Dedicarse Conjugation in Spanish

The Spanish verb dedicarse means to devote oneself to, and it is a verb you will use again and again once you know it. It is a spelling-changing -ar verb, reflexive verb: the stem is dedic and the endings follow the -ar pattern, with the exceptions noted in the tables below. This page gives you the complete picture — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle, all from the verified conjugation tables. For example, in the present tense you say «Me dedico todos los días», which means «I devote myself to every day». Work through the tables below, read the notes for each tense, and then test yourself with the examples, the common mistakes and the quiz at the end of the page.

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: dedicarse
  • English: to devote oneself to
  • Verb type: spelling-changing -ar verb, reflexive
  • Ending: -ar
  • Gerund: dedicando
  • Past participle: dedicado
  • Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + dedicado)
  • Reflexive pronouns: me, te, se, nos, os, se — one before every conjugated form, matching the person.
  • Spelling change: in the preterite the yo form is dediqué, not dedicé, so the stem-final letter changes before e and i.
  • Spelling change: in the present subjunctive the yo form is dedique, not dedice, so the stem-final letter changes before e and i.

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for dedicarse, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

dedicarse is reflexive: Me dedico todos los días; te dedicas todos los días. Without the pronoun, the verb means doing the action to someone else rather than to yourself, so keep the pronoun with the form.

Full conjugation tables

Every form below comes from the verified conjugation tables for dedicarse. The imperfect subjunctive is shown in its -ra forms; the -se forms use the same stem. For reflexive verbs, the pronoun column shows the reflexive pronoun that goes before each form.

Gerund: dedicando · Past participle: dedicado

Present Indicative

Person Pronoun Form
yo me dedico
tú te dedicas
él/ella/Ud. se dedica
nosotros/as nos dedicamos
vosotros/as os dedicáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se dedican

Use the present of dedicarse for things that happen regularly and for things that are true in general. The yo form dedico is the anchor of the table: the other persons follow the regular -ar endings from it. When you talk about yourself right now, this is the form you need.

Preterite

Person Pronoun Form
yo me dediqué
tú te dedicaste
él/ella/Ud. se dedicó
nosotros/as nos dedicamos
vosotros/as os dedicasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se dedicaron

Use the preterite of dedicarse for a single finished event: something that happened once and is over. The yo form is dediqué. If you can put a finished time expression with it — ayer, la semana pasada, anoche — the preterite is usually right.

Imperfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me dedicaba
tú te dedicabas
él/ella/Ud. se dedicaba
nosotros/as nos dedicábamos
vosotros/as os dedicabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se dedicaban

Use the imperfect of dedicarse for what used to happen and for what was going on when something else happened. The yo form is dedicaba. If the action has no clear beginning or end in the story, the imperfect is the right choice.

Future

Person Pronoun Form
yo me dedicaré
tú te dedicarás
él/ella/Ud. se dedicará
nosotros/as nos dedicaremos
vosotros/as os dedicaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se dedicarán

Use the future of dedicarse for plans, promises and predictions. The yo form is dedicaré, built on the infinitive plus the future endings. For a firm plan, the future sounds more formal than ir a + infinitive; for a casual plan, either works.

Conditional

Person Pronoun Form
yo me dedicaría
tú te dedicarías
él/ella/Ud. se dedicaría
nosotros/as nos dedicaríamos
vosotros/as os dedicaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se dedicarían

Use the conditional of dedicarse for hypothetical situations and for softening requests. The yo form is dedicaría. It appears after si-clauses with the imperfect subjunctive and on its own for polite suggestions.

Present Perfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me he dedicado
tú te has dedicado
él/ella/Ud. se ha dedicado
nosotros/as nos hemos dedicado
vosotros/as os habéis dedicado
ellos/ellas/Uds. se han dedicado

Use the present perfect of dedicarse for recent events with present relevance. The yo form is he dedicado — haber in the present plus dedicado. Time expressions like hoy, esta semana and últimamente are its natural partners.

Pluperfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me había dedicado
tú te habías dedicado
él/ella/Ud. se había dedicado
nosotros/as nos habíamos dedicado
vosotros/as os habíais dedicado
ellos/ellas/Uds. se habían dedicado

Use the pluperfect of dedicarse when you need two layers of past: one event already finished before another past event began. The yo form is había dedicado. It is the tense of «had already done».

