Aburrir Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish
The present tense of aburrir — "to bore" in English — is the form you need for what happens now, for habits and for general truths. This page gives you the full present conjugation table for aburrir with all six persons, explains exactly how the tense is formed for this verb, shows when to use it with real examples, and finishes with a quiz so you can test yourself. Aburrir means "to bore", and it works in two ways that learners must keep apart. As a gustar-like verb, it describes what bores you: me aburre la clase means "the class bores me". As an ordinary transitive verb, it describes someone boring someone else: el profesor aburre a los alumnos. The gustar-like use is far more common in everyday speech, and the verb agrees with the thing that bores you: me aburre el libro (singular), me aburren las clases (plural). Its reflexive partner aburrirse — to get bored — is a separate verb with its own page. To see it in a real sentence: Me aburre la clase de historia. — "History class bores me.".
Present tense conjugation table: aburrir
Every person of aburrir in the present tense. The gerund is aburriendo and the past participle is aburrido.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | aburro |
| tú | aburres |
| él/ella/Ud. | aburre |
| nosotros/as | aburrimos |
| vosotros/as | aburrís |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | aburren |
How the present indicative of aburrir is formed
The present indicative of aburrir is built from the stem aburr- plus the present indicative endings for -ir verbs. Take the infinitive, drop the -ir ending, and add the ending that matches the person. The table below shows the endings, and the full table above shows them attached to the stem.
| Person | Ending | Form |
|---|---|---|
| yo | -o | aburro |
| tú | -es | aburres |
| él/ella/Ud. | -e | aburre |
| nosotros/as | -imos | aburrimos |
| vosotros/as | -ís | aburrís |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | -en | aburren |
aburrir is a regular -ir verb in form, but it is used in a special pattern. The stem is aburr- and the endings are the normal -ir endings, so the table above is completely regular. The special part is the meaning: aburrir works like gustar, so the thing you love, that interests you or that bores you is the subject of the sentence, and you are the indirect object — me, te, le, nos, os, les. In practice that means the third-person forms do almost all the work: aburre for one thing and aburren for several things. The first and second person forms in the table exist, but you will rarely need them in this pattern.
The gerund of aburrir is aburriendo and the past participle is aburrido. Both are regular for this verb, and the participle is the form you need for all the perfect tenses with haber.
When to use the present tense of aburrir
The present tense is not one single use — it covers several situations, and aburrir appears in all of them. The five uses below are the ones you will meet most often, each with an example that shows the verb in a natural sentence.
Something boring you
With a singular thing, use the él form: me aburre la clase.
"Me aburre la clase de historia." — "History class bores me."
Plural things boring you
With plural things, use the ellos form: me aburren las películas.
"Me aburren las películas largas." — "Long films bore me."
Someone boring someone else
As an ordinary verb, aburrir takes a person as its object: aburrir a los alumnos.
"El profesor aburre a los alumnos." — "The teacher bores the students."
Not being bored by something
The negative is common: no me aburre means "it doesn't bore me".
"No me aburre el trabajo." — "Work doesn't bore me."
Asking what bores someone
Questions use the same pattern: ¿te aburre…?
"¿Te aburre esperar?" — "Does waiting bore you?"
The present tense vs the closest tenses
Present — habit or general fact vs Preterite — one finished occasion
The present describes a habit, a routine or a general fact — something that happens again and again or that is true in general. The preterite reports one finished occasion in the past. Use the present when the action repeats or is still true, and the preterite when you are telling what happened once, on a specific day.
- Present — habit or general fact: Me aburre el fútbol. — "Football bores me."
- Preterite — one finished occasion: Me aburrió el fútbol. — the same idea, placed in the preterite.
Present — now vs Imperfect — a past habit or background
The present talks about now. The imperfect talks about the past as a background — a repeated habit, an ongoing situation, something that used to happen. If you can add "used to" in English, the imperfect is usually the right choice; if it is happening now or always, use the present.
- Present — now: Me aburren los documentales. — "Documentaries bore me."
- Imperfect — a past habit or background: Me aburrían los documentales. — the same idea, placed in the imperfect.
Present — now or a fixed plan vs Future — what will happen
The present describes what happens now, what you do regularly, or a plan that is already fixed. The future describes what will happen later — a promise, a prediction, a plan that is not yet under way. Spanish often uses the present for near-future plans, but the future is the form for a clear statement about tomorrow.
- Present — now or a fixed plan: Te aburre la política. — "Politics bores you."
- Future — what will happen: Te aburrirá la política. — the same idea, placed in the future.
Examples: aburrir in the present tense
Seven sentences that show aburrir in the present tense only, across all six persons. Read each one aloud, notice the ending, and check the translation.
- Me aburre el fútbol. — "Football bores me."
- Me aburren los documentales. — "Documentaries bore me."
- Te aburre la política. — "Politics bores you."
