Sentir — "to feel, to sense, to regret" — is one of the diagnostic verbs of Spanish: it shows you both kinds of stem change at once. In the stressed present forms it shifts e > ie (siento, sientes, siente, sienten), and in two narrow corners of the system — the él/ellos preterite and the gerund — it shifts e > i (sintió, sintieron, sintiendo). This double pattern is the signature of -ir verbs whose stressed vowel becomes a diphthong; the same logic governs preferir, mentir, advertir, divertirse, hervir, herir. Learn sentir well and the whole family falls into place.
Sentir also has a reflexive twin, sentirse, which is what Spanish reaches for to express how someone is feeling emotionally or physically: me siento bien, te sientes raro, se siente sola. The plain (non-reflexive) sentir takes a direct object (sentir frío, sentir miedo, sentir pena) or means "to be sorry / to regret" (lo siento mucho). Both share exactly the same conjugation — the only difference is the presence or absence of the reflexive pronoun.
Non-finite forms
| Form | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitivo | sentir | to feel / to sense / to regret |
| Infinitivo compuesto | haber sentido | to have felt |
| Gerundio | sintiendo | feeling |
| Gerundio compuesto | habiendo sentido | having felt |
| Participio | sentido | felt |
The participle sentido is regular, but the gerund sintiendo carries the e > i shift. This is the same change that hits the 3rd-person preterite — both forms have endings that start with a stressed -i-, and the stem vowel drops one notch. The participle sentido doesn't change because -ido is unstressed on its first syllable (the stress is on the i), and the stem stays as e.
Sentido also lives a second life as a noun — el sentido means "sense" (one of the five senses, or "meaning"). No tiene sentido — "it doesn't make sense" — is one of the most-used phrases in everyday Spanish.
Indicative — simple tenses
Presente
The e > ie "boot" — the diphthong appears wherever the stem is stressed, but not in nosotros or vosotros, where stress lands on the ending.
| yo | tú | él/ella/usted | nosotros | vosotros | ellos/ellas/ustedes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| siento | sientes | siente | sentimos | sentís | sienten |
No siento las manos del frío que hace en la calle.
I can't feel my hands — it's so cold outside.
Mi madre siente mucho lo de tu abuelo, te manda un abrazo.
My mum is really sorry about your grandfather — she sends you a hug.
¿No sentís un olor raro? Yo creo que viene de la cocina.
Can't you all smell something weird? I think it's coming from the kitchen.
The reflexive sentirse uses the same forms with pronouns attached: me siento, te sientes, se siente, nos sentimos, os sentís, se sienten.
Hoy me siento mucho mejor, gracias por preguntar.
Today I'm feeling much better, thanks for asking.
Pretérito perfecto simple
Here the second stem change kicks in. Sentir is an -ir stem-changer, so the 3rd-person singular and 3rd-person plural shift e > i. The other persons stay with e. This is the diagnostic preterite pattern for the whole e > ie / e > i family of -ir verbs.
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sentí | sentiste | sintió | sentimos | sentisteis | sintieron |
Note that nosotros sentimos is identical in the present and the preterite — context disambiguates.
Sentí un pinchazo en el pecho y me asusté muchísimo.
I felt a sharp stab in my chest and got really scared.
No sintieron el terremoto porque estaban en el metro.
They didn't feel the earthquake because they were on the metro.
The preterite of sentir often carries a slight meaning shift from "feel" toward "regret" or "be sorry" in fixed contexts: Sentí mucho no poder ir — "I was really sorry I couldn't go."
Pretérito imperfecto
Perfectly regular -ir imperfect, no stem change. This is the form for ongoing feelings in the past — what you were feeling, or what you used to feel.
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sentía | sentías | sentía | sentíamos | sentíais | sentían |
De adolescente sentía que nadie me entendía, ahora me río de mí mismo.
As a teenager I felt nobody understood me — now I laugh at myself.
Sentíamos el ruido del tráfico hasta dentro del piso.
