Confesar Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish

The present tense of confesar — "to confess" 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 confesar 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. Confesar means to confess, and it is used for confessing a secret to a priest, confessing to the police and confessing that you lied. It is a stem-changing verb, e to ie, and it is stronger than admitir, with a religious or legal flavour. To see it in a real sentence: Él confiesa su secreto al sacerdote. — "He/she confesses his secret to the priest." Work through the table below, then the formation notes, the usage rules and the contrast with the preterite, and test yourself at the end.

Present tense conjugation table: confesar

Every person of confesar in the present tense. The gerund is confesando and the past participle is confesado.

Present indicative

Person Form
yo confieso
tú confiesas
él/ella/Ud. confiesa
nosotros/as confesamos
vosotros/as confesáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. confiesan

How the present indicative of confesar is formed

The present indicative of confesar is built from the stem confes- plus the present endings for -ar verbs. Take the infinitive, drop the -ar 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 confieso
tú -as confiesas
él/ella/Ud. -a confiesa
nosotros/as -amos confesamos
vosotros/as -áis confesáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. -an confiesan

confesar is a stem-changing verb (e → ie), so the stem changes in the singular and third-person plural forms of the present, while nosotros and vosotros keep the original stem. In this tense the first-person form is confieso, and the nosotros form is confesamos.

The gerund of confesar is confesando and the past participle is confesado. Both are regular for this verb, and the participle is the form you need for all the perfect tenses with haber.

This tense is irregular for confesar, so the forms in the table above are the ones to learn — do not try to derive them from the regular endings. confesar is a stem-changing verb (e → ie), so the stem changes in the present singular and third-person plural forms, while nosotros and vosotros keep the original stem.

When to use the present tense of confesar

The present tense is not one single use — it covers several situations, and confesar 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.

Habits and routines

The present tense describes things you do regularly. If you do it every day, every week or every morning, the present is the tense to use. For confesar, this use looks like this: "Yo confieso su secreto al sacerdote." — "I confess his secret to the priest." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

General facts

The present tense states facts that are generally true, not tied to one moment. It is the tense for definitions and permanent situations. For confesar, this use looks like this: "Él confiesa todo a la policía." — "He/she confesses everything to the police." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

What is happening now

The present tense also covers what is happening at this moment, especially with verbs that describe an action in progress. For confesar, this use looks like this: "Nosotros confesamos que había mentido." — "We confess that he had lied." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

Timetables and schedules

The present tense is used for fixed plans and timetables, such as trains, classes and opening times, even when they refer to the future. For confesar, this use looks like this: "Ellos confiesan sus pecados en la iglesia." — "They confess his sins in church." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

Instructions and requests

The present tense appears in instructions and polite requests, where it sounds softer than a direct command. For confesar, this use looks like this: "Tú confiesas su secreto al sacerdote." — "You confess his secret to the priest." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

The present tense vs the preterite

Learners often mix up the present and the preterite with confesar. The rule is simple: the present is for habits, facts and what is happening now, while the preterite is for one finished action in the past. The three pairs below show the same idea in both tenses, so you can feel the difference.

Pair 1: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Yo confieso su secreto al sacerdote." — "I confess his secret to the priest."
  • Preterite: "Yo confesé su secreto al sacerdote." — "I confessed his secret to the priest." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Pair 2: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Él confiesa todo a la policía." — "He/she confesses everything to the police."
  • Preterite: "Él confesó todo a la policía." — "He/she confessed everything to the police." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Pair 3: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Nosotros confesamos que había mentido." — "We confess that he had lied."
  • Preterite: "Nosotros confesamos que había mentido." — "We confessed that he had lied." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Example sentences in the present tense

Eight natural sentences with confesar in the present tense only. Each one uses a form from the table above.

  1. Yo confieso su secreto al sacerdote. — I confess his secret to the priest.
  2. Tú confiesas todo a la policía. — You confess everything to the police.
  3. Él confiesa que había mentido. — He/she confesses that he had lied.
  4. Nosotros confesamos sus pecados en la iglesia. — We confess his sins in church.
  5. Vosotros confesáis su secreto al sacerdote. — You all confess his secret to the priest.
  6. Ellos confiesan todo a la policía. — They confess everything to the police.
  7. Yo confieso que había mentido. — I confess that he had lied.
  8. Él confiesa sus pecados en la iglesia. — He/she confesses his sins in church.

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Yo confeso todo a la policía. — Right: Yo confieso todo a la policía. — In the present, the correct first-person form is confieso, not confeso. confesar is a stem-changing verb (e → ie), so the stem changes in the present singular and third-person plural forms, while nosotros and vosotros keep the original stem.
  2. Wrong: Ayer, yo confieso que había mentido. — Right: Ayer, yo confesé que había mentido. — Ayer means yesterday, so it needs the preterite (confesé), not the present (confieso). The present is for now, not for yesterday.
  3. Wrong: Yo confiesa su secreto al sacerdote. — Right: Yo confieso su secreto al sacerdote. — The person matters: confiesa is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is confieso.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy confesado todo a la policía. — Right: Yo he confesado todo a la policía. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he confesado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.

Quiz: test yourself

Eight questions on the present tense of confesar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.

  1. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ su secreto al sacerdote. (present tense) A. confieso B. confiesas C. confiesa D. confesamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ todo a la policía. (present tense) A. confiesas B. confieso C. confiesa D. confesamos

  3. Complete the sentence: Él ___ que había mentido. (present tense) A. confiesa B. confieso C. confiesas D. confesamos

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ sus pecados en la iglesia. (present tense) A. confesamos B. confieso C. confiesas D. confiesa

  5. Complete the sentence: Vosotros ___ su secreto al sacerdote. (present tense) A. confesáis B. confieso C. confiesas D. confiesa

  6. Complete the sentence: Ellos ___ todo a la policía. (present tense) A. confiesan B. confieso C. confiesas D. confiesa

  7. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ que había mentido. (present tense) A. confieso B. confiesas C. confiesa D. confesamos

  8. Complete the sentence: Él ___ sus pecados en la iglesia. (present tense) A. confiesa B. confieso C. confiesas D. confesamos

Answer key

  1. confieso — The yo present form of confesar is confieso. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  2. confiesas — The tu present form of confesar is confiesas. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  3. confiesa — The el present form of confesar is confiesa. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  4. confesamos — The nosotros present form of confesar is confesamos. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  5. confesáis — The vosotros present form of confesar is confesáis. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  6. confiesan — The ellos present form of confesar is confiesan. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  7. confieso — The yo present form of confesar is confieso. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  8. confiesa — The el present form of confesar is confiesa. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.

Frequently asked questions

When do I use the present tense of confesar?

Use the present tense of confesar for habits, facts and what is happening now. For example: Yo confieso su secreto al sacerdote. — "I confess his secret to the priest." The usage rules above give five situations with examples.

How is the present tense of confesar formed?

Take the stem confes- and add the present endings for -ar verbs. The full table is at the top of this page. Remember the stem change: the singular and third-person plural forms change the stem vowel.

What is the difference between the present and the preterite of confesar?

The present describes a habit or a present fact, while the preterite describes a finished action. Compare Yo confieso todo a la policía. with Yo confesé todo a la policía. — the verb is the same, but the time meaning changes.

How do I practise the present tense of confesar?

Drill the six forms in the table above until you can say them without looking, then use the confesar examples and quiz page for more sentences, and test yourself with the Confesar conjugation page for the full picture across all tenses.

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