Ella Verbssustituir to substitute Irregular Verb
At a glance: Sustituir (to substitute) is a irregular verb in Spanish. In the present tense: sustituyo, sustituyes, sustituye, sustituimos, sustituís, sustituyen. Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos add a y (sustituyo, sustituyes, sustituye, sustituyen); nosotros and vosotros are regular. It is also irregular in the preterite (sustituyó), subjunctive and gerund (sustituyendo).

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The Indicative Present of sustituir 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, “sustituyo”, meaning “I substitute”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present is known as "El Presente".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | sustituyo | I substitute |
| Tú | sustituyes | you substitute |
| Ella / Él / Usted | sustituye | s/he substitutes |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | sustituimos | we substitute |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | sustituís | you (plural) substitute |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | sustituyen | they substitute |
How it’s built: Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos add a y (sustituyo, sustituyes, sustituye, sustituyen); nosotros and vosotros are regular.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
The Indicative Preterite of sustituir is used to talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time. For example, “sustituí”, meaning “I substituted”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Preterite is known as "El Pretérito Indefinido".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | sustituí | I substituted |
| Tú | sustituiste | you substituted |
| Ella / Él / Usted | sustituyó | s/he substituted |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | sustituimos | we substituted |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | sustituisteis | you (plural) substituted |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | sustituyeron | they substituted |
How it’s built: Ella/Él and ellas/ellos change i to y (sustituyó, sustituyeron); the other forms are regular.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
The Indicative Imperfect of sustituir is used to describe regular and repeated actions that happened in the past and descriptions of things you used to do. For example, “sustituía”, meaning “I used to substitute”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Imperfect is known as "El Pretérito Imperfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | sustituía | I used to substitute |
| Tú | sustituías | you used to substitute |
| Ella / Él / Usted | sustituía | s/he used to substitute |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | sustituíamos | we used to substitute |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | sustituíais | you (plural) used to substitute |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | sustituían | they used to substitute |
How it’s built: Regular: stem sustitu- plus the -ir endings.
The Indicative Present Continuous of sustituir is used to talk about something that is happening continuously or right now. For example, “estoy sustituyendo”, meaning “I am substituting”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present Continuous is known as "El Presente Progresivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | estoy sustituyendo | I am substituting |
| Tú | estás sustituyendo | you are substituting |
| Ella / Él / Usted | está sustituyendo | s/he is substituting |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | estamos sustituyendo | we are substituting |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | estáis sustituyendo | you (plural) are substituting |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | están sustituyendo | they are substituting |
How it’s built: Estar in the present (estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están) plus the irregular gerund sustituyendo.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
The Indicative Informal Future of sustituir is used to talk about something that will happen in the future, especially in the near future. For example, “voy a sustituir”, meaning “I am going to substitute”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Informal Future is known as "El Futuro Próximo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | voy a sustituir | I am going to substitute |
| Tú | vas a sustituir | you are going to substitute |
| Ella / Él / Usted | va a sustituir | s/he is going to substitute |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | vamos a sustituir | we are going to substitute |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | vais a sustituir | you (plural) are going to substitute |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | van a sustituir | they are going to substitute |
How it’s built: Ir in the present (voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van), then a, then the infinitive sustituir.
The Indicative Future of sustituir is used to talk about something that will happen in the future. For example, “sustituiré”, meaning “I will substitute”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Future is known as "El Futuro Simple".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | sustituiré | I will substitute |
| Tú | sustituirás | you will substitute |
| Ella / Él / Usted | sustituirá | s/he will substitute |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | sustituiremos | we will substitute |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | sustituiréis | you (plural) will substitute |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | sustituirán | they will substitute |
How it’s built: Regular: the infinitive sustituir plus the future endings.
The Indicative Conditional of sustituir is used to talk about something that may happen in the future, hypothesis and probabilities. For example, “sustituiría”, meaning “I would substitute”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional is known as "El Condicional Simple".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | sustituiría | I would substitute |
| Tú | sustituirías | you would substitute |
| Ella / Él / Usted | sustituiría | s/he would substitute |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | sustituiríamos | we would substitute |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | sustituiríais | you (plural) would substitute |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | sustituirían | they would substitute |
How it’s built: Regular: the infinitive sustituir plus the conditional endings.
