Delatar Conjugation in Spanish

Learning to conjugate delatar — «to betray, to give away» — opens up a whole set of sentences you will use every day. It is a regular -ar verb verb, and this page covers it completely: thirteen tenses, the gerund delatando and the past participle delatado, example sentences in every tense, the common mistakes and a quiz with an answer key. A good first sentence to learn is «Yo delato todos los días» — I betray every day. Once you can say that, the rest of the table falls into place person by person.

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: delatar
  • English: to betray, to give away
  • Verb type: regular -ar verb
  • Ending: -ar
  • Gerund: delatando
  • Past participle: delatado
  • Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + delatado)

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

Full conjugation tables

Every form below comes from the verified conjugation tables for delatar. The imperfect subjunctive is shown in its -ra forms; the -se forms use the same stem.

Gerund: delatando · Past participle: delatado

Present Indicative

Person Form
yo delato
tú delatas
él/ella/Ud. delata
nosotros/as delatamos
vosotros/as delatáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. delatan

The present is the tense you will use most with delatar. It covers daily routines, permanent facts and actions in progress. Learn the yo form delato first, then the tú and él forms, which are the ones that change the stem in stem-changing verbs.

Preterite

Person Form
yo delaté
tú delataste
él/ella/Ud. delató
nosotros/as delatamos
vosotros/as delatasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. delataron

The preterite of delatar reports what happened. «Ayer yo delaté por la tarde» places the action firmly in finished time. It is the tense of stories and reports, not of background description.

Imperfect

Person Form
yo delataba
tú delatabas
él/ella/Ud. delataba
nosotros/as delatábamos
vosotros/as delatabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. delataban

The imperfect of delatar paints the background of a past scene: repeated actions, states and descriptions. «Antes, yo delataba todos los días» is the pattern. Pair it with the preterite when one event interrupts another.

Future

Person Form
yo delataré
tú delatarás
él/ella/Ud. delatará
nosotros/as delataremos
vosotros/as delataréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. delatarán

The future of delatar looks forward: what will happen tomorrow, next week or next year. «Mañana yo delataré sin falta» is the pattern. Remember that the future can also express probability about the present in Spanish.

Conditional

Person Form
yo delataría
tú delatarías
él/ella/Ud. delataría
nosotros/as delataríamos
vosotros/as delataríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. delatarían

The conditional of delatar is the tense of «would»: what you would do, what would happen, what you would like. «Si pudiera, yo delataría sin dudarlo» shows the pattern. It is built on the infinitive, just like the future.

Present Perfect

Person Form
yo he delatado
tú has delatado
él/ella/Ud. ha delatado
nosotros/as hemos delatado
vosotros/as habéis delatado
ellos/ellas/Uds. han delatado

The present perfect of delatar says «have done»: the action is finished but its result still matters now. «Hoy yo he delatado dos veces» is the pattern. Learn the participle delatado well — every perfect tense depends on it.

Pluperfect

Person Form
yo había delatado
tú habías delatado
él/ella/Ud. había delatado
nosotros/as habíamos delatado
vosotros/as habíais delatado
ellos/ellas/Uds. habían delatado

The pluperfect of delatar steps one event further back than the preterite. «Antes de salir, yo había delatado» is the pattern: first this happened, then the story moved on. It is haber in the imperfect plus delatado.

Future Perfect

Person Form
yo habré delatado
tú habrás delatado
él/ella/Ud. habrá delatado
nosotros/as habremos delatado
vosotros/as habréis delatado
ellos/ellas/Uds. habrán delatado

The future perfect of delatar combines the future of haber with delatado. «Para el viernes, yo habré delatado ya» is the pattern. Use it when the completion matters more than the action itself.

Conditional Perfect

Person Form
yo habría delatado
tú habrías delatado
él/ella/Ud. habría delatado
nosotros/as habríamos delatado
vosotros/as habríais delatado
ellos/ellas/Uds. habrían delatado

The conditional perfect of delatar is the tense of «would have done». «Yo habría delatado si hubiera podido» is the pattern. It is built from haber in the conditional plus delatado.

Present Subjunctive

Person Form
yo delate
tú delates
él/ella/Ud. delate
nosotros/as delatemos
vosotros/as delatéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. delaten

The present subjunctive of delatar is the mood of what is wished, doubted or demanded rather than stated as fact. «Espero que tú delates» is the pattern. If the trigger is in the past, switch to the imperfect subjunctive instead.

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra forms)

Person Form
yo delatara
tú delataras
él/ella/Ud. delatara
nosotros/as delatáramos
vosotros/as delatarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. delataran

The imperfect subjunctive of delatar handles the hypothetical past and the polite conditional. «Ojalá yo delatara más a menudo» is the pattern. The -ra forms in the table are the standard ones; the -se forms use the same stem with -se endings.

