Repetir means to repeat — to say or do something again. It is the textbook example of an e>i stem-changing -ir verb, with no extra complications (unlike its trickier cousins reír or freír, which add accent gymnastics on top of the e>i shift). The pattern is mechanical and worth internalizing because it generalizes immediately to pedir, servir, seguir, vestir, medir, despedir, competir, impedir. Master repetir and you have the template for the entire e>i family.
The e>i shift appears in four places: (1) in the boot of the present indicative (repito, repites, repite, repiten — but repetimos, repetís); (2) across the entire present subjunctive (repita, repitas, repita, repitamos, repitáis, repitan); (3) in the third-person preterite (repitió, repitieron — but repetí, repetiste, repetimos, repetisteis); and (4) in the gerund (repitiendo, not repetiendo). Everywhere else — imperfect, future, conditional, participle — the stem keeps the original e.
In Spain repetir also carries two non-obvious meanings worth flagging up front. After a meal, ¿quieres repetir? means do you want seconds? — the verb means to have another helping. And when food doesn't sit well, me está repitiendo el ajo means the garlic is repeating on me / I'm tasting the garlic again. Both are everyday peninsular usage and learners hit them constantly.
Non-finite forms
| Form | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitivo | repetir | to repeat, to have seconds |
| Infinitivo compuesto | haber repetido | to have repeated |
| Gerundio | repitiendo | repeating |
| Gerundio compuesto | habiendo repetido | having repeated |
| Participio | repetido (regular) | repeated |
The gerund is repitiendo, not repetiendo. The e>i shift applies across the gerund of every -ir stem-changer (pidiendo, sirviendo, siguiendo, vistiendo). The participle repetido, by contrast, is fully regular — no e>i shift, no accent — and it doubles as an adjective meaning repeated (una pregunta repetida, errores repetidos).
Indicative — simple tenses
Presente
| yo | tú | él/ella/usted | nosotros | vosotros | ellos/ellas/ustedes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| repito | repites | repite | repetimos | repetís | repiten |
Every form except nosotros / vosotros takes the e>i shift. The rule is mechanical: the stem vowel changes wherever it is stressed, and in the present indicative the stress falls on the root in every form except nosotros / vosotros (where it migrates to the ending: re-pe-*ti-mos, re-pe-*tís).
Te lo repito por última vez: la reunión es a las nueve, no a las diez.
I'm telling you for the last time: the meeting is at nine, not at ten.
Si te gusta, repites; aquí no se cobra el segundo plato.
If you like it, you can have seconds — they don't charge for a second helping here.
Mis alumnos repiten las palabras en voz alta, así se les graban antes.
My students repeat the words out loud — that way they stick faster.
Pretérito perfecto simple
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| repetí | repetiste | repitió | repetimos | repetisteis | repitieron |
Only the 3rd-person forms take the e>i shift: repitió, repitieron. The 1sg, 2sg, 1pl, 2pl all keep the original e (repetí, repetiste, repetimos, repetisteis) because the rule for the preterite is purely morphological — it picks out the 3rd person, not the stressed forms. This is the distinctive feature of -ir stem-changers that -ar/-er stem-changers don't share: contar has no preterite stem change, but pedir and repetir do.
Note that repetimos is identical in present and preterite — only context (hoy vs ayer) tells you which tense is meant.
El profesor repitió la pregunta tres veces y nadie supo contestar.
The teacher repeated the question three times and nobody could answer.
Anoche repetimos de postre porque la tarta estaba de muerte.
Last night we had a second helping of dessert because the cake was to die for.
Los niños repitieron el estribillo a gritos hasta cansarnos.
The kids repeated the chorus at the top of their lungs until they wore us out.
Pretérito imperfecto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| repetía | repetías | repetía | repetíamos | repetíais | repetían |
No stem change in the imperfect — the e>i shift never appears here. The general rule: the imperfect of stem-changing verbs is always built on the unmodified stem.
Mi abuela repetía siempre la misma cantinela: 'come, que estás muy delgado'.
My grandmother always repeated the same refrain: 'eat, you're too thin'.
Futuro simple
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| repetiré | repetirás | repetirá | repetiremos | repetiréis | repetirán |
The future of -ir stem-changers is fully regular and built on the unmodified infinitive repetir-. No stem change.
No repetiré ese error en la entrevista siguiente, te lo aseguro.
I won't make that mistake again in the next interview, I promise you.
Condicional
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| repetiría | repetirías | repetiría | repetiríamos | repetiríais | repetirían |
Yo no repetiría curso, te buscaría algo extraescolar para reforzar lo que no entiendes.
I wouldn't have you retake the year — I'd look for something extracurricular to reinforce what you don't understand.
