Estar: Full Conjugation | Spanish (Latin America) Grammar

Estar looks almost regular at first glance, but it has two complications. In the present, every form except estamos carries a written accent on the final syllable. In the preterite, it shares a special "u-stem" pattern with verbs like tener and andar.

For when to use estar, see Estar: Uses.

Present indicative

Notice the accents: estoy has none, but estás, está, and están all require one. The nosotros form estamos is unaccented because the stress naturally falls on the second-to-last syllable.

Tense	yo	tú	él/ella/usted	nosotros	ellos/ellas/ustedes
Present	estoy	estás	está	estamos	están

¿Cómo estás hoy?

How are you today?

Los niños están en el parque con su mamá.

The children are in the park with their mom.

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The written accent on está distinguishes it from the demonstrative esta (this). Esta casa está vieja = "This house is old." One is a pronoun, the other is the verb.

Preterite

Estar follows the "u-stem" irregular preterite pattern. The endings themselves are unaccented, and the stem estuv- is shared across all persons.

Tense	yo	tú	él/ella/usted	nosotros	ellos/ellas/ustedes
Preterite	estuve	estuviste	estuvo	estuvimos	estuvieron

Estuvimos en la playa durante dos semanas.

We were at the beach for two weeks.

Ayer estuve muy cansada después del trabajo.

Yesterday I was very tired after work.

Imperfect

The imperfect is completely regular. Only estábamos carries a written accent, following the normal pattern for -ar imperfect verbs.

Tense	yo	tú	él/ella/usted	nosotros	ellos/ellas/ustedes
Imperfect	estaba	estabas	estaba	estábamos	estaban

Cuando llegué, ellos ya estaban dormidos.

When I arrived, they were already asleep.

Future and conditional

Both tenses are built on the regular infinitive stem estar-, so there is nothing irregular to memorize here.

Tense	yo	tú	él/ella/usted	nosotros	ellos/ellas/ustedes
Future	estaré	estarás	estará	estaremos	estarán
Conditional	estaría	estarías	estaría	estaríamos	estarían

Mañana estaré en Buenos Aires.

Tomorrow I will be in Buenos Aires.

Dijo que estaría en casa a las seis.

He said he would be home at six.

Present subjunctive

The present subjunctive is unusual because it keeps the accent marks from the indicative: esté, estés, esté, estén. Only estemos is unaccented.

Tense	yo	tú	él/ella/usted	nosotros	ellos/ellas/ustedes
Present subjunctive	esté	estés	esté	estemos	estén

Espero que estés mejor pronto.

I hope you feel better soon.

Imperfect subjunctive

Like all imperfect subjunctives, these forms are derived from the third-person plural preterite (estuvieron) minus the -on ending. Both -ra and -se variants are valid; the -ra set is much more common in Latin America.

Tense	yo	tú	él/ella/usted	nosotros	ellos/ellas/ustedes
Imperfect subj. (-ra)	estuviera	estuvieras	estuviera	estuviéramos	estuvieran
Imperfect subj. (-se)	estuviese	estuvieses	estuviese	estuviésemos	estuviesen

Si estuviera allí, te ayudaría.

If I were there, I would help you.

Imperative

The imperatives use accented subjunctive forms. The reflexive form estate / estese is common in set phrases like estate quieto ("stay still").

Tense	tú	usted	nosotros	ustedes
Affirmative	está	esté	estemos	estén
Negative	no estés	no esté	no estemos	no estén

¡Estén atentos, por favor!

Pay attention, please!

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Estar is the auxiliary for the progressive tenses (estoy hablando, estaba comiendo). Once you know the conjugation of estar, the progressives come almost for free.