Future Perfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me habré dedicado
tú te habrás dedicado
él/ella/Ud. se habrá dedicado
nosotros/as nos habremos dedicado
vosotros/as os habréis dedicado
ellos/ellas/Uds. se habrán dedicado

Use the future perfect of dedicarse to say that something will be finished by a future moment. The yo form is habré dedicado. It pairs naturally with deadlines: para mañana, para el viernes, para entonces.

Conditional Perfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me habría dedicado
tú te habrías dedicado
él/ella/Ud. se habría dedicado
nosotros/as nos habríamos dedicado
vosotros/as os habríais dedicado
ellos/ellas/Uds. se habrían dedicado

Use the conditional perfect of dedicarse for the past that did not happen: what would have been done with more time or a different choice. The yo form is habría dedicado. It follows si-clauses with the pluperfect subjunctive.

Present Subjunctive

Person Pronoun Form
yo me dedique
tú te dediques
él/ella/Ud. se dedique
nosotros/as nos dediquemos
vosotros/as os dediquéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se dediquen

Use the present subjunctive of dedicarse when the main clause expresses a wish, a doubt, an emotion or an impersonal judgement. The yo form is dedique. After espero que, ojalá que and no creo que, the subjunctive is required, not optional.

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra forms)

Person Pronoun Form
yo me dedicara
tú te dedicaras
él/ella/Ud. se dedicara
nosotros/as nos dedicáramos
vosotros/as os dedicarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se dedicaran

Use the imperfect subjunctive of dedicarse after past-tense wishes and doubts, and in si-clauses that set up a hypothetical present. The yo form is dedicara. It is built on the third-person plural preterite stem, which is why it looks different from the present subjunctive.

Imperative — Affirmative

Person Pronoun Form
tú te dedica
él/ella/Ud. se dedique
nosotros/as nos dediquemos
vosotros/as os dedicad
ellos/ellas/Uds. se dediquen

There is no yo form in the imperative — you cannot command yourself.

In real speech the reflexive pronoun attaches to the end of an affirmative command; the table shows the pronoun and the form separately so you can see both parts.

Use the affirmative imperative of dedicarse to tell someone to do something: instructions, invitations and requests. The tú form is dedica. For a polite command, use the usted form dedique instead of the tú form.

Imperative — Negative

Person Pronoun Form
tú te dediques
él/ella/Ud. se dedique
nosotros/as nos dediquemos
vosotros/as os dediquéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se dediquen

There is no yo form in the imperative — you cannot command yourself.

In real speech the reflexive pronoun attaches to the end of an affirmative command; the table shows the pronoun and the form separately so you can see both parts.

Use the negative imperative of dedicarse to forbid or to warn: «¡No dediques!». The tú form is dediques, taken from the present subjunctive. The word no always comes first, and the form never changes for emphasis.

Example sentences

  1. Me dedico todos los días. — I devote myself to every day.
  2. Ayer me dediqué por la tarde. — Yesterday I devoted myself to in the afternoon.
  3. Antes, me dedicaba todos los días. — In the past, I used to devote myself to every day.
  4. Mañana me dedicaré sin falta. — Tomorrow I will devote myself to without fail.
  5. Si tuviera más tiempo, me dedicaría ahora mismo. — If I had more time, I would devote myself to right now.
  6. Hoy me he dedicado dos veces. — Today I have devoted myself to twice.
  7. Espero que te dediques pronto. — I hope You devote yourself to soon.
  8. Si me dedicara, todo sería distinto. — If I devoted myself to, everything would be different.
  9. Ahora mismo me estoy dedicando. — Right now I am devoting myself to.
  10. ¡No te dediques! — Don't devote yourself to!

Common mistakes

1. Forgetting the reflexive pronoun

Wrong: yo dedico todos los días.

Right: me dedico todos los días.

dedicarse is reflexive: the pronoun me belongs before every conjugated form. Without it, you are using the non-reflexive verb, which means something different — doing the action to someone else instead of to yourself.

2. Missing the spelling change in the preterite

Wrong: Yo dedicé.

Right: Yo dediqué.

The spelling changes so the pronunciation stays the same: the yo form in the preterite is dediqué, not dedicé. The endings are regular — only the spelling of the stem-final letter adjusts before e and i.

3. Using the imperfect for a finished event

Wrong: Ayer me dedicaba.

Right: Ayer me dediqué.

Yesterday's finished action needs the preterite, dediqué. The imperfect dedicaba describes what used to happen or what was going on, not a single completed event.

4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

Wrong: Espero que te dedicas.

Right: Espero que te dediques.