Indicative — compound tenses
All compound tenses pair haber with the regular participle repetido.
Pretérito perfecto compuesto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| he repetido | has repetido | ha repetido | hemos repetido | habéis repetido | han repetido |
In Spain the pretérito perfecto compuesto is the natural choice for "today, this week, this year" repetitions: hoy he repetido tres veces el mismo error.
Te lo he repetido mil veces, deja de meter los dedos en el enchufe.
I've told you a thousand times — stop sticking your fingers in the socket.
Pretérito pluscuamperfecto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| había repetido | habías repetido | había repetido | habíamos repetido | habíais repetido | habían repetido |
Le habíamos repetido cuatro veces la dirección y aun así se perdió.
We'd told him the address four times and he still got lost.
Futuro compuesto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| habré repetido | habrás repetido | habrá repetido | habremos repetido | habréis repetido | habrán repetido |
Para entonces ya habremos repetido la canción tantas veces que la odiarás.
By then we'll have repeated the song so many times that you'll hate it.
Condicional compuesto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| habría repetido | habrías repetido | habría repetido | habríamos repetido | habríais repetido | habrían repetido |
Habría repetido el examen, pero el coordinador no me dejó.
I would have retaken the exam, but the coordinator didn't let me.
Subjunctive — simple tenses
Presente de subjuntivo — e>i across the board
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| repita | repitas | repita | repitamos | repitáis | repitan |
The present subjunctive of -ir stem-changers shows the e>i shift in every form — including nosotros and vosotros (repitamos, repitáis). This is the second key way -ir stem-changers differ from -ar/-er ones: contar has contemos, contéis (no diphthong), but repetir has repitamos, repitáis (with the shift). The rule is morphological, not just stress-driven.
Te pido que no repitas eso delante de mi madre, por favor.
I'm asking you not to repeat that in front of my mother, please.
Es bueno que repitamos los conceptos básicos antes del examen.
It's good for us to go over the basic concepts before the exam.
Imperfecto de subjuntivo (-ra / -se)
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -ra | repitiera | repitieras | repitiera | repitiéramos | repitierais | repitieran |
| -se | repitiese | repitieses | repitiese | repitiésemos | repitieseis | repitiesen |
Built off the 3pl preterite stem repitie- (just like every Spanish imperfect subjunctive). The e>i shift carries over. -ra is the everyday peninsular form; -se is reserved for formal writing.
Si me repitieras la explicación más despacio, igual la pillo.
If you'd repeat the explanation more slowly, maybe I'd get it.
Subjunctive — compound tenses
Pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| haya repetido | hayas repetido | haya repetido | hayamos repetido | hayáis repetido | hayan repetido |
Me sorprende que no os haya repetido la pregunta el examinador.
I'm surprised the examiner didn't repeat the question for you.
Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -ra | hubiera repetido | hubieras repetido | hubiera repetido | hubiéramos repetido | hubierais repetido | hubieran repetido |
| -se | hubiese repetido | hubieses repetido | hubiese repetido | hubiésemos repetido | hubieseis repetido | hubiesen repetido |
Si me lo hubiera repetido una vez más, le habría dado un grito.
If he'd repeated it to me one more time, I would have yelled at him.
Imperative
| Form | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| tú | repite | no repitas |
| usted | repita | no repita |
| nosotros | repitamos | no repitamos |
| vosotros | repetid | no repitáis |
| ustedes | repitan | no repitan |
The vosotros affirmative imperative repetid is the only form in the entire paradigm where the e>i shift doesn't apply in the imperative — it is built from the infinitive minus the -r (repeti-r → repeti-d), with no stem change. Everywhere else in the imperative the shift applies, because the rest of the imperative forms come from the present subjunctive stem.
Repite conmigo: 'no voy a comerme otra magdalena'.
Repeat after me: 'I'm not going to eat another madeleine'.
Repetid el ejercicio dos veces más antes de cerrar el cuaderno.
(To a group) Repeat the exercise two more times before closing the notebook.
No me repitas que vas a dejar de fumar, llevas diciéndolo cinco años.
Don't tell me again you're going to quit smoking — you've been saying it for five years.
When pronouns attach to the affirmative imperative, write them as one word and add a written accent on the original stress: repítelo, repítemelo, repítaselo, repetídselo.
The many meanings of repetir
In Spain repetir has three productive senses that learners hit almost daily.
1. Repeat (say or do again)
¿Podrías repetir el número de teléfono? No lo he apuntado bien.
Could you repeat the phone number? I didn't write it down properly.
2. Have seconds (of food)
When you finish a plate and reach for more, the verb is repetir. This is one of the most common everyday uses in Spain.
Estaba tan buena la paella que repetí dos veces.
The paella was so good I had seconds twice.
