Ella Verbsmerecerse to deserve Irregular Verb
At a glance: Merecerse (to deserve) is a reflexive irregular verb in Spanish. In the present tense: me merezco, te mereces, se merece, nos merecemos, os merecéis, se merecen. Yo adds a z (merezco); the other forms are regular. It is also irregular in the present subjunctive (me merezca).

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