The Indicative Present Perfect of sustituir 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 sustituido”, meaning “I have substituted”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | he sustituido | I have substituted |
| Tú | has sustituido | you have substituted |
| Ella / Él / Usted | ha sustituido | s/he has substituted |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hemos sustituido | we have substituted |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habéis sustituido | you (plural) have substituted |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | han sustituido | they have substituted |
How it’s built: Haber in the present (he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han) plus the past participle sustituido.
The Indicative Past Perfect of sustituir is used to talk about actions that happened before another action in the past. For example, “había sustituido”, meaning “I had substituted”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | había sustituido | I had substituted |
| Tú | habías sustituido | you had substituted |
| Ella / Él / Usted | había sustituido | s/he had substituted |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habíamos sustituido | we had substituted |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habíais sustituido | you (plural) had substituted |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habían sustituido | they had substituted |
How it’s built: Haber in the imperfect (había, habías, había, habíamos, habíais, habían) plus the past participle sustituido.
The Indicative Future Perfect of sustituir is used to talk about something that will have happened in the future after something else has already happened. For example, “habré sustituido”, meaning “I will have substituted”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | habré sustituido | I will have substituted |
| Tú | habrás sustituido | you will have substituted |
| Ella / Él / Usted | habrá sustituido | s/he will have substituted |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habremos sustituido | we will have substituted |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habréis sustituido | you (plural) will have substituted |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrán sustituido | they will have substituted |
How it’s built: Haber in the future (habré, habrás, habrá, habremos, habréis, habrán) plus the past participle sustituido.
The Indicative Conditional Perfect of sustituir is used to talk about something that would have happened in the past but didn’t due to another action. For example, “habría sustituido”, meaning “I would have substituted”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional Perfect is known as "El Condicional Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | habría sustituido | I would have substituted |
| Tú | habrías sustituido | you would have substituted |
| Ella / Él / Usted | habría sustituido | s/he would have substituted |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habríamos sustituido | we would have substituted |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habríais sustituido | you (plural) would have substituted |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrían sustituido | they would have substituted |
How it’s built: Haber in the conditional (habría, habrías, habría, habríamos, habríais, habrían) plus the past participle sustituido.
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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, “sustituya”, meaning “I substitute”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present is known as "El Presente de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | sustituya | I substitute |
| Tú | sustituyas | you substitute |
| Ella / Él / Usted | sustituya | s/he substitutes |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | sustituyamos | we substitute |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | sustituyáis | you (plural) substitute |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | sustituyan | they substitute |
How it’s built: Every form follows the yo present, sustituyo (sustituya, sustituyas, sustituya, sustituyamos, sustituyáis, sustituyan).
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, “sustituyera”, meaning “I substituted”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Imperfect is known as "El Imperfecto Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | sustituyera | I substituted |
| Tú | sustituyeras | you substituted |
| Ella / Él / Usted | sustituyera | s/he substituted |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | sustituyéramos | we substituted |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | sustituyerais | you (plural) substituted |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | sustituyeran | they substituted |
How it’s built: Built on the irregular ellas/ellos preterite, sustituyeron: drop -ron and add the -ra endings; nosotros adds an accent (sustituyéramos).
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
The Subjunctive Future is used to speak about hypothetical situations, and actions/events that may happen in the future. For example, “sustituyere”, meaning “I will substitute”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future is known as "El Futuro de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | sustituyere | I will substitute |
| Tú | sustituyeres | you will substitute |
| Ella / Él / Usted | sustituyere | s/he will substitute |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | sustituyéremos | we will substitute |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | sustituyereis | you (plural) will substitute |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | sustituyeren | they will substitute |
How it’s built: Built on the irregular ellas/ellos preterite, sustituyeron: drop -ron and add the -re endings; nosotros adds an accent (sustituyéremos).
