How to conjugate Necesitar in Spanish
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Indicative tenses of Necesitar
- Necesitar in the Indicative Present
- Necesitar in the Indicative Preterite
- Necesitar in the Indicative Imperfect
- Necesitar in the Indicative Future
- Necesitar in the Indicative Conditional
- Necesitar in the Indicative Present Perfect
- Necesitar in the Indicative Past Perfect
- Necesitar in the Indicative Future Perfect
- Necesitar in the Indicative Conditional Perfect
- Subjunctive tenses of Necesitar
- Necesitar in the Subjunctive Present
- Necesitar in the Subjunctive Imperfect
- Necesitar in the Subjunctive Future
- Necesitar in the Subjunctive Present Perfect
- Necesitar in the Subjunctive Past Perfect
- Necesitar in the Subjunctive Future Perfect
- Imperative tenses of Necesitar
- Necesitar in the Imperative Affirmative
- Necesitar in the Imperative Negative
- Example sentences and usage
Introduction
Necesitar is the Spanish verb for to need. It is a regular AR verb. Read on below to see how it is conjugated in the 16 major Spanish tenses!
Spanish | Spanish | English |
---|---|---|
Infinitive | necesitar | to need |
Past participle | necesitado | needed |
Gerund | necesitando | needing |
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Indicative Tenses of Necesitar
Necesitar in the Indicative Present
The Indicative Present of necesitar 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, "necesito un descanso", meaning "I need a break".
Pronoun | Spanish | English |
---|---|---|
Yo | necesito | I need |
Tú | necesitas | you need |
Ella / Él / Usted | necesita | s/he need, you (formal) need |
Nosotras / Nosotros | necesitamos | we need |
Vosotras / Vosotros | necesitáis | you (plural) need |
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | necesitan | they need, you (plural formal) need |
Necesitar in the Indicative Preterite
The Indicative Preterite of necesitar is used to talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time. For example, "necesité un descanso", meaning "I needed a break".
Pronoun | Spanish | English |
---|---|---|
Yo | necesité | I needed |
Tú | necesitaste | you needed |
Ella / Él / Usted | necesitó | s/he needed, you (formal) needed |
Nosotras / Nosotros | necesitamos | we needed |
Vosotras / Vosotros | necesitasteis | you (plural) needed |
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | necesitaron | they needed, you (plural formal) needed |
Necesitar in the Indicative Imperfect
The Indicative Imperfect of necesitar is used to describe regular and repeated actions that happened in the past and descriptions of things you used to do. For example, "necesitaba un descanso", meaning "I used to need a break".
Pronoun | Spanish | English |
---|---|---|
Yo | necesitaba | I used to need |
Tú | necesitabas | you used to need |
Ella / Él / Usted | necesitaba | s/he used to need, you (formal) used to need |
Nosotras / Nosotros | necesitábamos | we used to need |
Vosotras / Vosotros | necesitabais | you (plural) used to need |
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | necesitaban | they used to need, you (plural formal) used to need |
Necesitar in the Indicative Future
The Indicative Future of necesitar is used to talk about something that will happen in the future. For example, "necesitaré un descanso", meaning "I will need a break".
Pronoun | Spanish | English |
---|---|---|
Yo | necesitaré | I will need |
Tú | necesitarás | you will need |
Ella / Él / Usted | necesitará | s/he will need, you (formal) will need |
Nosotras / Nosotros | necesitaremos | we will need |
Vosotras / Vosotros | necesitaréis | you (plural) will need |
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | necesitarán | they will need, you (plural formal) will need |
Necesitar in the Indicative Conditional
The Indicative Conditional of necesitar is used to talk about something that may happen in the future, hypothesis and probabilities. For example, "necesitaría un descanso", meaning "I would need a break".
