Vestirse means "to get dressed" or "to dress oneself." It's a reflexive -ir verb with an e → i stem change: vest- becomes vist- when the stem is stressed. Unlike -ar and -er stem-changers, -ir stem-changers also show the change in the preterite third person and in the gerund.
Present Indicative
| Subject | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | me visto |
| tú | te vistes |
| él / ella / usted | se viste |
| nosotros / nosotras | nos vestimos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | se visten |
Me visto rápido porque voy tarde.
I'm getting dressed quickly because I'm running late.
Preterite
| Subject | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | me vestí |
| tú | te vestiste |
| él / ella / usted | se vistió |
| nosotros / nosotras | nos vestimos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | se vistieron |
The third-person forms keep the e → i change in -ir stem-changers: se vistió, se vistieron.
Se vistió de negro para el funeral.
She dressed in black for the funeral.
Imperfect
| Subject | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | me vestía |
| tú | te vestías |
| él / ella / usted | se vestía |
| nosotros / nosotras | nos vestíamos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | se vestían |
Antes me vestía con colores más llamativos.
I used to dress in brighter colors.
Future
| Subject | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | me vestiré |
| tú | te vestirás |
| él / ella / usted | se vestirá |
| nosotros / nosotras | nos vestiremos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | se vestirán |
Conditional
| Subject | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | me vestiría |
| tú | te vestirías |
| él / ella / usted | se vestiría |
| nosotros / nosotras | nos vestiríamos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | se vestirían |
Present Subjunctive
| Subject | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | me vista |
| tú | te vistas |
| él / ella / usted | se vista |
| nosotros / nosotras | nos vistamos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | se vistan |
-ir stem-changers keep the e → i change in all present subjunctive forms, including nosotros.
Quiero que te vistas elegante esta noche.
I want you to dress elegantly tonight.
Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra forms)
| Subject | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | me vistiera |
| tú | te vistieras |
| él / ella / usted | se vistiera |
| nosotros / nosotras | nos vistiéramos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | se vistieran |
The imperfect subjunctive is built from the third-person preterite stem (vistieron → vistiera), so the e → i change appears throughout.
Imperative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú (affirmative) | vístete |
| tú (negative) | no te vistas |
| usted | vístase |
| nosotros | vistámonos |
| ustedes | vístanse |
Vístete, ya es hora de salir.
Get dressed, it's time to leave.
Non-Finite Forms
- Infinitive: vestirse
- Gerund: vistiéndose (note: e → i in the gerund of -ir stem-changers)
- Past participle: vestido
Common Uses
Vestirse covers putting on clothes in general. For individual items of clothing, Spanish uses ponerse: me pongo los zapatos ("I put on my shoes").
- vestirse de
- color / costume — to dress in / dress as
- vestirse bien / mal — to dress well / poorly
- vestirse para — to dress for (an occasion)
Los niños ya saben vestirse solos.
The kids already know how to dress themselves.
Se vistió de payaso para la fiesta.
He dressed up as a clown for the party.
Siempre se viste muy elegante.
He always dresses very elegantly.
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