We could hear the traffic noise even inside the apartment.
Futuro simple
Built on the full infinitive sentir-. Endings are universal -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án.
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sentiré | sentirás | sentirá | sentiremos | sentiréis | sentirán |
Cuando llegue septiembre todos sentiremos la vuelta a la rutina.
When September comes around we'll all feel the return to the daily grind.
Condicional
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sentiría | sentirías | sentiría | sentiríamos | sentiríais | sentirían |
Yo sentiría muchísimo que dejaras el grupo.
I'd be really sorry if you left the group.
Indicative — compound tenses
All compound tenses pair haber with the regular participle sentido. With sentirse, the reflexive pronoun stays in front of haber: me he sentido, not he sentídome.
Pretérito perfecto compuesto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| he sentido | has sentido | ha sentido | hemos sentido | habéis sentido | han sentido |
In peninsular Spanish this is the default tense for feelings experienced earlier today or within a current time frame (esta mañana, hoy, esta semana).
Hoy me he sentido fuera de lugar en toda la reunión.
Today I felt out of place during the whole meeting.
Pretérito pluscuamperfecto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| había sentido | habías sentido | había sentido | habíamos sentido | habíais sentido | habían sentido |
Nunca había sentido un mareo así, fue de un segundo a otro.
I'd never felt dizziness like that — it came on from one second to the next.
Futuro compuesto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| habré sentido | habrás sentido | habrá sentido | habremos sentido | habréis sentido | habrán sentido |
Condicional compuesto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| habría sentido | habrías sentido | habría sentido | habríamos sentido | habríais sentido | habrían sentido |
Subjunctive — simple tenses
Presente de subjuntivo
The present subjunctive carries both stem changes: e > ie in the stressed forms, e > i in nosotros and vosotros (where stress is on the ending, but the -ir stem-changer still reduces). This is unique to -ir verbs of the e > ie type — -ar verbs like sentarse keep the bare stem in nosotros/vosotros subjunctive.
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sienta | sientas | sienta | sintamos | sintáis | sientan |
Quiero que sientas lo orgullosa que estoy de ti.
I want you to feel how proud I am of you.
Aunque sintáis miedo, no os mováis del sitio.
Even if you all feel scared, don't move from where you are.
Imperfecto de subjuntivo (-ra / -se)
Built on the 3rd-plural preterite stem sint-. Both endings carry the -i-.
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -ra | sintiera | sintieras | sintiera | sintiéramos | sintierais | sintieran |
| -se | sintiese | sintieses | sintiese | sintiésemos | sintieseis | sintiesen |
Si sintiera lo que tú sientes, también lloraría.
If I felt what you feel, I'd cry too.
Subjunctive — compound tenses
Pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| haya sentido | hayas sentido | haya sentido | hayamos sentido | hayáis sentido | hayan sentido |
Siento mucho que te hayas sentido excluida en la cena.
I'm very sorry you felt excluded at the dinner.
Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -ra | hubiera sentido | hubieras sentido | hubiera sentido | hubiéramos sentido | hubierais sentido | hubieran sentido |
| -se | hubiese sentido | hubieses sentido | hubiese sentido | hubiésemos sentido | hubieseis sentido | hubiesen sentido |
Imperative
The imperative of sentir (non-reflexive) is rarely used — you don't tell someone "feel!" outside of poetry. The reflexive sentirse is more often heard, particularly in caring or instructive contexts (siéntete como en casa — "make yourself at home").
| Form | sentir (affirmative) | sentirse (affirmative) | sentirse (negative) |
|---|---|---|---|
| tú | siente | siéntete | no te sientas |
| usted | sienta | siéntase | no se sienta |
| nosotros | sintamos | sintámonos | no nos sintamos |
| vosotros | sentid | sentíos | no os sintáis |
| ustedes | sientan | siéntanse | no se sientan |
The peninsular affirmative vosotros of the reflexive is sentíos — the final -d of sentid drops before the -os pronoun, and -ir verbs preserve the written accent on the í to mark the stress.
