Despertarse is the everyday Spanish verb for to wake up in the intransitive sense — the action one does to oneself, by oneself, as morning arrives. It is a textbook example of two patterns working together: an e → ie stem change (the e of despert- becomes ie when stressed) and a reflexive construction (the se clitic attaches to the verb in every form). Once you master despertarse, you have free working knowledge of the rest of the morning-routine verbs in Spanish: levantarse (to get up), ducharse (to shower), vestirse (to get dressed), peinarse (to comb one's hair), afeitarse (to shave), lavarse (to wash).
The companion verb despertar (without the se) is transitive — it means to wake someone else up: Mi madre me despertó a las siete (My mother woke me up at seven). The contrast is one of the cleanest illustrations of why Spanish has a reflexive system at all: the same root verb can either act on the world (despertar a alguien) or be turned back on the subject (despertarse). English collapses both into wake up; Spanish keeps them grammatically distinct.
Non-finite forms
| Form | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitivo | despertarse | to wake up |
| Infinitivo compuesto | haberse despertado | to have woken up |
| Gerundio | despertándose | waking up |
| Gerundio compuesto | habiéndose despertado | having woken up |
| Participio | despertado | woken up |
The reflexive pronoun se attaches to the end of the infinitive and the gerund: despertarse, despertándose. When the gerund takes a pronoun, the original stress shifts and must be marked with a written accent: despertando → despertándose. The same goes for levantándose, vistiéndose, duchándose. The pronoun changes to match the subject: despertarme (for yo), despertarte (for tú), despertarnos (for nosotros), etc. In compound tenses, the pronoun precedes the auxiliary: me he despertado, never he despertádome (the latter exists in old literary register but is dead in modern speech).
The participle despertado is fully regular. A separate adjective despierto / despierta means awake — estoy despierta (I'm awake) — and is distinct from the participle.
Indicative — simple tenses
Presente
| yo | tú | él/ella/usted | nosotros | vosotros | ellos/ellas/ustedes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| me despierto | te despiertas | se despierta | nos despertamos | os despertáis | se despiertan |
The boot pattern in full view: despiert- in the four singular persons and the 3rd plural; bare despert- in nosotros and vosotros. The stem only changes when it is stressed — in despertamos and despertáis the stress moves to the ending (-amos, -áis) so the e of the stem stays unchanged.
Me despierto a las siete sin necesidad de despertador desde hace años.
I've been waking up at seven without an alarm for years.
Nos despertamos a las nueve los fines de semana y desayunamos sin prisas.
We wake up at nine on weekends and have a leisurely breakfast.
¿A qué hora os despertáis vosotros entre semana?
What time do you guys wake up on weekdays?
Pretérito perfecto simple
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| me desperté | te despertaste | se despertó | nos despertamos | os despertasteis | se despertaron |
Regular -ar preterite endings on the bare stem despert-. Important: -ar verbs do NOT carry their stem change into the preterite. The forms here are desperté, despertó — never despierté, despiertó. This contrasts with -ir stem-changers (like pedir, dormir, sentir), which do change in the 3rd-person preterite (pidió, durmió, sintió). For -ar and -er stem-changers, the preterite is plain. The peninsular vosotros form is os despertasteis.
Ayer me desperté a las cinco y ya no pude volver a dormirme.
Yesterday I woke up at five and couldn't get back to sleep.
Nos despertamos con un ruido tremendo en la calle.
We woke up to a huge noise out in the street.
Pretérito imperfecto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| me despertaba | te despertabas | se despertaba | nos despertábamos | os despertabais | se despertaban |
Like the preterite, the imperfect is built on the bare stem despert- — no stem change. Used for habitual or background waking in the past: de pequeña me despertaba muy temprano (as a little girl I used to wake up very early).
Cuando vivía con mis padres, me despertaba siempre con el olor a café.
When I lived with my parents, I always used to wake up to the smell of coffee.
Futuro simple
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| me despertaré | te despertarás | se despertará | nos despertaremos | os despertaréis | se despertarán |
Built on the full infinitive despertar-. The pronoun precedes the inflected verb, as always.
Mañana me despertaré pronto porque tengo entrevista a primera hora.
Tomorrow I'll wake up early because I have an interview first thing.
Condicional
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| me despertaría | te despertarías | se despertaría | nos despertaríamos | os despertaríais | se despertarían |
Yo me despertaría a las diez todos los días si pudiera.
I'd wake up at ten every day if I could.
Indicative — compound tenses
In every compound tense the reflexive pronoun precedes the auxiliary haber: me he despertado, never he despertádome.
