Detectar Conjugation in Spanish

Learning to conjugate detectar — «to detect» — 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 detectando and the past participle detectado, example sentences in every tense, the common mistakes and a quiz with an answer key. A good first sentence to learn is «Yo detecto todos los días» — I detect every day. Once you can say that, the rest of the table falls into place person by person.

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: detectar
  • English: to detect
  • Verb type: regular -ar verb
  • Ending: -ar
  • Gerund: detectando
  • Past participle: detectado
  • Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + detectado)

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

Full conjugation tables

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

Gerund: detectando · Past participle: detectado

Present Indicative

Person Form
yo detecto
tú detectas
él/ella/Ud. detecta
nosotros/as detectamos
vosotros/as detectáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. detectan

Use the present of detectar for things that happen regularly and for things that are true in general. The yo form detecto 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 Form
yo detecté
tú detectaste
él/ella/Ud. detectó
nosotros/as detectamos
vosotros/as detectasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. detectaron

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

Imperfect

Person Form
yo detectaba
tú detectabas
él/ella/Ud. detectaba
nosotros/as detectábamos
vosotros/as detectabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. detectaban

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

Future

Person Form
yo detectaré
tú detectarás
él/ella/Ud. detectará
nosotros/as detectaremos
vosotros/as detectaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. detectarán

Use the future of detectar for plans, promises and predictions. The yo form is detectaré, 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 Form
yo detectaría
tú detectarías
él/ella/Ud. detectaría
nosotros/as detectaríamos
vosotros/as detectaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. detectarían

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

Present Perfect

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

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

Pluperfect

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

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

Future Perfect

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

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

Conditional Perfect

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

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

Present Subjunctive

Person Form
yo detecte
tú detectes
él/ella/Ud. detecte
nosotros/as detectemos
vosotros/as detectéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. detecten

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

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra forms)

Person Form
yo detectara
tú detectaras
él/ella/Ud. detectara
nosotros/as detectáramos
vosotros/as detectarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. detectaran

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

Imperative — Affirmative

Person Form
tú detecta
él/ella/Ud. detecte
nosotros/as detectemos
vosotros/as detectad
ellos/ellas/Uds. detecten

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

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

Imperative — Negative

Person Form
tú detectes
él/ella/Ud. detecte
nosotros/as detectemos
vosotros/as detectéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. detecten

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

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

Example sentences

  1. Yo detecto todos los días. — I detect every day.
  2. Ayer yo detecté por la tarde. — Yesterday I detected in the afternoon.
  3. Antes, yo detectaba todos los días. — In the past, I used to detect every day.
  4. Mañana yo detectaré sin falta. — Tomorrow I will detect without fail.
  5. Si tuviera más tiempo, yo detectaría ahora mismo. — If I had more time, I would detect right now.
  6. Hoy yo he detectado dos veces. — Today I have detected twice.
  7. Espero que tú detectes pronto. — I hope You detect soon.
  8. Si yo detectara, todo sería distinto. — If I detected, everything would be different.
  9. Ahora mismo yo estoy detectando. — Right now I am detecting.
  10. ¡detecta, por favor! — Detect, please!

Common mistakes

1. Using the imperfect for a finished event

Wrong: Ayer yo detectaba.

Right: Ayer yo detecté.

Yesterday's finished action needs the preterite, detecté. The imperfect detectaba 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 detectas.

Right: Espero que tú detectes.

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

3. Using the affirmative imperative after no

Wrong: No detecta.

Right: No detectes.

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

4. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

Wrong: Yo detectar todos los días.

Right: Yo detecto todos los días.

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

5. Confusing the gerund with the past participle

Wrong: He detectando.

Right: He detectado.

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

Quiz

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

1. What is the vosotros/as form of detectar in the present indicative?

- (a) detectas
- (b) detectáis
- (c) detecto
- (d) detecta

2. What is the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of detectar in the preterite?

- (a) detectaste
- (b) detectó
- (c) detectaron
- (d) detecté

3. What is the yo form of detectar in the imperfect?

- (a) detectábamos
- (b) detectaba
- (c) detectaba
- (d) detectabas

4. What is the tú form of detectar in the future?

- (a) detectaremos
- (b) detectarás
- (c) detectaré
- (d) detectará

5. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of detectar in the conditional?

- (a) detectaría
- (b) detectaríamos
- (c) detectaría
- (d) detectarías

6. What is the nosotros/as form of detectar in the present perfect?

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

7. What is the vosotros/as form of detectar in the present subjunctive?

- (a) detectes
- (b) detecte
- (c) detecte
- (d) detectéis

8. What is the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of detectar in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms)?

- (a) detectara
- (b) detectaras
- (c) detectara
- (d) detectaran

9. What is the gerund of detectar?

- (a) detectando
- (b) detectado
- (c) detecto
- (d) detectar

10. What is the past participle of detectar?

- (a) detectado
- (b) detectando
- (c) detectar
- (d) detecté

Answer key

1. (b) — In the present indicative, the vosotros/as form of detectar is detectáis. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 2. (c) — In the preterite, the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of detectar is detectaron. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 3. (b) — In the imperfect, the yo form of detectar is detectaba. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 4. (b) — In the future, the tú form of detectar is detectarás. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 5. (a) — In the conditional, the él/ella/Ud. form of detectar is detectaría. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 6. (b) — In the present perfect, the nosotros/as form of detectar is hemos detectado. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 7. (d) — In the present subjunctive, the vosotros/as form of detectar is detectéis. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 8. (d) — In the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms), the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of detectar is detectaran. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 9. (a) — The gerund of detectar is detectando. It is used with estar for the progressive: «Estoy detectando». 10. (a) — The past participle of detectar is detectado. It follows haber in all the perfect tenses: «he detectado».

Frequently asked questions

Is detectar regular or irregular?

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

What are the gerund and past participle of detectar?

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

How do I say «I detect» in Spanish?

Say «Yo detecto 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 detectar?

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

When do I use the subjunctive with detectar?

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

How do I use detectar in the present perfect?

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

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