Siéntete libre de quedarte el tiempo que quieras.
Feel free to stay as long as you like.
Sentíos cómodos, esto es como vuestra casa.
Make yourselves comfortable — this is your home.
Sentir vs sentirse — what's the difference?
The split is consistent and clean:
- sentir + direct object = to feel/sense something (cold, fear, pain, an emotion)
- sentir que + indicative/subjunctive = to feel that / to be sorry that
- sentirse + adjective/adverb = to feel some way (oneself)
Siento un dolor aquí, en el costado.
I feel a pain here, in my side. (direct object — sentir)
Siento mucho lo de tu padre.
I'm so sorry about your father. (formula — sentir + complement)
Me siento agotado, llevo tres noches sin dormir bien.
I feel exhausted — I've had three nights of bad sleep. (state of oneself — sentirse)
This split also explains why English speakers often produce yo siento triste — a calque of "I feel sad." In Spanish, feeling-an-emotion takes the reflexive: me siento triste. Plain siento triste is wrong because triste isn't a direct object; it's a state of the subject, which means sentirse is required.
High-frequency collocations from peninsular Spanish
| Phrase | Translation |
|---|---|
| lo siento (mucho/muchísimo) | I'm (very/really) sorry |
| sentirse bien / mal | to feel well / unwell |
| sentirse como en casa | to feel at home |
| sentir frío / calor / hambre | to feel cold / hot / hungry |
| sentir pena por alguien | to feel sorry for someone |
| sin sentir | without noticing, before you know it |
| dejarse sentir | to make itself felt (about effects, crises, weather) |
| siento decirte que… | I'm sorry to tell you that… |
A note on register: lo siento is the everyday "I'm sorry" — used for condolences, minor apologies, refusing an invitation politely. Perdón and perdona/perdone are more like "excuse me / pardon me" — used for bumping into someone or interrupting. The two are not interchangeable: saying perdón at a funeral instead of lo siento is conspicuously off.
Lo siento muchísimo, no quería molestar a estas horas.
I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to bother you at this hour.
Han pasado tres horas sin sentir, esto es buena señal.
Three hours have gone by before we knew it — that's a good sign.
Common Mistakes
❌ Yo siento triste hoy.
To express feeling an emotion or state, use the reflexive sentirse, not sentir. Me siento triste hoy.
✅ Me siento triste hoy.
I feel sad today.
❌ Sento mucho lo que pasó.
✅ Siento mucho lo que pasó.
I'm really sorry about what happened.
❌ Él sentió el ruido. (= 'He sat the noise')
✅ Él sintió el ruido.
He heard / felt the noise.
❌ Estamos sentiendo el frío del invierno.
✅ Estamos sintiendo el frío del invierno.
We're feeling the winter cold.
❌ Me siento en el sofá triste.
Me siento here is ambiguous between sentirse ('I feel') and sentarse ('I sit down') because the present indicative is identical. Context usually picks one; if you want 'I feel sad on the sofa', drop the location or use estar sentado: Estoy sentado en el sofá y me siento triste.
✅ Estoy sentado en el sofá y me siento triste.
I'm sitting on the sofa and I feel sad.
Key Takeaways
- Sentir is an -ir stem-changer with two changes: e > ie in stressed present forms, and e > i in the preterite 3rd persons (sintió, sintieron) and the gerund (sintiendo).
- The present subjunctive carries both changes: sienta, sientas, sienta, sintamos, sintáis, sientan.
- Sentir takes a direct object (sense something, feel something, regret something). Sentirse takes an adjective or adverb (feel some way).
- Sentir and sentarse look alike but are different verbs. Me siento could be either — context is the only disambiguator.
- The peninsular affirmative vosotros of sentirse is sentíos — the -d drops, the accent on í stays.
- Lo siento is "I'm sorry" — the standard formula for condolences, regrets, and polite refusals.
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