Pronoun | Spanish | English |
---|---|---|
Yo | necesitaría | I would need |
Tú | necesitarías | you would need |
Ella / Él / Usted | necesitaría | s/he would need, you (formal) would need |
Nosotras / Nosotros | necesitaríamos | we would need |
Vosotras / Vosotros | necesitaríais | you (plural) would need |
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | necesitarían | they would need, you (plural formal) would need |
Necesitar in the Indicative Present Perfect
The Indicative Present Perfect of necesitar 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 necesitado un descanso", meaning "I have needed a break".
Pronoun | Spanish | English |
---|---|---|
Yo | he necesitado | I have needed |
Tú | has necesitado | you have needed |
Ella / Él / Usted | ha necesitado | s/he has needed, you (formal) have needed |
Nosotras / Nosotros | hemos necesitado | we have needed |
Vosotras / Vosotros | habéis necesitado | you (plural) have needed |
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | han necesitado | they have needed, you (plural formal) have needed |
Necesitar in the Indicative Past Perfect
The Indicative Past Perfect of necesitar is used to talk about actions that happened before another action in the past. For example, "había necesitado un descanso", meaning "I had needed a break".
Pronoun | Spanish | English |
---|---|---|
Yo | había necesitado | I had needed |
Tú | habías necesitado | you had needed |
Ella / Él / Usted | había necesitado | s/he had needed, you (formal) had needed |
Nosotras / Nosotros | habíamos necesitado | we had needed |
Vosotras / Vosotros | habíais necesitado | you (plural) had needed |
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habían necesitado | they had needed, you (plural formal) had needed |
Necesitar in the Indicative Future Perfect
The Indicative Future Perfect of necesitar is used to talk about something that will have happened in the future after something else has already happened. For example, "habré necesitado un descanso", meaning "I will have needed a break".
Pronoun | Spanish | English |
---|---|---|
Yo | habré necesitado | I will have needed |
Tú | habrás necesitado | you will have needed |
Ella / Él / Usted | habrá necesitado | s/he will have needed, you (formal) will have needed |
Nosotras / Nosotros | habremos necesitado | we will have needed |
Vosotras / Vosotros | habréis necesitado | you (plural) will have needed |
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrán necesitado | they will have needed, you (plural formal) will have needed |
Necesitar in the Indicative Conditional Perfect
The Indicative Conditional Perfect of necesitar is used to talk about something that would have happened in the future but didn’t due to another action. For example, "habría necesitado un descanso", meaning "I would have needed a break".
Pronoun | Spanish | English |
---|---|---|
Yo | habría necesitado | I would have needed |
Tú | habrías necesitado | you would have needed |
Ella / Él / Usted | habría necesitado | s/he would have needed, you (formal) would have needed |
Nosotras / Nosotros | habríamos necesitado | we would have needed |
Vosotras / Vosotros | habríais necesitado | you (plural) would have needed |
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrían necesitado | they would have needed, you (plural formal) would have needed |
Want a better way to learn conjugations?
Ella Verbs guides you through 30 levels of bite sized lessons and verb drills, helping you to master the 16 main Spanish tenses from our verb library of over 1,000 verbs.


Subjunctive Tenses of Necesitar
Necesitar 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, "necesite", meaning "I need".
Pronoun | Spanish | English |
---|---|---|
Yo | necesite | I need |
Tú | necesites | you need |
Ella / Él / Usted | necesite | s/he need, you (formal) need |
Nosotras / Nosotros | necesitemos | we need |
Vosotras / Vosotros | necesitéis | you (plural) need |
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | necesiten | they need, you (plural formal) need |
Necesitar 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, "necesitara", meaning "I needed".
Pronoun | Spanish | English |
---|---|---|
Yo | necesitara | I needed |
Tú | necesitaras | you needed |
Ella / Él / Usted | necesitara | s/he needed, you (formal) needed |
Nosotras / Nosotros | necesitáramos | we needed |
Vosotras / Vosotros | necesitarais | you (plural) needed |
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | necesitaran | they needed, you (plural formal) needed |
Necesitar in the Subjunctive Future
The Subjunctive Future is used For example, "necesitare", meaning "I will need".