After espero que, Spanish requires the subjunctive: dediques, not the indicative dedicas. Wishes, hopes and doubts all trigger this change.

5. Using the affirmative imperative after no

Wrong: No te dedica.

Right: No te dediques.

Negative commands use the subjunctive-based forms: no dediques. The affirmative dedica can never follow no.

6. Confusing the gerund with the past participle

Wrong: He dedicando.

Right: He dedicado.

The perfect tenses use haber plus the past participle: he dedicado. The gerund dedicando goes with estar for actions in progress («Estoy dedicando»), never with haber.

Quiz

Test yourself on the forms above. Choose the correct answer, then check the key below.

1. What is the tú form of dedicarse in the present indicative?

- (a) dedicamos
- (b) dedicas
- (c) dedica
- (d) dedico

2. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of dedicarse in the preterite?

- (a) dedicamos
- (b) dediqué
- (c) dedicó
- (d) dedicaste

3. What is the nosotros/as form of dedicarse in the imperfect?

- (a) dedicaba
- (b) dedicábamos
- (c) dedicabas
- (d) dedicaba

4. What is the vosotros/as form of dedicarse in the future?

- (a) dedicaréis
- (b) dedicarás
- (c) dedicará
- (d) dedicaré

5. What is the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of dedicarse in the conditional?

- (a) dedicarían
- (b) dedicaría
- (c) dedicarías
- (d) dedicaría

6. What is the yo form of dedicarse in the present perfect?

- (a) hemos dedicado
- (b) has dedicado
- (c) ha dedicado
- (d) he dedicado

7. What is the tú form of dedicarse in the present subjunctive?

- (a) dediquemos
- (b) dediques
- (c) dedique
- (d) dedique

8. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of dedicarse in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms)?

- (a) dedicara
- (b) dedicáramos
- (c) dedicara
- (d) dedicaras

9. What is the gerund of dedicarse?

- (a) dedicado
- (b) dedico
- (c) dedicando
- (d) dedicarse

10. What is the past participle of dedicarse?

- (a) dediqué
- (b) dedicarse
- (c) dedicado
- (d) dedicando

Answer key

1. (b) — In the present indicative, the tú form of dedicarse is dedicas. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 2. (c) — In the preterite, the él/ella/Ud. form of dedicarse is dedicó. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 3. (b) — In the imperfect, the nosotros/as form of dedicarse is dedicábamos. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 4. (a) — In the future, the vosotros/as form of dedicarse is dedicaréis. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 5. (a) — In the conditional, the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of dedicarse is dedicarían. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 6. (d) — In the present perfect, the yo form of dedicarse is he dedicado. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 7. (b) — In the present subjunctive, the tú form of dedicarse is dediques. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 8. (a) — In the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms), the él/ella/Ud. form of dedicarse is dedicara. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 9. (c) — The gerund of dedicarse is dedicando. It is used with estar for the progressive: «Estoy dedicando». 10. (c) — The past participle of dedicarse is dedicado. It follows haber in all the perfect tenses: «he dedicado».

Frequently asked questions

Is dedicarse regular or irregular?

Mostly yes — dedicarse takes the regular -ar endings, but the spelling of the stem changes in some forms (for example the yo preterite dediqué). The endings never change; only the stem-final letter adjusts so the pronunciation stays the same.

What are the gerund and past participle of dedicarse?

The gerund is dedicando and the past participle is dedicado. Use the gerund with estar for actions in progress («Estoy dedicando») and the participle with haber for the perfect tenses («he dedicado»).

How do I say «I devote myself to» in Spanish?

Say «Me dedico todos los días». That is the yo form of the present tense, the form you need for talking about yourself right now.

What is the difference between the preterite and the imperfect of dedicarse?

Use the preterite (dediqué) for a single finished event and the imperfect (dedicaba) for habits and background. «Ayer yo dediqué» reports something that happened and ended; «Antes, yo dedicaba» describes what used to happen.

When do I use the subjunctive with dedicarse?

Use the subjunctive after wishes, doubts, emotions and impersonal expressions — for example «Espero que tú dediques». The trigger sits in the main clause; once it is there, the subjunctive form is required, not a stylistic choice.

What does the -se in dedicarse mean?

The -se marks dedicarse as reflexive: the action comes back to the subject. You always pair the form with its pronoun — me, te, se, nos, os, se — placed before the conjugated verb. Dropping the pronoun changes the meaning, so treat the pronoun as part of the verb.

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