¿Alguien quiere repetir? Queda un poco de tortilla.
Does anyone want seconds? There's a bit of tortilla left.
3. Repeat on you (of food, taste lingering)
When food keeps coming back to taste — usually garlic, onion, or peppers — Spanish uses repetir with an indirect object.
Me está repitiendo el pepino, qué cosa más pesada.
The cucumber is repeating on me — what a nuisance.
No te tomes ese ajo crudo, te va a repetir toda la tarde.
Don't eat that raw garlic — it'll repeat on you all afternoon.
4. Retake a year of school
In Spanish schools, when a student doesn't pass and has to do the year again, the verb is repetir curso — short for to repeat the year. Often used without curso: Mi primo repitió = my cousin had to redo the year.
Si suspendes tres asignaturas, repites curso.
If you fail three subjects, you have to retake the year.
High-frequency collocations from peninsular Spanish
| Phrase | Translation |
|---|---|
| repetir algo (a alguien) | to repeat something (to someone) |
| repetir de postre / de segundo | to have seconds of dessert / of the main course |
| repetirle a alguien (la comida) | (food) to repeat on someone |
| repetir curso | to retake the year (school) |
| repetidas veces / en repetidas ocasiones | repeatedly, on several occasions (formal) |
| no repetiré la pregunta | I won't ask again (used in formal interviews, classroom settings) |
| ¿me lo puedes repetir? | can you say that again? (everyday) |
| repetirse (de un suceso) | to happen again, to recur |
Espero que no se repita lo del año pasado, fue un desastre.
I hope what happened last year doesn't happen again — it was a disaster.
En repetidas ocasiones le advertimos del peligro, pero hizo oídos sordos.
On several occasions we warned him of the danger, but he turned a deaf ear.
The classic English-speaker error
English speakers say "Can you repeat?" as a standalone request — and Spanish learners reliably translate it as ❌ ¿Puedes repetir? with nothing else attached. This sounds incomplete in Spanish. The verb repetir almost always needs an object: ¿puedes repetir*lo? (can you repeat **it?), ¿puedes repetir lo que has dicho? (*can you repeat what you said?), or the idiomatic ¿me lo puedes repetir? (can you say it again to me?). Native speakers tolerate the bare ¿puedes repetir? in classrooms but it sounds clipped and learner-y in everyday speech.
A related error: confusing repetir with volver a + infinitivo. English "do it again" maps onto two Spanish patterns. Repetir takes the action as a direct object (repite el ejercicio = repeat the exercise). Volver a takes the action as an infinitive (vuelve a hacer el ejercicio = do the exercise again). For habits and repeated actions in general, volver a is more flexible because it works with any verb (vuelve a llamarme, volvió a llover). Repetir is more specific — it implies you're producing the same output again.
Common Mistakes
❌ Nosotros repitimos las palabras todos los días.
✅ Nosotros repetimos las palabras todos los días.
We repeat the words every day.
❌ Ayer él repetió la pregunta.
✅ Ayer él repitió la pregunta.
Yesterday he repeated the question.
❌ Estoy repetiendo lo mismo desde hace una hora.
✅ Estoy repitiendo lo mismo desde hace una hora.
I've been repeating the same thing for an hour.
❌ ¿Puedes repetir? (in everyday speech)
Bare repetir without an object sounds clipped in Spanish. Native speakers add a pronoun or a clause: ¿me lo puedes repetir? / ¿puedes repetir lo que has dicho?
✅ ¿Me lo puedes repetir?
Can you say that to me again?
❌ Quiero que repetimos la canción una vez más.
The present subjunctive of -ir stem-changers takes the shift in every form, including nosotros: repitamos, not repetimos.
✅ Quiero que repitamos la canción una vez más.
I want us to repeat the song one more time.
Key Takeaways
- Repetir is the canonical e>i stem-changing -ir verb: the shift appears in the present indicative boot (repito, repites, repite, repiten), the entire present subjunctive (repita... repitamos, repitáis... repitan), the 3rd-person preterite (repitió, repitieron), and the gerund (repitiendo).
- The imperfect, future, conditional, and participle are fully regular — no stem change.
- The peninsular vosotros affirmative imperative is repetid (the only imperative form without the e>i shift, because it's built from the infinitive); the negative is no repitáis.
- Repetir means more than "repeat": have seconds of food, (of food) to repeat on someone, to retake a year at school.
- Repetir + object and volver a + infinitivo both express "do again" — use repetir when you reproduce the same output, volver a for general recurrence.
- The verb almost always takes an object in everyday Spanish; bare ¿puedes repetir? sounds clipped.
- Que no se repita (let's hope it doesn't happen again) is a high-frequency expression of resignation in spoken Spain.
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