Acordarse Conjugation in Spanish
Introduction
acordarse means "to remember" in English, and it is one of the verbs you will meet constantly in everyday Spanish — for remembering things, people and past events. Learning it properly means more than memorising one form: the verb changes across thirteen tenses, and this page gives you every one of them, with the exact forms from the VerbFlow engine, so you can check any person or tense in seconds. Acordarse is a reflexive (pronominal) -ar verb verb, and it is irregular in: present, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. That matters because the patterns on this page are the patterns you will reuse every time you speak or write. Work through the tables first, then read the notes under each tense — they explain when to use each tense and what to watch out for with this verb in particular. A natural example is: Cada día, yo me acuerdo de mi infancia en el pueblo. — "Every day, I remember my childhood in the village." Once you can say that sentence confidently, try changing the person and the tense using the tables below.
Quick facts
| Infinitive | acordarse |
| Translation | to remember |
| Verb type | Reflexive (pronominal) -ar verb |
| Gerund | acordando |
| Past participle | acordado |
| Auxiliary | haber (all compound tenses) |
| Irregular tenses | irregular in: present, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative |
Reflexive verb: the pronouns me, te, se, nos, os, se go with the verb in every tense. The tables below show the verb forms themselves; add the pronoun in front (me acuerdo, te acuerdas, se acuerda, and so on). In affirmative commands the pronoun attaches to the end of the verb instead.
Full conjugation of acordarse
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | acuerdo |
| tú | acuerdas |
| él / ella / Ud. | acuerda |
| nosotros / nosotras | acordamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | acordáis |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | acuerdan |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | acordé |
| tú | acordaste |
| él / ella / Ud. | acordó |
| nosotros / nosotras | acordamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | acordasteis |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | acordaron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | acordaba |
| tú | acordabas |
| él / ella / Ud. | acordaba |
| nosotros / nosotras | acordábamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | acordabais |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | acordaban |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | acordaré |
| tú | acordarás |
| él / ella / Ud. | acordará |
| nosotros / nosotras | acordaremos |
| vosotros / vosotras | acordaréis |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | acordarán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | acordaría |
| tú | acordarías |
| él / ella / Ud. | acordaría |
| nosotros / nosotras | acordaríamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | acordaríais |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | acordarían |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | acuerde |
| tú | acuerdes |
| él / ella / Ud. | acuerde |
| nosotros / nosotras | acordemos |
| vosotros / vosotras | acordéis |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | acuerden |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | acordara |
| tú | acordaras |
| él / ella / Ud. | acordara |
| nosotros / nosotras | acordáramos |
| vosotros / vosotras | acordarais |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | acordaran |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he acordado |
| tú | has acordado |
| él / ella / Ud. | ha acordado |
| nosotros / nosotras | hemos acordado |
| vosotros / vosotras | habéis acordado |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | han acordado |
Pluperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había acordado |
| tú | habías acordado |
| él / ella / Ud. | había acordado |
| nosotros / nosotras | habíamos acordado |
| vosotros / vosotras | habíais acordado |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | habían acordado |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré acordado |
| tú | habrás acordado |
| él / ella / Ud. | habrá acordado |
| nosotros / nosotras | habremos acordado |
| vosotros / vosotras | habréis acordado |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | habrán acordado |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría acordado |
| tú | habrías acordado |
| él / ella / Ud. | habría acordado |
| nosotros / nosotras | habríamos acordado |
| vosotros / vosotras | habríais acordado |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | habrían acordado |
Imperative — affirmative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | acuerda |
| él / ella / Ud. | acuerde |
| nosotros / nosotras | acordemos |
| vosotros / vosotras | acordad |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | acuerden |
Imperative — negative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | acuerdes |
| él / ella / Ud. | acuerde |
| nosotros / nosotras | acordemos |
| vosotros / vosotras | acordéis |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | acuerden |
Gerund: acordando · Past participle: acordado
Acordarse in every tense — notes and examples
Present indicative
The present is the tense for habits, facts and what is happening now. It is the first tense to master, because the present subjunctive and the affirmative imperative are both built from the present yo form. In the present the stem changes (o → ue) in the yo, tú, él/ella and ellos/ellas forms, but not in nosotros or vosotros — compare acuerdo with acordamos. Example: Cada día, yo me acuerdo de mi infancia en el pueblo. — "Every day, I remember my childhood in the village."
