Admirar Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish

The Spanish verb admirar means to admire, and this page covers it in the present tense — the tense for habits, facts and what is happening now. If you want the whole picture, start with the full admirar conjugation, which has every tense on one page. Here we go deep on one tense only: the full table, how it is formed, when to use it, how it differs from the closest tense, examples, the mistakes learners actually make, a quiz and answers to the questions people ask most. One example to start: Yo admiro su valentía. — "I admire her courage."

No pronunciation is given on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for admirar, so no pronunciation is shown rather than an invented one. All the forms below come from the verified conjugation tables, so you can trust every form you see here.

The admirar present tense table

Every form below comes from the verified conjugation tables for admirar. The gerund is admirando and the past participle is admirado.

Person Form
yo admiro
tú admiras
él/ella/Ud. admira
nosotros/as admiramos
vosotros/as admiráis
ellos/ellas/Uds. admiran

The gerund admirando is used with estar for the progressive (estoy admirando, I am admiring), and the past participle admirado is used with haber for the perfect tenses (he admirado, I have admired).

How the present tense of admirar is formed

Start with the infinitive admirar. Take off the -ar ending and you are left with the stem admir-. Then add the present endings for -ar verbs: -o (yo), -as (tú), -a (él/ella/Ud.), -amos (nosotros/as), -áis (vosotros/as) and -an (ellos/ellas/Uds.). That gives you the six forms in the table above, and for most verbs in this group that is the whole story.

admirar is regular in the present: every form is exactly the stem plus the ending above, with no stem change and no spelling change. If you know the stem and the six endings, you can build the whole tense without memorising anything extra.

Two details are worth fixing early. First, the vosotros form carries a written accent on the ending: admiráis. Second, the present tense in Spanish has no auxiliary verb: admiro on its own means both "I admire" and "I am admiring" in English, so you do not need a separate word for the progressive unless you want to stress that something is happening right now.

When to use the present tense of admirar

Habits and routines

The present is the tense of what you do regularly. Talking about admiring people: your grandmother, artists, someone's courage or patience.

  • Yo admiro su valentía. — "I admire her courage."
  • Tú admiras a mi abuela. — "you admire my grandmother."

Facts and general truths

The present also states facts that are true in general, not just today. Talking about admiring a landscape, a work of art or a job well done.

  • Él admira el paisaje. — "he/she admires the landscape."
  • Nosotros admiramos su trabajo. — "we admire her work."

What is happening now

The present describes what is happening at this moment. Talking about admiration as a feeling, in conversation and in writing.

  • Vosotros admiráis a los artistas. — "you (all) admire artists."
  • Ellos admiran su paciencia. — "they admire her patience."

Plans in the near future

Spanish also uses the present for fixed plans in the near future, especially with a time expression. A plan you have already decided on can be stated in the present, and it sounds more certain than the future tense.

  • Él admira el paisaje. — "he/she admires the landscape."
  • Nosotros admiramos su trabajo. — "we admire her work."

Admirar present vs present progressive

The present tense and the present progressive (estar + gerund) are close neighbours, and learners mix them up. The present describes a habit, a fact or a routine. The progressive describes something in progress right now, at this very moment. Compare the three pairs below: the first sentence in each pair is a habit, the second is happening now.

  • Present (habit): Yo admiro su valentía. — "I admire her courage."

  • Progressive (right now): Yo estoy admirando su valentía. — "I am admiring her courage."

  • Present (habit): Tú admiras a mi abuela. — "you admire my grandmother."

  • Progressive (right now): Tú estás admirando a mi abuela. — "you are admiring my grandmother."

  • Present (habit): Él admira el paisaje. — "he/she admires the landscape."

  • Progressive (right now): Él está admirando el paisaje. — "he/she is admiring the landscape."

Use the present when you talk about what you usually do, and the progressive when you want to stress that it is happening as you speak. If you say admiro every day, that is a routine. If you say Estoy admirando, you are doing it at this moment.

Examples of admirar in the present

Eight sentences in the present tense, so you can see the forms in real use. Read the Spanish first, guess the meaning, then check the translation.

  1. Admiro su valentía. — "I admire her courage."
  2. Mi padre admira a mi abuela. — "My father admires my grandmother."
  3. Ayer admiré el paisaje desde la montaña. — "Yesterday I admired the landscape from the mountain."
  4. De niña, admiraba a los artistas. — "As a girl, I used to admire artists."
  5. Mañana admiraré su trabajo en la exposición. — "Tomorrow I will admire her work at the exhibition."
  6. Si pudiera, admiraría el paisaje todos los días. — "If I could, I would admire the landscape every day."
  7. Él admira a los artistas. — "he/she admires artists."
  8. Nosotros admiramos su paciencia. — "we admire her patience."

