Desalentar Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish
The present tense of desalentar — "to discourage" 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 desalentar 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. Desalentar means to discourage someone: desalentar a su hijo con sus críticas. It is the opposite of alentar, and it takes a person as its object. To see it in a real sentence: Yo desaliento a su hijo con sus críticas — "I discourage his son with his criticism".
Present tense conjugation table: desalentar
Every person of desalentar in the present tense. The gerund is desalentando and the past participle is desalentado.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | desaliento |
| tú | desalientas |
| él/ella/Ud. | desalienta |
| nosotros/as | desalentamos |
| vosotros/as | desalentáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | desalientan |
How the present of desalentar is formed
The present of desalentar is built from the stem desalent- 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 | desaliento |
| tú | -as | desalientas |
| él/ella/Ud. | -a | desalienta |
| nosotros/as | -amos | desalentamos |
| vosotros/as | -áis | desalentáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | -an | desalientan |
The stem vowel changes in the stressed forms of the present: desaliento, desalientas, desalienta and desalientan — but nosotros and vosotros keep the plain stem: desalentamos, desalentáis.
The gerund of desalentar is desalentando and the past participle is desalentado. Both are the forms you need with estar and haber respectively.
When to use the present tense of desalentar
The present tense is not one single use — it covers several situations, and desalentar 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 describes things that happen regularly, as a habit or routine.
"Cada día, yo desaliento a su hijo con sus críticas" — "Every day, I discourage his son with his criticism"
General truths
The present states facts that are always true, not just true today.
"Mi amigo desalienta a los alumnos con malas notas" — "My friend discourages the pupils with bad marks"
What is happening now
The present describes an action in progress right now.
"Ahora, yo desaliento a su equipo con la derrota" — "Right now, I discourage his team with the defeat"
Near-future plans
Spanish often uses the present for a plan that is already fixed.
"Mañana, nosotros desalentamos a los jóvenes con el paro" — "Tomorrow, we discourage young people with unemployment"
Timetables and scheduled events
The present is the tense for timetables, programmes and things that happen on a schedule.
"Ellos desalientan a su amiga con sus dudas" — "They discourage his friend with his doubts"
The present tense vs the closest tenses
Present — habit or general fact vs Preterite — one finished occasion
The present describes a habit, a routine or a general fact — something that happens again and again or that is true in general. The preterite reports one finished occasion in the past. Use the present when the action repeats or is still true, and the preterite when you are telling what happened once, on a specific day.
- Present — habit or general fact: {'pre_es': 'Cada día, ', 'pre_en': 'Every day, '}yo desaliento a su hijo con sus críticas — "I discourage his son with his criticism"
- Preterite — one finished occasion: {'pre_es': 'Ayer, ', 'pre_en': 'Yesterday, '}yo desalenté a su hijo con sus críticas — "I discouraged his son with his criticism"
Present — now vs Imperfect — a past habit or background
The present talks about now. The imperfect talks about the past as a background — a repeated habit, an ongoing situation, something that used to happen. If you can add "used to" in English, the imperfect is usually the right choice; if it is happening now or always, use the present.
- Present — now: {}tú desalientas a los alumnos con malas notas — "You discourage the pupils with bad marks"
- Imperfect — a past habit or background: {}tú desalentabas a los alumnos con malas notas — "You used to discourage the pupils with bad marks"
Present — now or a fixed plan vs Future — what will happen
The present describes what happens now, what you do regularly, or a plan that is already fixed. The future describes what will happen later — a promise, a prediction, a plan that is not yet under way. Spanish often uses the present for near-future plans, but the future is the form for a clear statement about tomorrow.
- Present — now or a fixed plan: {'subj_es': 'Mi amigo', 'subj_en': 'My friend'}él desalienta a su equipo con la derrota — "He discourages his team with the defeat"
- Future — what will happen: {'subj_es': 'Mi amigo', 'subj_en': 'My friend'}él desalentará a su equipo con la derrota — "He will discourage his team with the defeat"
Examples: desalentar in the present tense
Seven sentences that show desalentar in the present tense only, across all six persons. Read each one aloud, notice the ending, and check the translation.
- Yo desaliento a su hijo con sus críticas — "I discourage his son with his criticism"
- Tú desalientas a los alumnos con malas notas — "You discourage the pupils with bad marks"
- Él desalienta a su equipo con la derrota — "He discourages his team with the defeat"
- Nosotros desalentamos a los jóvenes con el paro — "We discourage young people with unemployment"
- Vosotros desalentáis a su amiga con sus dudas — "You discourage his friend with his doubts"
- Ellos desalientan a su hijo con sus críticas — "They discourage his son with his criticism"
- Yo desaliento a los alumnos con malas notas — "I discourage the pupils with bad marks"
Common mistakes with desalentar in the present tense
These are the errors learners actually make with desalentar in the present tense. Each one shows the wrong form, the right form, and why the right form is right.
