Determinar Conjugation in Spanish

determinar is the Spanish verb for «to determine». As a regular -ar verb verb it follows the -ar endings, and the tables on this page list every form so you never have to guess. You will find the present, the past tenses, the future, the conditional, the perfect tenses, the subjunctive and the imperative, each with a short note on when to use it. Start with the present tense: «Yo determino todos los días» — I determine every day. Then work down the page tense by tense, and finish with the quiz.

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: determinar
  • English: to determine
  • Verb type: regular -ar verb
  • Ending: -ar
  • Gerund: determinando
  • Past participle: determinado
  • Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + determinado)

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

Full conjugation tables

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

Gerund: determinando · Past participle: determinado

Present Indicative

Person Form
yo determino
tú determinas
él/ella/Ud. determina
nosotros/as determinamos
vosotros/as determináis
ellos/ellas/Uds. determinan

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

Preterite

Person Form
yo determiné
tú determinaste
él/ella/Ud. determinó
nosotros/as determinamos
vosotros/as determinasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. determinaron

The preterite of determinar reports what happened. «Ayer yo determiné 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 determinaba
tú determinabas
él/ella/Ud. determinaba
nosotros/as determinábamos
vosotros/as determinabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. determinaban

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

Future

Person Form
yo determinaré
tú determinarás
él/ella/Ud. determinará
nosotros/as determinaremos
vosotros/as determinaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. determinarán

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

Conditional

Person Form
yo determinaría
tú determinarías
él/ella/Ud. determinaría
nosotros/as determinaríamos
vosotros/as determinaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. determinarían

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

Present Perfect

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

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

Pluperfect

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

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

Future Perfect

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

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

Conditional Perfect

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

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

Present Subjunctive

Person Form
yo determine
tú determines
él/ella/Ud. determine
nosotros/as determinemos
vosotros/as determinéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. determinen

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

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra forms)

Person Form
yo determinara
tú determinaras
él/ella/Ud. determinara
nosotros/as determináramos
vosotros/as determinarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. determinaran

The imperfect subjunctive of determinar handles the hypothetical past and the polite conditional. «Ojalá yo determinara 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 determina
él/ella/Ud. determine
nosotros/as determinemos
vosotros/as determinad
ellos/ellas/Uds. determinen

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

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

Imperative — Negative

Person Form
tú determines
él/ella/Ud. determine
nosotros/as determinemos
vosotros/as determinéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. determinen

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

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

Example sentences

  1. Yo determino todos los días. — I determine every day.
  2. Ayer yo determiné por la tarde. — Yesterday I determined in the afternoon.
  3. Antes, yo determinaba todos los días. — In the past, I used to determine every day.
  4. Mañana yo determinaré sin falta. — Tomorrow I will determine without fail.
  5. Si tuviera más tiempo, yo determinaría ahora mismo. — If I had more time, I would determine right now.
  6. Hoy yo he determinado dos veces. — Today I have determined twice.
  7. Espero que tú determines pronto. — I hope You determine soon.
  8. Si yo determinara, todo sería distinto. — If I determined, everything would be different.
  9. Ahora mismo yo estoy determinando. — Right now I am determining.
  10. ¡determina, por favor! — Determine, please!

Common mistakes

1. Using the imperfect for a finished event

Wrong: Ayer yo determinaba.

Right: Ayer yo determiné.

Yesterday's finished action needs the preterite, determiné. The imperfect determinaba 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 determinas.

Right: Espero que tú determines.

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

3. Using the affirmative imperative after no

Wrong: No determina.

Right: No determines.

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

4. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

Wrong: Yo determinar todos los días.

Right: Yo determino todos los días.

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

5. Confusing the gerund with the past participle

Wrong: He determinando.

Right: He determinado.

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

Quiz

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

1. What is the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of determinar in the present indicative?

- (a) determinan
- (b) determina
- (c) determinas
- (d) determino

2. What is the yo form of determinar in the preterite?

- (a) determinó
- (b) determinaste
- (c) determiné
- (d) determinamos

3. What is the tú form of determinar in the imperfect?

- (a) determinaba
- (b) determinaba
- (c) determinabas
- (d) determinábamos

4. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of determinar in the future?

- (a) determinarás
- (b) determinaremos
- (c) determinará
- (d) determinaré

5. What is the nosotros/as form of determinar in the conditional?

- (a) determinaría
- (b) determinaría
- (c) determinaríamos
- (d) determinarías

6. What is the vosotros/as form of determinar in the present perfect?

- (a) he determinado
- (b) has determinado
- (c) ha determinado
- (d) habéis determinado

7. What is the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of determinar in the present subjunctive?

- (a) determinen
- (b) determine
- (c) determine
- (d) determines

8. What is the yo form of determinar in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms)?

- (a) determináramos
- (b) determinara
- (c) determinaras
- (d) determinara

9. What is the gerund of determinar?

- (a) determinar
- (b) determinando
- (c) determinado
- (d) determino

10. What is the past participle of determinar?

- (a) determinando
- (b) determinado
- (c) determinar
- (d) determiné

Answer key

1. (a) — In the present indicative, the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of determinar is determinan. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 2. (c) — In the preterite, the yo form of determinar is determiné. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 3. (c) — In the imperfect, the tú form of determinar is determinabas. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 4. (c) — In the future, the él/ella/Ud. form of determinar is determinará. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 5. (c) — In the conditional, the nosotros/as form of determinar is determinaríamos. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 6. (d) — In the present perfect, the vosotros/as form of determinar is habéis determinado. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 7. (a) — In the present subjunctive, the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of determinar is determinen. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 8. (b) — In the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms), the yo form of determinar is determinara. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 9. (b) — The gerund of determinar is determinando. It is used with estar for the progressive: «Estoy determinando». 10. (b) — The past participle of determinar is determinado. It follows haber in all the perfect tenses: «he determinado».

Frequently asked questions

Is determinar regular or irregular?

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

What are the gerund and past participle of determinar?

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

How do I say «I determine» in Spanish?

Say «Yo determino 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 determinar?

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

When do I use the subjunctive with determinar?

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

How do I use determinar in the present perfect?

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

Related links