- Te aburren las reuniones. — "Meetings bore you."
- Le aburre estudiar. — "Studying bores him."
- Nos aburren las colas. — "Queues bore us."
- Les aburre el museo. — "The museum bores them."
Common mistakes with aburrir in the present tense
These are the errors learners actually make with aburrir in the present tense. Each one shows the wrong form, the right form, and why the right form is right.
✗ *Yo aburro la clase de historia (treating aburrir like a normal verb for "I am bored by").
✓ Correct: Me aburre la clase de historia.
For "the class bores me", use the gustar-like pattern: me aburre la clase. Yo aburro means "I bore (someone else)".
✗ *Me aburre las películas largas (singular verb with a plural subject).
✓ Correct: Me aburren las películas largas.
The verb agrees with the thing: las películas is plural, so the verb is aburren.
✗ *Me aburren esperar (plural verb with an infinitive).
✓ Correct: ¿Te aburre esperar?
With an infinitive, always use the singular: me aburre esperar.
✗ *El profesor aburre los alumnos (missing the personal a).
✓ Correct: El profesor aburre a los alumnos.
When aburrir is used as an ordinary transitive verb with people, the personal a is required: aburrir a los alumnos.
Quiz: aburrir in the present tense
Eight questions on the present tense of aburrir. Choose the best answer for each one, then check the answer key below — every answer is explained.
1. Which is the correct present tense form of aburrir for tú?
- a) aburres
- b) aburro
- c) aburren
- d) aburre
2. Complete the sentence: Me ______ el fútbol. — "Football bores me."
- a) aburren
- b) aburrió
- c) aburro
- d) aburre
3. Complete the sentence: Me ______ las películas largas. — "Long films bore me."
- a) aburrimos
- b) aburrieron
- c) aburre
- d) aburren
4. Which is the correct present tense form of aburrir for nosotros?
- a) aburro
- b) aburren
- c) aburres
- d) aburrimos
5. Which sentence uses aburrir correctly in the present tense?
- a) Te aburrió la política.
- b) Te aburre la política.
- c) Yo aburro el cine español.
- d) Te aburres la política.
6. Which sentence is correct? The books are plural, so the verb must agree with them.
- a) Me aburre los libros de historia.
- b) Yo aburro los libros de historia.
- c) Me aburren los libros de historia.
- d) Me aburre los libro de historia.
7. Complete the sentence: No me ______ el trabajo. — "Work doesn't bore me."
- a) aburren
- b) aburrió
- c) aburre
- d) aburro
8. What is the gerund of aburrir?
- a) aburrimos
- b) aburriendo
- c) aburrido
- d) aburro
Answer key
a) aburres — The tú form is aburres. The -s ending belongs to tú in the present; aburro is yo, aburre is él/ella and aburren is ellos/ellas.
d) aburre — The sentence needs the él/ella/Ud. form in the present: aburre. The other options are the wrong person or the wrong tense.
d) aburren — The subject is ellos/ellas/Uds., so the present form is aburren.
d) aburrimos — Nosotros takes aburrimos. In the present the nosotros ending for -ir verbs is -imos, attached to the stem aburr-.
b) Te aburre la política. — Te aburre la política. is correct: the verb agrees with its subject. The other sentences use the wrong person or the wrong tense.
c) Me aburren los libros de historia. — Los libros is plural, so the verb must be the ellos form: me aburren los libros. The singular form is only for one thing, and yo aburro treats the verb as if you were the subject, which is wrong for this pattern.
c) aburre — The subject is él/ella/Ud., so the present form is aburre.
b) aburriendo — The gerund is aburriendo. It is the form you use with estar for the progressive (estar + gerund), and it is not the past participle aburrido.
Frequently asked questions
Is aburrir regular in the present tense?
In form, yes — aburrir is a regular -ir verb. In use, it is special: it works like gustar, so the thing you love, that interests you or that bores you is the subject, and you are the indirect object (me, te, le). The third-person forms aburre and aburren do almost all the work.
What is the gerund and the past participle of aburrir?
The gerund is aburriendo and the past participle is aburrido. Use the gerund with estar for the progressive, and the participle with haber for the perfect tenses.
How do you say "I to bore" in Spanish?
Say aburro. For example: Me aburre el fútbol. — "Football bores me.".
What is the difference between aburrir and aburrirse?
aburrir means "to bore", while aburrirse means "to get bored". They are related words that learners often meet together, but they are not interchangeable — use aburrir when you mean "to bore" and aburrirse when you mean "to get bored". The full conjugation of aburrirse is on its own page.
Related links
- Full conjugation of aburrir — every tense and mood, with the complete tables.
- aburrir examples and quiz — more sentences, dialogues and a longer quiz.
- Spanish Present tense guide — how the present tense works for all Spanish verbs.
- Spanish verbs — the full list of Spanish verbs on VerbFlow.