Pronoun | Spanish | English |
---|---|---|
Yo | necesitare | I will need |
Tú | necesitares | you will need |
Ella / Él / Usted | necesitare | s/he will need, you (formal) will need |
Nosotras / Nosotros | necesitáremos | we will need |
Vosotras / Vosotros | necesitareis | you (plural) will need |
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | necesitaren | they will need, you (plural formal) will need |
Necesitar 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 necesitado", meaning "I have needed".
Pronoun | Spanish | English |
---|---|---|
Yo | haya necesitado | I have needed |
Tú | hayas necesitado | you have needed |
Ella / Él / Usted | haya necesitado | s/he has needed, you (formal) have needed |
Nosotras / Nosotros | hayamos necesitado | we have needed |
Vosotras / Vosotros | hayáis necesitado | you (plural) have needed |
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hayan necesitado | they have needed, you (plural formal) have needed |
Necesitar 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 necesitado", meaning "I had needed".
Pronoun | Spanish | English |
---|---|---|
Yo | hubiera necesitado | I had needed |
Tú | hubieras necesitado | you had needed |
Ella / Él / Usted | hubiera necesitado | s/he had needed, you (formal) had needed |
Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéramos necesitado | we had needed |
Vosotras / Vosotros | hubierais necesitado | you (plural) had needed |
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieran necesitado | they had needed, you (plural formal) had needed |
Necesitar in the Subjunctive Future Perfect
The Subjunctive Future Perfect is used For example, "hubiere necesitado", meaning "I will have needed".
Pronoun | Spanish | English |
---|---|---|
Yo | hubiere necesitado | I will have needed |
Tú | hubieres necesitado | you will have needed |
Ella / Él / Usted | hubiere necesitado | s/he will have needed, you (formal) will have needed |
Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéremos necesitado | we will have needed |
Vosotras / Vosotros | hubiereis necesitado | you (plural) will have needed |
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieren necesitado | they will have needed, you (plural formal) will have needed |
Imperative Tenses of Necesitar
Necesitar in the Imperative Affirmative
The Imperative Affirmative is used to give orders and commands, to tell someone to do something. For example, "necesite", meaning "(to you formal) need!".
Pronoun | Spanish | English |
---|---|---|
Yo | - | - |
Tú | necesita | (to you) need! |
Ella / Él / Usted | necesite | (to you formal) need! |
Nosotras / Nosotros | necesitemos | (to we) need! |
Vosotras / Vosotros | necesitad | (to you plural) need! |
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | necesiten | (to you plural formal) need! |
Necesitar in the Imperative Negative
The Imperative Negative is used to give orders and commands, telling someone not to do something. For example, "no necesite", meaning "(to you formal) don't need!".
Pronoun | Spanish | English |
---|---|---|
Yo | - | - |
Tú | no necesites | (to you) don't need! |
Ella / Él / Usted | no necesite | (to you formal) don't need! |
Nosotras / Nosotros | no necesitemos | (to we) don't need! |
Vosotras / Vosotros | no necesitéis | (to you plural) don't need! |
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | no necesiten | (to you plural formal) don't need! |
Example sentences and usage
- Necesito hacerte una pregunta tonta. I need to ask you a silly question.
- ¿Realmente necesitas preguntar para saber la respuesta? Do you really need to ask the question to know the answer?
- ¿Necesitas que te dé algo de dinero? Do you need me to give you some money?
- Necesito un nuevo ordenador. I have to get a new computer.
- Es rico, ¡no necesita dinero! He's rich. He doesn't need money!
- No necesitas llamarme por teléfono. You need not telephone me.
- ¿Necesitas trabajar el domingo? Must you work on Sunday?
- No necesitas tener el pelo cortado para esta semana. You need not have a haircut this week.
Want to explore other verb conjugations?
Why not check out venir – to come or see the complete list of verbs here.
Back to topWant a better way to learn conjugations?
Ella Verbs guides you through 30 levels of bite sized lessons and verb drills, helping you to master the 16 main Spanish tenses from our verb library of over 1,000 verbs.