Pretérito perfecto compuesto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| me he despertado | te has despertado | se ha despertado | nos hemos despertado | os habéis despertado | se han despertado |
In peninsular Spanish, this is the default for waking up today: hoy me he despertado a las seis (today I woke up at six).
Esta mañana me he despertado con dolor de cabeza.
This morning I woke up with a headache.
Pretérito pluscuamperfecto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| me había despertado | te habías despertado | se había despertado | nos habíamos despertado | os habíais despertado | se habían despertado |
Cuando sonó el despertador, ya me había despertado por mi cuenta.
By the time the alarm went off, I'd already woken up on my own.
Futuro compuesto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| me habré despertado | te habrás despertado | se habrá despertado | nos habremos despertado | os habréis despertado | se habrán despertado |
Para las ocho ya me habré despertado, llámame entonces.
By eight I'll already be awake, call me then.
Condicional compuesto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| me habría despertado | te habrías despertado | se habría despertado | nos habríamos despertado | os habríais despertado | se habrían despertado |
Sin el café de la mañana no me habría despertado a tiempo.
Without my morning coffee I wouldn't have woken up in time.
Subjunctive — simple tenses
Presente de subjuntivo
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| me despierte | te despiertes | se despierte | nos despertemos | os despertéis | se despierten |
The boot pattern carries over to the present subjunctive — same affected persons (everyone except nosotros and vosotros), same e → ie change. Note os despertéis (with accent on -éis) rather than os despertieis.
No quiero que te despiertes con prisas, descansa tranquila.
I don't want you to wake up in a rush — sleep peacefully.
Ojalá nos despertemos mañana con buenas noticias.
Hopefully we'll wake up to good news tomorrow.
Imperfecto de subjuntivo (-ra / -se)
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -ra | me despertara | te despertaras | se despertara | nos despertáramos | os despertarais | se despertaran |
| -se | me despertase | te despertases | se despertase | nos despertásemos | os despertaseis | se despertasen |
Built from the 3rd-plural preterite (despertaron) — so the stem is the bare despert- with no diphthong. Both -ra and -se sets are interchangeable; -ra dominates in Spain.
Le pedí a mi hermano que no me despertara antes de las nueve.
I asked my brother not to wake me up before nine.
Subjunctive — compound tenses
Pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| me haya despertado | te hayas despertado | se haya despertado | nos hayamos despertado | os hayáis despertado | se hayan despertado |
Es raro que el bebé no se haya despertado todavía.
It's odd that the baby hasn't woken up yet.
Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -ra | me hubiera despertado | te hubieras despertado | se hubiera despertado | nos hubiéramos despertado | os hubierais despertado | se hubieran despertado |
| -se | me hubiese despertado | te hubieses despertado | se hubiese despertado | nos hubiésemos despertado | os hubieseis despertado | se hubiesen despertado |
Si me hubiera despertado antes, habría llegado al avión.
If I'd woken up earlier, I'd have made the flight.
Imperative
The affirmative vosotros form is despertaos — the reflexive -d of despertad drops before the -os clitic. This is one of the few cases in peninsular Spanish where the -d of the vosotros imperative disappears, and it applies to all reflexive vosotros imperatives: levantaos, sentaos, dormíos, vestíos. The non-standard form despertados is sometimes heard but is considered substandard.
| Form | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| tú | despiértate | no te despiertes |
| usted | despiértese | no se despierte |
| nosotros | despertémonos | no nos despertemos |
| vosotros | despertaos | no os despertéis |
| ustedes | despiértense | no se despierten |
Note the written accents on despiértate, despiértese, despiértense — when one or more pronouns attach to a stem-changed imperative, the original stress on the -ie- must be marked. Despertémonos loses the final -s of despertemos before nos (avoiding despertemosnos).
¡Despiértate ya, que vas a llegar tarde al cole!
Wake up already, you're going to be late for school!
Despertaos pronto que tenemos un día largo.
Wake up early, we've got a long day ahead.
Despertar vs. despertarse — transitive vs. reflexive
The two forms divide the labor neatly:
- despertar (a alguien) — to wake someone else up. Direct object is a person, no reflexive pronoun.
- despertarse — to wake up oneself. Reflexive pronoun obligatory, no direct object.
No despiertes al niño, lleva durmiendo apenas una hora.
Don't wake the child up, he's only been asleep an hour.
Me he despertado dos veces esta noche por culpa del calor.
I've woken up twice tonight because of the heat.
A separate metaphorical use of despertar (without se) is to awaken (a feeling, an interest): despertar curiosidad, despertar sospechas, despertar el interés. Here the verb stays transitive but the direct object is abstract.
El documental le despertó un interés repentino por la astronomía.
The documentary awakened a sudden interest in astronomy in him.
