Desalentar Conjugation in Spanish

The Spanish verb desalentar means to discourage, and it is a verb you will use again and again once you know it. 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. Like every Spanish verb, desalentar changes its ending for each person and tense, and 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 Yo desaliento a su hijo con sus críticas — "I discourage his son with his criticism". 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.

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.

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: desalentar
  • English: to discourage
  • Verb type: stem-changing -ar verb (e → ie)
  • Ending: -ar
  • Gerund: desalentando
  • Past participle: desalentado
  • Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + desalentado)

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

Full conjugation tables

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

Present indicative

| Person | Form | |---|---|---| | yo | desaliento | | tú | desalientas | | él/ella/Ud. | desalienta | | nosotros/as | desalentamos | | vosotros/as | desalentáis | | ellos/ellas/Uds. | desalientan |

Preterite

| Person | Form | |---|---|---| | yo | desalenté | | tú | desalentaste | | él/ella/Ud. | desalentó | | nosotros/as | desalentamos | | vosotros/as | desalentasteis | | ellos/ellas/Uds. | desalentaron |

Imperfect

| Person | Form | |---|---|---| | yo | desalentaba | | tú | desalentabas | | él/ella/Ud. | desalentaba | | nosotros/as | desalentábamos | | vosotros/as | desalentabais | | ellos/ellas/Uds. | desalentaban |

Future

| Person | Form | |---|---|---| | yo | desalentaré | | tú | desalentarás | | él/ella/Ud. | desalentará | | nosotros/as | desalentaremos | | vosotros/as | desalentaréis | | ellos/ellas/Uds. | desalentarán |

Conditional

| Person | Form | |---|---|---| | yo | desalentaría | | tú | desalentarías | | él/ella/Ud. | desalentaría | | nosotros/as | desalentaríamos | | vosotros/as | desalentaríais | | ellos/ellas/Uds. | desalentarían |

Present perfect

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

Pluperfect

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

Future perfect

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

Conditional perfect

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

Present subjunctive

| Person | Form | |---|---|---| | yo | desaliente | | tú | desalientes | | él/ella/Ud. | desaliente | | nosotros/as | desalentemos | | vosotros/as | desalentéis | | ellos/ellas/Uds. | desalienten |

Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)

| Person | Form | |---|---|---| | yo | desalentara | | tú | desalentaras | | él/ella/Ud. | desalentara | | nosotros/as | desalentáramos | | vosotros/as | desalentarais | | ellos/ellas/Uds. | desalentaran |

Imperative (affirmative)

| Person | Form | |---|---|---| | tú | desalienta | | él/ella/Ud. | desaliente | | nosotros/as | desalentemos | | vosotros/as | desalentad | | ellos/ellas/Uds. | desalienten |

Imperative (negative)

| Person | Form | |---|---|---| | tú | desalientes | | él/ella/Ud. | desaliente | | nosotros/as | desalentemos | | vosotros/as | desalentéis | | ellos/ellas/Uds. | desalienten |

Gerund and past participle

Form Spanish Use
Gerund desalentando with estar for the progressive: está desalentando
Past participle desalentado with haber for the perfect tenses: he desalentado

How to use each tense

Present indicative

Use the present for routines, general facts and what is happening right now. 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. For desalentar, the present indicative looks like this in a real sentence: Yo desaliento a su hijo con sus críticas — "I discourage his son with his criticism".

Preterite

Use the preterite for finished actions with a clear end, often with ayer, el año pasado or anoche. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For desalentar, the preterite looks like this in a real sentence: Ayer, yo desalenté a los alumnos con malas notas — "Yesterday, I discouraged the pupils with bad marks".

Imperfect

Use the imperfect for background, habits and actions in progress in the past, often with de niño, antes or mientras. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For desalentar, the imperfect looks like this in a real sentence: De niño, yo desalentaba a su equipo con la derrota — "As a child, I used to discourage his team with the defeat".

Future

Use the future for plans, predictions and promises, often with mañana, el año que viene or pronto. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For desalentar, the future looks like this in a real sentence: Mañana, yo desalentaré a los jóvenes con el paro — "Tomorrow, I will discourage young people with unemployment".

