Presente
Present
What happens now or regularly: hablo español, trabajo en un banco.
Spanish verb conjugation
Conjugation of comprar
Comprar — “to buy”. Every tense with audio: tap a form to hear it, or the speaker to hear the whole tense.
- Translation
- to buy
- Group
- regular -ar verb
- Participio
- comprado
- Present perfect with haber
- yo he comprado
Comprar in every tense
Él / ella / usted and ellos / ellas / ustedes share their forms. Spanish usually drops the subject pronoun.
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Pretérito indefinido
Preterite
A completed action in a past cut off from now: ayer, el año pasado — Ayer hablé con Ana.
Pretérito imperfecto
Imperfect
Description, habit or background in the past: De niño vivía en Odesa y jugaba al fútbol.
Pretérito perfecto
Present perfect
An action in an unfinished period, or experience: Hoy he trabajado mucho. ¿Has estado en España?
Pluscuamperfecto
Pluperfect
What happened before another past action: Cuando llegué, ya habían cenado.
Futuro simple
Future
What will happen: Mañana lloverá. In speech, ir a + infinitive is common: Voy a llamar.
Condicional simple
Conditional
Polite requests and hypotheticals: ¿Podría ayudarme? Yo en tu lugar no iría.
Subjuntivo presente
Present subjunctive
After expressions of wishes, doubt, feelings and advice: Quiero que vengas. Ojalá haga sol.
Imperativo afirmativo
Imperative
Requests, advice, orders: ¡Habla más alto! ¡Venid aquí!
What to know
A regular -ar verb. To buy something for someone — comprar algo a alguien: le compré un regalo a mi madre. “To go shopping” is ir de compras.
Examples
- Compro pan todos los días.I buy bread every day.
- ¿Dónde compraste esos zapatos?Where did you buy those shoes?
- Compraremos los billetes por internet.We’ll buy the tickets online.
Practice
A person and a tense — choose the right form of comprar. 10 questions.
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FAQ
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How is comprar conjugated in the present?
yo compro, tú compras, él/ella/Ud. compra, nosotros compramos, vosotros compráis, ellos/ellas/Uds. compran.
What is comprar in the preterite (indefinido)?
yo compré, tú compraste, él/ella/Ud. compró, nosotros compramos, vosotros comprasteis, ellos/ellas/Uds. compraron.
How is the present perfect of comprar formed?
Haber in the present + the participle: yo he comprado, tú has comprado, él/ella/Ud. ha comprado, nosotros hemos comprado, vosotros habéis comprado, ellos/ellas/Uds. han comprado.
What is comprar in the future?
yo compraré, tú comprarás, él/ella/Ud. comprará, nosotros compraremos, vosotros compraréis, ellos/ellas/Uds. comprarán.
What’s next
Spanish irregular verbs
The present, preterite and participle of irregular verbs in one table — with search and a trainer.
See the table50 most common Spanish words
The 50 most common Spanish words with audio, examples and exercises.
See the wordsSpanish level test
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Grammar for this topic
Rules in plain words — with tables, examples and a quiz in every topic.
The present tense (presente)
Hablo, como, vivo — the endings of the three conjugations, pienso and puedo, tengo and conozco.
Level A1Pretérito indefinido: hablé, comí
Ayer hablé con Ana, el año pasado fui a Madrid — completed actions in the past.
Level A2Pretérito imperfecto: hablaba, comía
De niño vivía en Odesa y jugaba al fútbol — habits, descriptions and background in the past.
Level A2The present subjunctive: quiero que vengas
Quiero que vengas, ojalá llueva, cuando llegues: forming the subjunctive and when you need it.
Level B1
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