Introduction

despreciar means “to despise, to scorn” in English, and it is a verb you will meet again and again once you start reading and speaking Spanish. It is used whenever you need to talk about the gift — at home, at work, and in everyday conversation — which makes it a practical verb to learn early and to use confidently. This page gives you the complete conjugation of despreciar in every tense and mood, with all six persons, plus the gerund and the past participle, example sentences, the mistakes learners make most often, a ten-question quiz and answers to the questions students ask about this verb. Every form below comes from VerbFlow's verified conjugation tables, so you can trust the accents and the irregular forms. despreciar is a regular -ar verb, and the notes under each tense explain exactly where it follows the rules and where it breaks them. To hear it in a real sentence: “Yo desprecio el regalo todos los días.” — “I despise the gift.” Work through the tables, read the notes, then test yourself with the quiz at the end of the page.

Quick facts
Infinitive despreciar
English to despise, to scorn
Verb type Regular -ar verb
Gerund despreciando
Past participle despreciado
Auxiliary verb haber

Full conjugation tables

Gerund: despreciando · Past participle: despreciado

Present Indicative

Person Form
yo desprecio
tú desprecias
él/ella/Ud. desprecia
nosotros/as despreciamos
vosotros/as despreciáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. desprecian

The present tense describes habits, facts and what is happening now. For despreciar, the yo form is desprecio, as in “Yo desprecio el regalo.” — “I despise the gift.”

Preterite

Person Form
yo desprecié
tú despreciaste
él/ella/Ud. despreció
nosotros/as despreciamos
vosotros/as despreciasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. despreciaron

The preterite describes completed actions in the past — things that started and finished. For despreciar, the yo form is desprecié, as in “Yo desprecié el regalo.” — “I despised the gift.”

Imperfect

Person Form
yo despreciaba
tú despreciabas
él/ella/Ud. despreciaba
nosotros/as despreciábamos
vosotros/as despreciabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. despreciaban

The imperfect describes the past as background: habits, descriptions and actions in progress. For despreciar, the yo form is despreciaba, as in “Yo despreciaba el regalo.” — “I used to despise the gift.”

Future

Person Form
yo despreciaré
tú despreciarás
él/ella/Ud. despreciará
nosotros/as despreciaremos
vosotros/as despreciaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. despreciarán

The future tense states what will happen. It is also used for predictions and promises. For despreciar, the yo form is despreciaré, as in “Yo despreciaré el regalo.” — “I will despise the gift.”

Conditional

Person Form
yo despreciaría
tú despreciarías
él/ella/Ud. despreciaría
nosotros/as despreciaríamos
vosotros/as despreciaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. despreciarían

The conditional expresses what would happen: wishes, polite requests and hypothetical results. For despreciar, the yo form is despreciaría, as in “Yo despreciaría el regalo.” — “I would despise the gift.”

Present Perfect

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

The present perfect connects the past with the present: something that has happened, often today or recently. For despreciar, the yo form is he despreciado, as in “Yo he despreciado el regalo.” — “I have despised the gift.”

Pluperfect

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

The pluperfect describes an event that happened before another past event. For despreciar, the yo form is había despreciado, as in “Yo había despreciado el regalo.” — “I had despised the gift.”

Future Perfect

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

The future perfect describes something that will already be finished by a future moment. For despreciar, the yo form is habré despreciado, as in “Yo habré despreciado el regalo.” — “I will have despised the gift.”

Conditional Perfect

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

The conditional perfect describes what would have happened under different conditions. For despreciar, the yo form is habría despreciado, as in “Yo habría despreciado el regalo.” — “I would have despised the gift.”

Present Subjunctive

Person Form
yo desprecie
tú desprecies
él/ella/Ud. desprecie
nosotros/as despreciemos
vosotros/as despreciéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. desprecien

The present subjunctive is used after expressions of wish, doubt, emotion and influence. For despreciar, the yo form is desprecie, as in “Espero que yo desprecie el regalo.” — “I hope that I despise the gift.”

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra)

Person Form
yo despreciara
tú despreciaras
él/ella/Ud. despreciara
nosotros/as despreciáramos
vosotros/as despreciarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. despreciaran

The imperfect subjunctive is used in the past versions of subjunctive clauses, and after "si" in hypothetical sentences. For despreciar, the yo form is despreciara, as in “Si yo despreciara el regalo, ...” — “If I despised the gift, ...”

The -se variant of this tense follows the same pattern with -se instead of -ra: despreciara becomes despreciase, and the same change applies to every person. Both variants mean the same thing; -ra is more common in everyday speech.

Imperative (affirmative)

Person Form
tú desprecia
Ud. desprecie
nosotros/as despreciemos
vosotros/as despreciad
Uds. desprecien

Imperative (negative)

Person Form
tú desprecies
Ud. desprecie
nosotros/as despreciemos
vosotros/as despreciéis
Uds. desprecien

The imperative is for orders, requests and advice. The affirmative tú form is desprecia, as in “¡Desprecia el regalo” — “Despise the gift” For the negative imperative, Spanish uses the subjunctive forms: no desprecies. Note that the affirmative and negative forms differ, so check the table above before you give an order with despreciar.

Example sentences

Here are ten sentences with despreciar, covering different tenses and persons. Read each one out loud, then read the translation, and notice how the verb form changes while the meaning stays the same.