Imperative — Affirmative

Person Form
tú delata
él/ella/Ud. delate
nosotros/as delatemos
vosotros/as delatad
ellos/ellas/Uds. delaten

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

The affirmative imperative of delatar is for orders and instructions. «¡delata, por favor!» is the pattern. Remember there is no yo form in the imperative, and the nosotros form doubles as a suggestion: «¡delatemos!» means «let's do it».

Imperative — Negative

Person Form
tú delates
él/ella/Ud. delate
nosotros/as delatemos
vosotros/as delatéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. delaten

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

The negative imperative of delatar is built on the present subjunctive: «¡No delates!». Learn it as a set with the subjunctive table above, and never follow no with the affirmative command form.

Example sentences

  1. Yo delato todos los días. — I betray every day.
  2. Ayer yo delaté por la tarde. — Yesterday I betrayed in the afternoon.
  3. Antes, yo delataba todos los días. — In the past, I used to betray every day.
  4. Mañana yo delataré sin falta. — Tomorrow I will betray without fail.
  5. Si tuviera más tiempo, yo delataría ahora mismo. — If I had more time, I would betray right now.
  6. Hoy yo he delatado dos veces. — Today I have betrayed twice.
  7. Espero que tú delates pronto. — I hope You betray soon.
  8. Si yo delatara, todo sería distinto. — If I betrayed, everything would be different.
  9. Ahora mismo yo estoy delatando. — Right now I am betraying.
  10. ¡delata, por favor! — Betray, please!

Common mistakes

1. Using the imperfect for a finished event

Wrong: Ayer yo delataba.

Right: Ayer yo delaté.

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

2. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

Wrong: Espero que tú delatas.

Right: Espero que tú delates.

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

3. Using the affirmative imperative after no

Wrong: No delata.

Right: No delates.

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

4. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

Wrong: Yo delatar todos los días.

Right: Yo delato todos los días.

The infinitive delatar names the action; it never works as the main verb of a sentence. Conjugate it for the person: yo delato.

5. Confusing the gerund with the past participle

Wrong: He delatando.

Right: He delatado.

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

Quiz

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

1. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of delatar in the present indicative?

- (a) delato
- (b) delata
- (c) delatamos
- (d) delatas

2. What is the nosotros/as form of delatar in the preterite?

- (a) delataste
- (b) delaté
- (c) delató
- (d) delatamos

3. What is the vosotros/as form of delatar in the imperfect?

- (a) delatabas
- (b) delataba
- (c) delatabais
- (d) delataba

4. What is the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of delatar in the future?

- (a) delataré
- (b) delatarán
- (c) delatará
- (d) delatarás

5. What is the yo form of delatar in the conditional?

- (a) delatarías
- (b) delataría
- (c) delataría
- (d) delataríamos

6. What is the tú form of delatar in the present perfect?

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

7. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of delatar in the present subjunctive?

- (a) delate
- (b) delatemos
- (c) delate
- (d) delates

8. What is the nosotros/as form of delatar in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms)?

- (a) delatara
- (b) delatara
- (c) delataras
- (d) delatáramos

9. What is the gerund of delatar?

- (a) delato
- (b) delatando
- (c) delatar
- (d) delatado

10. What is the past participle of delatar?

- (a) delatando
- (b) delaté
- (c) delatado
- (d) delatar

Answer key

1. (b) — In the present indicative, the él/ella/Ud. form of delatar is delata. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 2. (d) — In the preterite, the nosotros/as form of delatar is delatamos. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 3. (c) — In the imperfect, the vosotros/as form of delatar is delatabais. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 4. (b) — In the future, the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of delatar is delatarán. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 5. (b) — In the conditional, the yo form of delatar is delataría. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 6. (b) — In the present perfect, the tú form of delatar is has delatado. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 7. (a) — In the present subjunctive, the él/ella/Ud. form of delatar is delate. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 8. (d) — In the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms), the nosotros/as form of delatar is delatáramos. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 9. (b) — The gerund of delatar is delatando. It is used with estar for the progressive: «Estoy delatando». 10. (c) — The past participle of delatar is delatado. It follows haber in all the perfect tenses: «he delatado».

Frequently asked questions

Is delatar regular or irregular?

Yes — delatar is a regular -ar verb. Learn the endings once and they work in every tense, with the stem delat unchanged throughout.

What are the gerund and past participle of delatar?

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

How do I say «I betray» in Spanish?

Say «Yo delato 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 delatar?

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

When do I use the subjunctive with delatar?

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

How do I use delatar in the present perfect?

Put haber in the present before the past participle: «Hoy yo he delatado». The participle delatado never changes for person — only haber changes — so once you know the participle, the whole perfect tense follows.

Related links