Common mistakes with admirar in the present

These are the errors learners actually make with this verb. Each one shows the wrong version, the right version, and why it is wrong.

1. Yo admira su valentía.

Wrong: Yo admira su valentía.

Right: Yo admiro su valentía.

The yo form ends in -o: admiro. Admira is the él/ella form.

2. Admiro mi abuela.

Wrong: Admiro mi abuela.

Right: Admiro a mi abuela.

Admiring a person needs the personal a: admiro a mi abuela. Without a, the sentence is wrong.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

Wrong: Ayer yo admiro su valentía.

Right: Ayer yo admiré su valentía.

Ayer (yesterday) signals a finished action, so it needs the preterite: admiré. The present admiro describes what you do now or usually, not what you did yesterday.

4. Forgetting the accent on the vosotros form

Wrong: Vosotros admirais su valentía.

Right: Vosotros admiráis su valentía.

The vosotros ending carries a written accent: admiráis. Without it, the spelling is wrong, even though the pronunciation is close.

Quiz: test yourself on admirar in the present

Choose the right form for each sentence. The answers are at the end of this section, with an explanation for every question.

  1. Yo ___ su valentía
    • a) admiro
    • b) admiras
    • c) admira
    • d) admiramos
  2. Tú ___ a mi abuela
    • a) admiro
    • b) admira
    • c) admiramos
    • d) admiras
  3. Él ___ el paisaje
    • a) admiras
    • b) admiramos
    • c) admira
    • d) admiro
  4. Nosotros ___ su trabajo
    • a) admira
    • b) admiramos
    • c) admiro
    • d) admiras
  5. Vosotros ___ a los artistas
    • a) admiráis
    • b) admiro
    • c) admiras
    • d) admira
  6. Ellos ___ su paciencia
    • a) admiro
    • b) admiras
    • c) admira
    • d) admiran
  7. Yo ___ su valentía
    • a) admira
    • b) admiramos
    • c) admiro
    • d) admiras
  8. Tú ___ a mi abuela
    • a) admiramos
    • b) admiras
    • c) admiro
    • d) admira

Answers

  1. a) admiro — The sentence needs the yo form, because the subject is yo.
  2. d) admiras — The sentence needs the tú form, because the subject is tú.
  3. c) admira — The sentence needs the él/ella/Ud. form, because the subject is él/ella/Ud..
  4. b) admiramos — The sentence needs the nosotros/as form, because the subject is nosotros/as.
  5. a) admiráis — The sentence needs the vosotros/as form, because the subject is vosotros/as.
  6. d) admiran — The sentence needs the ellos/ellas/Uds. form, because the subject is ellos/ellas/Uds..
  7. c) admiro — The sentence needs the yo form, because the subject is yo.
  8. b) admiras — The sentence needs the tú form, because the subject is tú.

Frequently asked questions about admirar in the present

Is admirar regular?

Yes, admirar is a regular -ar verb: admiro, admiras, admira, admiramos, admiráis, admiran.

Do I need the a before the person I admire?

Yes. When the object is a person, Spanish uses the personal a: admiro a mi abuela, admiro a los artistas. With a thing, there is no a: admiro su valentía.

Is admirar regular in the present?

Yes. admirar is regular in the present: the six forms are the stem admir- plus the regular endings, with no stem change. The only thing to watch is the written accent on the stressed endings, for example admiro.

What are the gerund and the past participle of admirar?

The gerund is admirando, used with estar for the progressive (estoy admirando), and the past participle is admirado, used with haber for the perfect tenses (he admirado).

How to remember admirar

Four small habits will fix admirar in your memory. First, say the present tense out loud, in order, three times: admiro, admiras, admira, admiramos, admiráis, admiran. Saying the forms is far more effective than reading them silently, because you hear the endings and the stem at the same time. Second, write three sentences about your own life: one about today with the present (admiro), one about yesterday with the preterite (admiré), and one about tomorrow with the future (admiraré). Personal sentences stick because they are about you, not about a textbook. Third, remember the difference from respetar: Admirar is admiring someone for what they do or are; respetar is respecting them. Admiras a un artista por su trabajo y lo respetas por su forma de ser. Finally, learn the two key forms by heart: the gerund admirando and the past participle admirado. With those two and the present tense, you can already build the progressive (estoy admirando) and the present perfect (he admirado), which covers most everyday conversation.

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