✗ *Yo desalento a su hijo con sus críticas.
✓ Correct: Yo desaliento a su hijo con sus críticas.
desalentar is a stem-changing verb (e → ie): the stem vowel changes in the stressed present forms, so the yo form is desaliento, not desalento.
✗ *Tú desalienta a los alumnos con malas notas.
✓ Correct: Tú desalientas a los alumnos con malas notas.
The tú form and the él form are different: tú takes desalientas, él takes desalienta.
✗ *Cada día, yo desalenté a su equipo con la derrota
✓ Correct: Cada día, yo desaliento a su equipo con la derrota
Cada día describes a habit, so it needs the present, not the preterite.
✗ *Vosotros desalentais a los jóvenes con el paro.
✓ Correct: Vosotros desalentáis a los jóvenes con el paro.
The vosotros present form carries a written accent: desalentáis, not desalentais.
Quiz: desalentar in the present tense
Eight questions on the present tense of desalentar. Choose the best answer for each one, then check the answer key below — every answer is explained.
Which is the correct present form of desalentar for tú? A. desalentamos B. desalientas C. desaliento D. desalienta
Complete the sentence: Yo ______ a su hijo con sus críticas — "I discourage his son with his criticism" (present) A. desalentamos B. desaliento C. desalientas D. desalienta
Complete the sentence: Él ______ a los alumnos con malas notas — "He discourages the pupils with bad marks" (present) A. desalienta B. desaliento C. desalientas D. desalentamos
Which is the correct present form of desalentar for nosotros? A. desalentamos B. desalientas C. desalienta D. desalientan
Which sentence uses desalentar correctly in the present? A. Mi amigo desalentaba a su equipo con la derrota B. Mi amigo desalentamos a su equipo con la derrota C. Mi amigo desalienta a su equipo con la derrota D. Mi amigo desalientas a su equipo con la derrota
Complete the sentence: Vosotros ______ a los jóvenes con el paro — "You discourage young people with unemployment" (present) A. desalienta B. desalentáis C. desaliento D. desalientas
Complete the sentence: Ellos ______ a su amiga con sus dudas — "They discourage his friend with his doubts" (present) A. desaliento B. desalientas C. desalienta D. desalientan
What is the gerund of desalentar? A. desalentado B. desaliento C. desalenté D. desalentando
Answer key
- desalientas — The tú form in the present is desalientas.
- desaliento — The present form for yo is desaliento.
- desalienta — The present form for él/ella/Ud. is desalienta.
- desalentamos — The nosotros form in the present is desalentamos.
- Mi amigo desalienta a su equipo con la derrota — Mi amigo desalienta a su equipo con la derrota is correct: the verb agrees with its subject and the tense is the present.
- desalentáis — The present form for vosotros/as is desalentáis.
- desalientan — The present form for ellos/ellas/Uds. is desalientan.
- desalentando — The gerund is desalentando. It is the form you use with estar for the progressive, and it is not the past participle desalentado.
Frequently asked questions
Is desalentar regular in the present tense?
No — in the present the stem changes: The stem vowel changes in the stressed forms of the present: desaliento, desalientas, desalienta and desalientan — but nosotros and vosotros keep the plain stem: desalentamos, desalentáis. The nosotros and vosotros forms keep the plain stem.
What is the gerund and the past participle of desalentar?
The gerund is desalentando and the past participle is desalentado. Use the gerund with estar for the progressive, and the participle with haber for the perfect tenses.
How do you say "I discourage" in the present tense?
Say desaliento. For example: Yo desaliento a su hijo con sus críticas — "I discourage his son with his criticism".
What is the difference between the present and the preterite of desalentar?
The present describes a habit or what happens now: Yo desaliento a su hijo con sus críticas — "I discourage his son with his criticism". The preterite reports one finished occasion: Ayer, yo desalenté a su hijo con sus críticas — "Yesterday, I discouraged his son with his criticism". Use the present when the action repeats or is still true, and the preterite when you are telling what happened once.
Related links
- Full conjugation of desalentar — every tense and mood, with the complete tables.
- desalentar examples and quiz — more sentences, dialogues and a longer quiz.
- Spanish Present tense guide — how the present tense works for all Spanish verbs.
- Spanish verbs — the full list of Spanish verbs on VerbFlow.