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
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 sustituido”, meaning “I have substituted”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | haya sustituido | I have substituted |
| Tú | hayas sustituido | you have substituted |
| Ella / Él / Usted | haya sustituido | s/he has substituted |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hayamos sustituido | we have substituted |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hayáis sustituido | you (plural) have substituted |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hayan sustituido | they have substituted |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive present (haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan) plus the past participle sustituido.
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 sustituido”, meaning “I had substituted”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera sustituido | I had substituted |
| Tú | hubieras sustituido | you had substituted |
| Ella / Él / Usted | hubiera sustituido | s/he had substituted |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéramos sustituido | we had substituted |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hubierais sustituido | you (plural) had substituted |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieran sustituido | they had substituted |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive imperfect (hubiera, hubieras, hubiera, hubiéramos, hubierais, hubieran) plus the past participle sustituido.
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 sustituido”, meaning “I will have substituted”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere sustituido | I will have substituted |
| Tú | hubieres sustituido | you will have substituted |
| Ella / Él / Usted | hubiere sustituido | s/he will have substituted |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéremos sustituido | we will have substituted |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hubiereis sustituido | you (plural) will have substituted |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieren sustituido | they will have substituted |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive future (hubiere, hubieres, hubiere, hubiéremos, hubiereis, hubieren) plus the past participle sustituido.
The Imperative Affirmative is used to give orders and commands, to tell someone to do something. For example, “sustituya”, meaning “(to you formal) substitute!”.
In Spanish, the Imperative Affirmative is known as "El Imperativo Afirmativo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | sustituye | (to you) substitute! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | sustituya | (to you formal) substitute! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | sustituyamos | let's substitute! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | sustituid | (to you plural) substitute! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | sustituyan | (to you plural formal) substitute! |
How it’s built: Tú takes the ella/él present (sustituye); usted, nosotros and ustedes take the subjunctive present (sustituya, sustituyamos, sustituyan); vosotros swaps the final r of the infinitive for a d (sustituid).
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 sustituya”, meaning “(to you formal) don't substitute!”.
In Spanish, the Imperative Negative is known as "El Imperativo Negativo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | no sustituyas | (to you) don't substitute! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | no sustituya | (to you formal) don't substitute! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | no sustituyamos | let's not substitute! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | no sustituyáis | (to you plural) don't substitute! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | no sustituyan | (to you plural formal) don't substitute! |
How it’s built: No plus the subjunctive present: no sustituyas, no sustituya, no sustituyamos, no sustituyáis, no sustituyan.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
Sustituir is an irregular Spanish verb. In the present tense: yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos add a y (sustituyo, sustituyes, sustituye, sustituyen); nosotros and vosotros are regular. It is also irregular in the preterite (sustituyó), subjunctive and gerund (sustituyendo).
In the present tense (presente), sustituir is conjugated as: yo sustituyo, tú sustituyes, él/ella/usted sustituye, nosotros sustituimos, vosotros sustituís, ellos/ellas/ustedes sustituyen. 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), sustituir is conjugated as: yo sustituí, tú sustituiste, él/ella/usted sustituyó, nosotros sustituimos, vosotros sustituisteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes sustituyeron. The preterite is used To talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time.
In the imperfect (pretérito imperfecto), sustituir is conjugated as: yo sustituía, tú sustituías, él/ella/usted sustituía, nosotros sustituíamos, vosotros sustituíais, ellos/ellas/ustedes sustituían. 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), sustituir is conjugated as: yo sustituiré, tú sustituirás, él/ella/usted sustituirá, nosotros sustituiremos, vosotros sustituiréis, ellos/ellas/ustedes sustituirán. The future tense is used To talk about something that will happen in the future.
In the present subjunctive (subjuntivo presente), sustituir is conjugated as: yo sustituya, tú sustituyas, él/ella/usted sustituya, nosotros sustituyamos, vosotros sustituyáis, ellos/ellas/ustedes sustituyan. 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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