Exigir: Full Conjugation | Spanish (Latin America) Grammar

Exigir means "to demand," "to require," or "to insist on." It's a regular -ir verb in pronunciation, but because Spanish spelling requires that the "hard g" sound stay consistent, the g changes to j before o and a. This keeps the stem sounding like exih- rather than turning into exig- (which would be pronounced with a soft g).

This spelling change affects the yo form of the present indicative and the entire present subjunctive, plus the usted/ustedes imperative forms.

Present Indicative

Subject	Form
yo	exijo
tú	exiges
él / ella / usted	exige
nosotros / nosotras	exigimos
ellos / ellas / ustedes	exigen

Exijo una explicación inmediata.

I demand an immediate explanation.

Preterite

Subject	Form
yo	exigí
tú	exigiste
él / ella / usted	exigió
nosotros / nosotras	exigimos
ellos / ellas / ustedes	exigieron

El jefe exigió más resultados.

The boss demanded more results.

Imperfect

Subject	Form
yo	exigía
tú	exigías
él / ella / usted	exigía
nosotros / nosotras	exigíamos
ellos / ellas / ustedes	exigían

Future

Subject	Form
yo	exigiré
tú	exigirás
él / ella / usted	exigirá
nosotros / nosotras	exigiremos
ellos / ellas / ustedes	exigirán

Conditional

Subject	Form
yo	exigiría
tú	exigirías
él / ella / usted	exigiría
nosotros / nosotras	exigiríamos
ellos / ellas / ustedes	exigirían

Present Subjunctive

Subject	Form
yo	exija
tú	exijas
él / ella / usted	exija
nosotros / nosotras	exijamos
ellos / ellas / ustedes	exijan

Quiero que exijas tus derechos.

I want you to demand your rights.

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra forms)

Subject	Form
yo	exigiera
tú	exigieras
él / ella / usted	exigiera
nosotros / nosotras	exigiéramos
ellos / ellas / ustedes	exigieran

Imperative

Person	Form
tú (affirmative)	exige
tú (negative)	no exijas
usted	exija
nosotros	exijamos
ustedes	exijan

Non-Finite Forms

Infinitive: exigir
Gerund: exigiendo
Past participle: exigido

Common Uses

Exigir is used when you want to express a strong, non-negotiable request. It's much stronger than pedir ("to ask for") — exigir implies authority or insistence.

Los manifestantes exigen justicia.

The protesters are demanding justice.

Este trabajo exige mucha paciencia.

This job demands a lot of patience.

Exigieron que firmáramos el contrato.

They demanded that we sign the contract.

💡

The g → j spelling change in exigir is purely orthographic, not a sound change. The yo form is exijo (not exigo) so that the consonant sound stays the same as in exige. The same pattern applies to other -gir verbs like dirigir and corregir.

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