  1. “Yo desprecio el regalo cada día.” — “I despise the gift.”
  2. “Él desprecia el regalo todos los días.” — “He despises the gift.”
  3. “Yo desprecié el regalo ayer.” — “I despised the gift.”
  4. “Él despreció el regalo ayer.” — “He despised the gift.”
  5. “Yo despreciaba el regalo cuando era joven.” — “I used to despise the gift.”
  6. “Nosotros despreciaremos el regalo mañana.” — “We will despise the gift.”
  7. “Si pudiera, yo despreciaría el regalo.” — “If I could, i would despise the gift.”
  8. “Yo he despreciado el regalo hoy.” — “I have despised the gift.”
  9. “Espero que yo desprecie el regalo.” — “I hope that I despise the gift.”
  10. “estoy despreciando el regalo ahora mismo.” — “I am despising the gift.”

Common mistakes

Forgetting the accent in the preterite

The yo preterite form is desprecié, with an accent on the stressed vowel. Writing it without the accent — desprecie — is a spelling error, and in speech the stress lands in the wrong place. Preterite yo forms that end in a vowel carry that accent, so check it every time you write the preterite of despreciar.

Mixing up present and preterite nosotros

For despreciar, the nosotros form is the same in the present and the preterite: despreciamos. Only the context tells you which tense is meant, so pay attention to the time words around it — cada día points to the present, ayer points to the preterite. Do not invent a different form for one of the tenses.

Using ser instead of haber in perfect tenses

Spanish perfect tenses always use haber, never ser: yo he despreciado el regalo. English speakers sometimes reach for soy because English uses to be in some passives, but soy despreciado is not the present perfect of despreciar — it is a passive construction with a different meaning.

Confusing despreciar with descubrir

despreciar and descubrir look similar, and learners mix them up. They are different verbs with different meanings, so check which one the sentence needs before you conjugate. If you can substitute the English meaning of despreciar — despise — the sentence needs despreciar; if it needs the meaning of descubrir, use that verb instead.

Using the indicative after "espero que"

After espero que (I hope that), Spanish needs the subjunctive: Espero que yo desprecie el regalo. Using the indicative — Espero que yo desprecio — is one of the most frequent learner errors with despreciar. Whenever the main clause expresses a wish, doubt or emotion, switch to the subjunctive.

Quiz

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

1. What is the yo form of despreciar in the present?

  • A. desprecias
  • B. desprecia
  • C. despreciamos
  • D. desprecio

2. What is the tu form of despreciar in the preterite?

  • A. despreciamos
  • B. despreciaste
  • C. desprecié
  • D. despreció

3. What is the el form of despreciar in the imperfect?

  • A. despreciabas
  • B. despreciábamos
  • C. despreciabais
  • D. despreciaba

4. What is the nosotros form of despreciar in the future?

  • A. despreciará
  • B. despreciaremos
  • C. despreciaré
  • D. despreciarás

5. What is the vosotros form of despreciar in the present perfect?

  • A. he despreciado
  • B. has despreciado
  • C. ha despreciado
  • D. habéis despreciado

6. What is the ellos form of despreciar in the present subjunctive?

  • A. desprecie
  • B. desprecien
  • C. desprecie
  • D. desprecies

7. What is the yo form of despreciar in the preterite?

  • A. despreciaste
  • B. despreció
  • C. despreciamos
  • D. desprecié

8. What is the tu form of despreciar in the imperfect?

  • A. despreciábamos
  • B. despreciabas
  • C. despreciaba
  • D. despreciaba

9. What is the el form of despreciar in the future?

  • A. despreciaré
  • B. despreciarás
  • C. despreciaremos
  • D. despreciará

10. What is the nosotros form of despreciar in the conditional?

  • A. despreciaría
  • B. despreciaríamos
  • C. despreciaría
  • D. despreciarías

Answer key

  1. desprecio — The present table gives yo = desprecio.
  2. despreciaste — The preterite table gives tu = despreciaste.
  3. despreciaba — The imperfect table gives el = despreciaba.
  4. despreciaremos — The future table gives nosotros = despreciaremos.
  5. habéis despreciado — The present perfect table gives vosotros = habéis despreciado.
  6. desprecien — The present subjunctive table gives ellos = desprecien.
  7. desprecié — The preterite table gives yo = desprecié.
  8. despreciabas — The imperfect table gives tu = despreciabas.
  9. despreciará — The future table gives el = despreciará.
  10. despreciaríamos — The conditional table gives nosotros = despreciaríamos.

Frequently asked questions

Is despreciar regular or irregular?

despreciar is a regular -ar verb. It follows the regular patterns for its ending in every tense. The tables on this page show the correct form for every person, so use them rather than guessing.

What is the past participle of despreciar?

The past participle of despreciar is despreciado. You use it with haber in the perfect tenses — he despreciado, había despreciado, habré despreciado — and after estar in passive-style descriptions. It is the regular participle for its verb class. Learn it together with the gerund despreciando and you have the two non-finite forms covered.

What is the gerund of despreciar?

The gerund of despreciar is despreciando. You use it with estar to describe an action in progress, as in estoy despreciando, and after verbs such as seguir and ir. Keep it distinct from the past participle despreciado, which belongs with haber, not with estar.

What is the yo form of despreciar in the present?

The yo form is desprecio — “Yo desprecio el regalo.” means “I despise the gift.” That is the form you will use most often when you talk about yourself. For other persons, use the present table above: tú desprecias, él desprecia, nosotros despreciamos, ellos desprecian.

What is the difference between despreciar and descubrir?

despreciar means “to despise, to scorn”, while descubrir means “to discover”. They share letters and sometimes a root, but they are different verbs. If your sentence means “to despise, to scorn”, use despreciar; if it is about the meaning of descubrir, use descubrir instead. Checking the English meaning first prevents most mix-ups.

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