Conditional

Use the conditional for polite requests, hypotheticals and what would happen, often with si clauses. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For desalentar, the conditional looks like this in a real sentence: Yo desalentaría a su hijo con sus críticas si pudiera — "I would discourage his son with his criticism if I could".

Present perfect

Use the present perfect for recent actions and experiences, often with hoy, esta semana or ya. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For desalentar, the present perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Hoy, yo he desalentado a los alumnos con malas notas — "Today, I have discouraged the pupils with bad marks".

Pluperfect

Use the pluperfect when one past action happened before another past action. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For desalentar, the pluperfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo ya había desalentado a su equipo con la derrota antes de salir — "I already had discouraged his team with the defeat before leaving".

Future perfect

Use the future perfect for something that will already be finished by a future time. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For desalentar, the future perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Para mañana, yo habré desalentado a los jóvenes con el paro — "By tomorrow, I will have discouraged young people with unemployment".

Conditional perfect

Use the conditional perfect for what would have happened under different conditions. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For desalentar, the conditional perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo habría desalentado a su hijo con sus críticas con más tiempo — "I would have discouraged his son with his criticism with more time".

Present subjunctive

Use the present subjunctive after expressions of wish, doubt, emotion and hope, such as espero que or quiero que. 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. For desalentar, the present subjunctive looks like this in a real sentence: Espero que él desaliente a los alumnos con malas notas — "I hope he discourages the pupils with bad marks".

Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)

Use the imperfect subjunctive after past wishes and in si clauses about the past. The -ra forms are shown here; the -se forms use the same stem. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For desalentar, the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) looks like this in a real sentence: Si yo desalentara a su equipo con la derrota, todo cambiaría — "If I discouraged his team with the defeat, everything would change".

Imperative (affirmative)

Use the affirmative imperative for direct commands, instructions and invitations. 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. For desalentar, the imperative (affirmative) looks like this in a real sentence: Desalienta a los jóvenes con el paro. — "Discourage young people with unemployment.".

Imperative (negative)

Use the negative imperative, always with no, to tell someone not to do something. 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. For desalentar, the imperative (negative) looks like this in a real sentence: No desalientes a su hijo con sus críticas. — "Do not discourage his son with his criticism.".

Example sentences

Ten natural sentences with desalentar, covering different tenses and persons. Each one uses a form from the tables above.

  1. Yo desaliento a su hijo con sus críticas — "I discourage his son with his criticism"
  2. Mi amigo desalienta a los alumnos con malas notas — "My friend discourages the pupils with bad marks"
  3. Ayer, yo desalenté a su equipo con la derrota — "Yesterday, I discouraged his team with the defeat"
  4. Antes, nosotros desalentábamos a los jóvenes con el paro — "Before, we used to discourage young people with unemployment"
  5. Mañana, tú desalentarás a su amiga con sus dudas — "Tomorrow, you will discourage his friend with his doubts"
  6. Yo desalentaría a su hijo con sus críticas si tuviera más tiempo — "I would discourage his son with his criticism if I had more time"
  7. Él ha desalentado a los alumnos con malas notas — "He has discouraged the pupils with bad marks"
  8. Espero que él desaliente a su equipo con la derrota — "I hope he discourages his team with the defeat"
  9. Yo ya había desalentado a los jóvenes con el paro antes de salir — "I already had discouraged young people with unemployment before leaving"
  10. Ellos desalentaban a su amiga con sus dudas cuando eran jóvenes — "They used to discourage his friend with his doubts when they were young"

