Ella Verbsmerecer to deserve, to merit, to be worth Irregular Verb
At a glance: Merecer (to deserve, to merit, to be worth) is a irregular verb in Spanish. In the present tense: merezco, mereces, merece, merecemos, merecéis, merecen. Yo adds a z (merezco); the other forms are regular. It is also irregular in the present subjunctive (merezca).

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The Indicative Present of merecer 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, “merezco”, meaning “I deserve”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present is known as "El Presente".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | merezco | I deserve |
| Tú | mereces | you deserve |
| Ella / Él / Usted | merece | s/he deserves |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | merecemos | we deserve |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | merecéis | you (plural) deserve |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | merecen | they deserve |
How it’s built: Yo adds a z (merezco); the other forms are regular.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
The Indicative Preterite of merecer is used to talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time. For example, “merecí”, meaning “I deserved”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Preterite is known as "El Pretérito Indefinido".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | merecí | I deserved |
| Tú | mereciste | you deserved |
| Ella / Él / Usted | mereció | s/he deserved |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | merecimos | we deserved |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | merecisteis | you (plural) deserved |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | merecieron | they deserved |
How it’s built: Regular: stem merec- plus the -er endings.
The Indicative Imperfect of merecer is used to describe regular and repeated actions that happened in the past and descriptions of things you used to do. For example, “merecía”, meaning “I used to deserve”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Imperfect is known as "El Pretérito Imperfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | merecía | I used to deserve |
| Tú | merecías | you used to deserve |
| Ella / Él / Usted | merecía | s/he used to deserve |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | merecíamos | we used to deserve |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | merecíais | you (plural) used to deserve |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | merecían | they used to deserve |
How it’s built: Regular: stem merec- plus the -er endings.
The Indicative Present Continuous of merecer is used to talk about something that is happening continuously or right now. For example, “estoy mereciendo”, meaning “I am deserving”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present Continuous is known as "El Presente Progresivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | estoy mereciendo | I am deserving |
| Tú | estás mereciendo | you are deserving |
| Ella / Él / Usted | está mereciendo | s/he is deserving |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | estamos mereciendo | we are deserving |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | estáis mereciendo | you (plural) are deserving |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | están mereciendo | they are deserving |
How it’s built: Estar in the present (estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están) plus the gerund mereciendo.
The Indicative Informal Future of merecer is used to talk about something that will happen in the future, especially in the near future. For example, “voy a merecer”, meaning “I am going to deserve”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Informal Future is known as "El Futuro Próximo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | voy a merecer | I am going to deserve |
| Tú | vas a merecer | you are going to deserve |
| Ella / Él / Usted | va a merecer | s/he is going to deserve |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | vamos a merecer | we are going to deserve |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | vais a merecer | you (plural) are going to deserve |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | van a merecer | they are going to deserve |
How it’s built: Ir in the present (voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van), then a, then the infinitive merecer.
The Indicative Future of merecer is used to talk about something that will happen in the future. For example, “mereceré”, meaning “I will deserve”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Future is known as "El Futuro Simple".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | mereceré | I will deserve |
| Tú | merecerás | you will deserve |
| Ella / Él / Usted | merecerá | s/he will deserve |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | mereceremos | we will deserve |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | mereceréis | you (plural) will deserve |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | merecerán | they will deserve |
How it’s built: Regular: the infinitive merecer plus the future endings.
The Indicative Conditional of merecer is used to talk about something that may happen in the future, hypothesis and probabilities. For example, “merecería”, meaning “I would deserve”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional is known as "El Condicional Simple".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | merecería | I would deserve |
| Tú | merecerías | you would deserve |
| Ella / Él / Usted | merecería | s/he would deserve |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | mereceríamos | we would deserve |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | mereceríais | you (plural) would deserve |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | merecerían | they would deserve |
How it’s built: Regular: the infinitive merecer plus the conditional endings.
The Indicative Present Perfect of merecer 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 merecido”, meaning “I have deserved”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | he merecido | I have deserved |
| Tú | has merecido | you have deserved |
| Ella / Él / Usted | ha merecido | s/he has deserved |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hemos merecido | we have deserved |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habéis merecido | you (plural) have deserved |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | han merecido | they have deserved |
How it’s built: Haber in the present (he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han) plus the past participle merecido.
The Indicative Past Perfect of merecer is used to talk about actions that happened before another action in the past. For example, “había merecido”, meaning “I had deserved”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | había merecido | I had deserved |
| Tú | habías merecido | you had deserved |
| Ella / Él / Usted | había merecido | s/he had deserved |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habíamos merecido | we had deserved |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habíais merecido | you (plural) had deserved |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habían merecido | they had deserved |
How it’s built: Haber in the imperfect (había, habías, había, habíamos, habíais, habían) plus the past participle merecido.
The Indicative Future Perfect of merecer is used to talk about something that will have happened in the future after something else has already happened. For example, “habré merecido”, meaning “I will have deserved”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | habré merecido | I will have deserved |
| Tú | habrás merecido | you will have deserved |
| Ella / Él / Usted | habrá merecido | s/he will have deserved |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habremos merecido | we will have deserved |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habréis merecido | you (plural) will have deserved |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrán merecido | they will have deserved |
How it’s built: Haber in the future (habré, habrás, habrá, habremos, habréis, habrán) plus the past participle merecido.
The Indicative Conditional Perfect of merecer is used to talk about something that would have happened in the past but didn’t due to another action. For example, “habría merecido”, meaning “I would have deserved”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional Perfect is known as "El Condicional Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | habría merecido | I would have deserved |
| Tú | habrías merecido | you would have deserved |
| Ella / Él / Usted | habría merecido | s/he would have deserved |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habríamos merecido | we would have deserved |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habríais merecido | you (plural) would have deserved |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrían merecido | they would have deserved |
How it’s built: Haber in the conditional (habría, habrías, habría, habríamos, habríais, habrían) plus the past participle merecido.