Morning-routine vocabulary that pairs with despertarse
Despertarse is the first verb in a fixed sequence of daily-routine reflexives that every Spanish learner needs:
| Verb | Meaning | Pattern |
|---|---|---|
| despertarse | to wake up | e → ie, reflexive |
| levantarse | to get up (out of bed) | regular, reflexive |
| ducharse | to shower | regular, reflexive |
| lavarse (los dientes, la cara) | to brush one's teeth, to wash one's face | regular, reflexive |
| peinarse | to comb one's hair | regular, reflexive |
| afeitarse | to shave | regular, reflexive |
| vestirse | to get dressed | e → i, reflexive |
| desayunar | to have breakfast | regular, NOT reflexive |
Notice that desayunar breaks the reflexive pattern — Spaniards do not say me desayuno. The verb is plainly transitive: desayuno tostadas (I have toast for breakfast).
Me despierto, me levanto, me ducho, me visto y desayuno — todo en veinte minutos.
I wake up, get up, shower, get dressed and have breakfast — all in twenty minutes.
High-frequency expressions with despertarse / despertar
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| despertarse de buen / mal humor | to wake up in a good / bad mood |
| despertarse con dolor de cabeza / espalda | to wake up with a headache / backache |
| despertarse sobresaltado | to wake up with a start |
| no se despierta ni con un cañón (Spain) | he sleeps through anything (lit. "doesn't wake up even with a cannon") |
| despertar a alguien con un café | to wake someone up with a coffee |
| despertar curiosidad / sospechas / interés | to arouse curiosity / suspicions / interest |
| estar despierto / despierta | to be awake (adjective, with estar) |
Mi hijo no se despierta ni con un cañón, te lo juro.
My son sleeps through anything, I swear.
Su comportamiento me despertó muchas sospechas.
His behavior aroused a lot of suspicion in me.
The classic English-speaker error
English wake up covers both senses — I wake up at seven and I wake my brother up at seven. Spanish keeps them grammatically apart. English speakers regularly drop the reflexive pronoun and say despierto a las siete, which to a Spanish ear sounds either incomplete (you wake whom up?) or wrong. Me despierto a las siete is the only natural form for I wake up at seven.
The mirror-image error is adding a reflexive when waking someone else up: me lo despierto a mi hermano instead of despierto a mi hermano or lo despierto. The reflexive me makes no sense here — you are not waking yourself up; you are waking your brother up.
A third trap is the present-tense vosotros form. English speakers who have memorized despierto/despiertas/despierta sometimes carry the -ie- into nosotros and vosotros: despertiamos, despertieis. The boot pattern is strict: those two persons keep the bare despert- stem.
A fourth error is treating despertar as a state — saying despierto to mean I am awake. Despertar(se) is always an event (the transition from sleep to wakefulness). For the state, use estar despierto/despierta: estoy despierta desde las cinco (I've been awake since five).
Common Mistakes
❌ Despierto a las siete todos los días.
For the intransitive 'wake up oneself', the reflexive is obligatory: me despierto.
✅ Me despierto a las siete todos los días.
I wake up at seven every day.
❌ Nos despertamos a las nueve. Y vosotros, ¿os despertieis tarde?
The vosotros form keeps the bare stem: os despertáis, not os despertieis.
✅ Nos despertamos a las nueve. Y vosotros, ¿os despertáis tarde?
We wake up at nine. And you guys, do you wake up late?
❌ Ayer me despierté con dolor de cabeza.
-ar stem-changers don't change in the preterite: desperté, not despierté.
✅ Ayer me desperté con dolor de cabeza.
Yesterday I woke up with a headache.
❌ Despertados pronto que salimos en media hora.
The reflexive vosotros imperative loses the -d: despertaos, not despertados.
✅ Despertaos pronto que salimos en media hora.
Wake up soon, we leave in half an hour.
❌ Despiértate a tu hermano, que ya son las ocho.
To wake someone else up, use non-reflexive despertar: despierta a tu hermano.
✅ Despierta a tu hermano, que ya son las ocho.
Wake your brother up, it's already eight.
Key Takeaways
- Despertarse is a reflexive verb with an e → ie stem change in the boot positions (everywhere except nosotros and vosotros).
- The preterite and imperfect do NOT carry the stem change — they're built on the bare stem despert-.
- Despertar (non-reflexive) is transitive: it means to wake someone else up, or metaphorically to arouse (a feeling).
- The vosotros imperative is despertaos, with the -d of despertad dropped before -os.
- The participle is despertado (used in compound tenses); the adjective for awake is despierto / despierta (used with estar) — don't confuse them.
- Spaniards rarely use desayunarse — that verb is plainly desayunar, not reflexive, breaking the morning-routine reflexive pattern.
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