

How it’s built: No plus the subjunctive present: no investigues, no investigue, no investiguemos, no investiguéis, no investiguen.

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

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Frequently asked questions about Investigar

Is investigar a regular or irregular verb?

Investigar is an irregular Spanish verb. The present tense is regular. In the preterite: yo adds a u (investigué); the other forms are regular. It is also irregular in the present subjunctive (investigue).

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

In the present tense (presente), investigar is conjugated as: yo investigo, tú investigas, él/ella/usted investiga, nosotros investigamos, vosotros investigáis, ellos/ellas/ustedes investigan. 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 investigar in the preterite (pretérito indefinido)?

In the preterite (pretérito indefinido), investigar is conjugated as: yo investigué, tú investigaste, él/ella/usted investigó, nosotros investigamos, vosotros investigasteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes investigaron. The preterite is used To talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time.

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

In the imperfect (pretérito imperfecto), investigar is conjugated as: yo investigaba, tú investigabas, él/ella/usted investigaba, nosotros investigábamos, vosotros investigabais, ellos/ellas/ustedes investigaban. 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 investigar in the future tense (futuro simple)?

In the future tense (futuro simple), investigar is conjugated as: yo investigaré, tú investigarás, él/ella/usted investigará, nosotros investigaremos, vosotros investigaréis, ellos/ellas/ustedes investigarán. The future tense is used To talk about something that will happen in the future.

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

In the present subjunctive (subjuntivo presente), investigar is conjugated as: yo investigue, tú investigues, él/ella/usted investigue, nosotros investiguemos, vosotros investiguéis, ellos/ellas/ustedes investiguen. 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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