Preterite
The preterite is for completed actions in the past — things that started and finished at a definite moment. Use it for a single event, a sequence of events, or an action with a clear end. Example: Ayer, yo me acordé de mi infancia en el pueblo. — "Yesterday, I remembered my childhood in the village."
Imperfect
The imperfect is for the past without a definite end: habits, background scenes, descriptions and actions in progress when something else happened. It never states when the action finished. Example: Antes, yo me acordaba de mi infancia en el pueblo. — "Before, I remembered my childhood in the village."
Future
The future is for what will happen, and also for guesses about the present ("I wonder if…"). For regular verbs it is the infinitive plus the endings -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án. Example: Mañana, yo me acordaré de mi infancia en el pueblo. — "Tomorrow, I will remember my childhood in the village."
Conditional
The conditional is for what would happen — polite requests, hypothetical results and reported expectations. It shares its stem with the future, so any irregular future stem appears here too. Example: Yo me acordaría de mi infancia en el pueblo si tuviera la oportunidad. — "I would remember my childhood in the village if I had the chance."
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is for wishes, doubts, emotions and other non-facts after que, and after expressions such as ojalá, es importante que or no creo que. It is not a tense for stating facts. The present subjunctive is irregular for this verb: the yo form is acuerde, and all six persons follow from it. Example: Espero que ella se acuerde de mi infancia en el pueblo. — "I hope she will remember my childhood in the village."
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms)
The imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms) is for wishes and doubts about the past, and for the if-part of hypothetical sentences (si + imperfect subjunctive, conditional). This page shows the -ra forms from the engine. Example: Si ella se acordara de mi infancia en el pueblo, todo cambiaría. — "If she remembered my childhood in the village, everything would change."
Present perfect
The present perfect (haber + past participle) is for past actions connected to the present — recent events, experience, or something that has just happened. The auxiliary is always haber. Example: Yo me he acordado de su cumpleaños a tiempo varias veces. — "I have remembered his birthday on time several times."
Pluperfect
The pluperfect (había + past participle) is the past of the past: something that had already happened before another past event. Example: Yo me había acordado de mi infancia en el pueblo antes de la reunión. — "I had remembered my childhood in the village before the meeting."
Future perfect
The future perfect (habré + past participle) is for something that will already be finished by a future moment, or for a guess about the past. It is less common in speech than the simple future. Example: Para mañana, yo me habré acordado de mi infancia en el pueblo. — "By tomorrow, I will have remembered my childhood in the village."
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect (habría + past participle) is for what would have happened — the past of the conditional, used for regrets and unreal past conditions. Example: Yo me habría acordado de mi infancia en el pueblo si hubiera tenido tiempo. — "I would have remembered my childhood in the village if I had had time."
Imperative — affirmative
The affirmative imperative is for direct orders, instructions and invitations. The tú form comes from the present él/ella form, and the formal, nosotros and plural forms come from the present subjunctive. The affirmative imperative is irregular for this verb: the tú form is acuerda and the formal form is acuerde. Example: Que ella se acuerde de mi infancia en el pueblo. — "Let her remember my childhood in the village."
Imperative — negative
The negative imperative (no + subjunctive) is for telling someone not to do something. All five persons come from the present subjunctive, which is why they look different from the affirmative tú form. Example: No te acuerdes de mi infancia en el pueblo. — "Do not remember my childhood in the village."
Example sentences with acordarse
Yo me acuerdo de mi infancia en el pueblo. — "I remember my childhood in the village."
¿Tú te acuerdas de su cumpleaños a tiempo? — "Do you remember his birthday on time?"
Ayer, él se acordó de mi infancia en el pueblo. — "Yesterday, he remembered my childhood in the village."
Nosotros nos acordamos de su cumpleaños a tiempo a tiempo. — "We remembered his birthday on time on time."
Antes, ellos se acordaban de mi infancia en el pueblo. — "Before, they remembered my childhood in the village."
Mañana, yo me acordaré de su cumpleaños a tiempo. — "Tomorrow, I will remember his birthday on time."
Nosotros nos acordaríamos de mi infancia en el pueblo si pudiéramos. — "We would remember my childhood in the village if we could."
Yo me he acordado de su cumpleaños a tiempo varias veces. — "I have remembered his birthday on time several times."
Espero que ella se acuerde de mi infancia en el pueblo. — "I hope she will remember my childhood in the village."
Me estoy acordando de mi infancia en el pueblo ahora mismo. — "I am remembering my childhood in the village right now."