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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, “merezca”, meaning “I deserve”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present is known as "El Presente de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | merezca | I deserve |
| Tú | merezcas | you deserve |
| Ella / Él / Usted | merezca | s/he deserves |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | merezcamos | we deserve |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | merezcáis | you (plural) deserve |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | merezcan | they deserve |
How it’s built: Every form follows the yo present, merezco (merezca, merezcas, merezca, merezcamos, merezcáis, merezcan).
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, “mereciera”, meaning “I deserved”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Imperfect is known as "El Imperfecto Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | mereciera | I deserved |
| Tú | merecieras | you deserved |
| Ella / Él / Usted | mereciera | s/he deserved |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | mereciéramos | we deserved |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | merecierais | you (plural) deserved |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | merecieran | they deserved |
How it’s built: Regular: the ellas/ellos preterite, merecieron, without -ron, plus the -ra endings; nosotros adds an accent (mereciéramos).
The Subjunctive Future is used to speak about hypothetical situations, and actions/events that may happen in the future. For example, “mereciere”, meaning “I will deserve”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future is known as "El Futuro de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | mereciere | I will deserve |
| Tú | merecieres | you will deserve |
| Ella / Él / Usted | mereciere | s/he will deserve |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | mereciéremos | we will deserve |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | mereciereis | you (plural) will deserve |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | merecieren | they will deserve |
How it’s built: Regular: the ellas/ellos preterite, merecieron, without -ron, plus the -re endings; nosotros adds an accent (mereciéremos).
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 merecido”, meaning “I have deserved”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | haya merecido | I have deserved |
| Tú | hayas merecido | you have deserved |
| Ella / Él / Usted | haya merecido | s/he has deserved |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hayamos merecido | we have deserved |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hayáis merecido | you (plural) have deserved |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hayan merecido | they have deserved |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive present (haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan) plus the past participle merecido.
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 merecido”, meaning “I had deserved”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera merecido | I had deserved |
| Tú | hubieras merecido | you had deserved |
| Ella / Él / Usted | hubiera merecido | s/he had deserved |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéramos merecido | we had deserved |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hubierais merecido | you (plural) had deserved |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieran merecido | they had deserved |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive imperfect (hubiera, hubieras, hubiera, hubiéramos, hubierais, hubieran) plus the past participle merecido.
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 merecido”, meaning “I will have deserved”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere merecido | I will have deserved |
| Tú | hubieres merecido | you will have deserved |
| Ella / Él / Usted | hubiere merecido | s/he will have deserved |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéremos merecido | we will have deserved |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hubiereis merecido | you (plural) will have deserved |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieren merecido | they will have deserved |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive future (hubiere, hubieres, hubiere, hubiéremos, hubiereis, hubieren) plus the past participle merecido.
The Imperative Affirmative is used to give orders and commands, to tell someone to do something. For example, “merezca”, meaning “(to you formal) deserve!”.
In Spanish, the Imperative Affirmative is known as "El Imperativo Afirmativo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | merece | (to you) deserve! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | merezca | (to you formal) deserve! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | merezcamos | let's deserve! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | mereced | (to you plural) deserve! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | merezcan | (to you plural formal) deserve! |
How it’s built: Tú takes the ella/él present (merece); usted, nosotros and ustedes take the subjunctive present (merezca, merezcamos, merezcan); vosotros swaps the final r of the infinitive for a d (mereced).
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 merezca”, meaning “(to you formal) don't deserve!”.
In Spanish, the Imperative Negative is known as "El Imperativo Negativo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | no merezcas | (to you) don't deserve! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | no merezca | (to you formal) don't deserve! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | no merezcamos | let's not deserve! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | no merezcáis | (to you plural) don't deserve! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | no merezcan | (to you plural formal) don't deserve! |
How it’s built: No plus the subjunctive present: no merezcas, no merezca, no merezcamos, no merezcáis, no merezcan.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
Merecer is an irregular Spanish verb. In the present tense: yo adds a z (merezco); the other forms are regular. It is also irregular in the present subjunctive (merezca).
In the present tense (presente), merecer is conjugated as: yo merezco, tú mereces, él/ella/usted merece, nosotros merecemos, vosotros merecéis, ellos/ellas/ustedes merecen. 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), merecer is conjugated as: yo merecí, tú mereciste, él/ella/usted mereció, nosotros merecimos, vosotros merecisteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes merecieron. The preterite is used To talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time.
In the imperfect (pretérito imperfecto), merecer is conjugated as: yo merecía, tú merecías, él/ella/usted merecía, nosotros merecíamos, vosotros merecíais, ellos/ellas/ustedes merecían. 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), merecer is conjugated as: yo mereceré, tú merecerás, él/ella/usted merecerá, nosotros mereceremos, vosotros mereceréis, ellos/ellas/ustedes merecerán. The future tense is used To talk about something that will happen in the future.
In the present subjunctive (subjuntivo presente), merecer is conjugated as: yo merezca, tú merezcas, él/ella/usted merezca, nosotros merezcamos, vosotros merezcáis, ellos/ellas/ustedes merezcan. 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.
Merecer means ‘to deserve, to merit, to be worth’ and merecerse means ‘to deserve’. Merecerse is the reflexive form of merecer, 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 merezco becomes me merezco. In the affirmative tú imperative the pronoun attaches to the end of the verb, so merece becomes merécete.
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