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Yo desalento a los alumnos con malas notas. — Right: Yo desaliento a los alumnos con malas notas. — 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.
  2. Wrong: Espero que él desalienta a los alumnos con malas notas — Right: Espero que él desaliente a los alumnos con malas notas — After espero que, Spanish requires the subjunctive: Espero que él desaliente a los alumnos con malas notas — not the indicative Espero que él desalienta a los alumnos con malas notas.
  3. Wrong: Ayer, yo desaliento a su equipo con la derrota — Right: Ayer, yo desalenté a su equipo con la derrota — Ayer points to a finished action in the past, so it needs the preterite: Ayer, yo desalenté a su equipo con la derrota.
  4. Wrong: De niño, yo desalenté a los jóvenes con el paro todos los días — Right: De niño, yo desalentaba a los jóvenes con el paro todos los días — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect, not the preterite: De niño, yo desalentaba a los jóvenes con el paro todos los días.
  5. Wrong: Yo desaliento su hijo con sus críticas. — Right: Yo desaliento a su hijo con sus críticas. — desalentar takes a before this complement: Yo desaliento a su hijo con sus críticas. Dropping the preposition is a common learner error.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on desalentar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.

  1. 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

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ______ a los alumnos con malas notas — "He discouraged the pupils with bad marks" (preterite) A. desalentó B. desalenté C. desalentaste D. desalentamos

  3. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ______ a su equipo con la derrota — "We used to discourage his team with the defeat" (imperfect) A. desalentabais B. desalentábamos C. desalentaba D. desalentabas

  4. Complete the sentence: Tú ______ a los jóvenes con el paro — "You will discourage young people with unemployment" (future) A. desalentarás B. desalentaré C. desalentará D. desalentaremos

  5. Complete the sentence: Yo ______ a su amiga con sus dudas — "I would discourage his friend with his doubts" (conditional) A. desalentaríais B. desalentaría C. desalentarías D. desalentaríamos

  6. Complete the sentence: Espero que él ______ a su hijo con sus críticas — "I hope he discourages his son with his criticism" (present subjunctive) A. desalentéis B. desaliente C. desalientes D. desalentemos

  7. Complete the sentence: Si yo ______ a los alumnos con malas notas, todo cambiaría — "If I discouraged the pupils with bad marks, everything would change" (imperfect subjunctive) A. desalentara B. desalentaras C. desalentáramos D. desalentarais

  8. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ______ a su equipo con la derrota — "We have discouraged his team with the defeat" (present perfect) A. has desalentado B. ha desalentado C. hemos desalentado D. he desalentado

  9. Complete the sentence: No ______ a los jóvenes con el paro. — "Do not discourage young people with unemployment." (negative imperative) A. desalientes B. desaliente C. desalentemos D. desalentéis

  10. Which is the gerund of desalentar, used with estar for the progressive? A. desalentado B. desaliento C. desalenté D. desalentando

Answer key

  1. desaliento — The present form for yo is desaliento.
  2. desalentó — The preterite form for él/ella/Ud. is desalentó.
  3. desalentábamos — The imperfect form for nosotros/as is desalentábamos.
  4. desalentarás — The future form for tú is desalentarás.
  5. desalentaría — The conditional form for yo is desalentaría.
  6. desaliente — The present subjunctive form for él/ella/Ud. is desaliente.
  7. desalentara — The imperfect subjunctive form for yo is desalentara.
  8. hemos desalentado — The present perfect form for nosotros/as is hemos desalentado.
  9. desalientes — The negative imperative form is desalientes.
  10. desalentando — The gerund of desalentar is desalentando: estoy desalentando. The participle desalentado is used with haber instead.

Frequently asked questions

What does desalentar mean in English?

desalentar means to discourage. It is used in everyday situations such as Yo desaliento a su hijo con sus críticas — "I discourage his son with his criticism". The exact English wording depends on the context, but the core meaning stays the same across the tenses.

Is desalentar regular?

No. desalentar is a stem-changing -ar verb (e → ie). 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, which is the part learners most often get right by accident.

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 I say "I discourage" in the past?

It depends on the kind of past. For one finished action, use the preterite: Ayer, yo desalenté a los alumnos con malas notas — "Yesterday, I discouraged the pupils with bad marks". For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: De niño, yo desalentaba a su equipo con la derrota — "As a child, I used to discourage his team with the defeat". For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Hoy, yo he desalentado a los alumnos con malas notas — "Today, I have discouraged the pupils with bad marks".

What is the difference between desalentar and desanimar?

Desanimar is the everyday verb for discouraging someone. Desalentar is the more formal opposite of alentar. 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.

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