Common mistakes with acordarse
1. Writing ✗ acordo instead of the correct present form
The correct yo form in the present is acuerdo. Learners often build it straight from the infinitive, but this verb changes its stem or spelling in the present, so memorise the yo form — the present subjunctive and the formal imperative are built from it.
2. Confusing acordarse with recordar (to remember, to recall)
acordarse means "to remember", while recordar means "to remember, to recall". They overlap in English but they are not interchangeable in Spanish: use acordarse when you mean remembering things, people and past events, and recordar for its own meaning. Check the conjugation of recordar before choosing.
3. Mixing up the preterite and the imperfect
Ayer yo acordé de mi infancia en el pueblo (preterite: one finished event yesterday) is not the same as antes yo acordaba de mi infancia en el pueblo (imperfect: what used to happen). If you can add "yesterday" or "last week", you usually want the preterite; if you can add "used to", you want the imperfect.
4. Forgetting the reflexive pronoun
acordarse is reflexive: the pronoun is part of the verb. It is yo me acuerdo de mi infancia en el pueblo, not yo acuerdo de mi infancia en el pueblo. Without me the sentence is incomplete.
5. Putting the pronoun in the wrong place with the gerund
With the gerund the pronoun goes before estar, not after the gerund: me estoy acordando de mi infancia en el pueblo. Saying estoy acordando without the pronoun loses the reflexive meaning.
Quiz: acordarse
1. Yo me ___ de mi infancia en el pueblo.
a. acuerda b. acuerdo c. acuerdan
2. Ella se ___ de mi infancia en el pueblo.
a. acuerdo b. acuerda c. acuerdan
3. Ayer, yo me ___ de mi infancia en el pueblo.
a. acuerdo b. acordé c. acuerda
4. Ellos se ___ de mi infancia en el pueblo ayer.
a. acuerdo b. acordaron c. acuerda
5. Antes, yo me ___ de mi infancia en el pueblo.
a. acuerdo b. acordaba c. acuerda
6. Mañana, yo me ___ de mi infancia en el pueblo.
a. acuerdo b. acordaré c. acuerda
7. Yo me ___ de mi infancia en el pueblo si pudiera.
a. acuerdo b. acordaría c. acuerda
8. Espero que ella se ___ de mi infancia en el pueblo.
a. acuerdo b. acuerde c. acuerda
9. Me estoy ___ de mi infancia en el pueblo ahora mismo.
a. acordado b. acordando c. acuerdo
10. Yo me he ___ de su cumpleaños a tiempo varias veces.
a. acordando b. acordado c. acuerdo
Answer key
acuerdo — present tense, yo form.
acuerda — present tense, él/ella form.
acordé — preterite, yo form — a finished action yesterday.
acordaron — preterite, ellos/ellas form.
acordaba — imperfect, yo form — a past habit.
acordaré — future, yo form.
acordaría — conditional, yo form — a hypothetical.
acuerde — present subjunctive after 'espero que'.
acordando — gerund — the progressive is estar + gerund, with the pronoun before estar.
acordado — past participle — the present perfect is haber + participle.
Frequently asked questions about acordarse
What does acordarse mean in English?
Acordarse means "to remember". It is used for remembering things, people and past events. A simple example is yo acuerdo de mi infancia en el pueblo — "I remember my childhood in the village."
Is acordarse regular or irregular?
Acordarse is a reflexive (pronominal) -ar verb verb, and it is irregular in: present, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The forms that most often catch learners out are the present yo form acuerdo, the preterite yo form acordé and the past participle acordado — learn those three first, then fill in the rest from the tables above.
What is the gerund and the past participle of acordarse?
The gerund is acordando (used for the progressive: estoy acordando) and the past participle is acordado (used with haber in all perfect tenses: he acordado). Both forms are used constantly, so they are worth memorising on their own.
How do I say "I remember" in the past?
It depends on the meaning. For one finished action use the preterite: ayer yo acordé de mi infancia en el pueblo — "yesterday I remembered my childhood in the village". For a past habit or background use the imperfect: antes yo acordaba de mi infancia en el pueblo — "before, I remembered my childhood in the village". The mistake most learners make is using one for the other.
Does acordarse take the subjunctive?
Not usually. Acordarse on its own takes the indicative — yo acuerdo de mi infancia en el pueblo. You will meet the subjunctive with acordarse only inside a larger construction that itself triggers it, such as no creo que or es importante que, and then the subjunctive form is acuerde.