Diferenciarse Conjugation in Spanish

Learning to conjugate diferenciarse — «to differ» — opens up a whole set of sentences you will use every day. It is a regular -ar verb, reflexive verb, and this page covers it completely: thirteen tenses, the gerund diferenciando and the past participle diferenciado, example sentences in every tense, the common mistakes and a quiz with an answer key. A good first sentence to learn is «Me diferencio todos los días» — I differ every day. Once you can say that, the rest of the table falls into place person by person.

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: diferenciarse
  • English: to differ
  • Verb type: regular -ar verb, reflexive
  • Ending: -ar
  • Gerund: diferenciando
  • Past participle: diferenciado
  • Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + diferenciado)
  • Reflexive pronouns: me, te, se, nos, os, se — one before every conjugated form, matching the person.

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

diferenciarse is reflexive: Me diferencio todos los días; te diferencias todos los días. Without the pronoun, the verb means doing the action to someone else rather than to yourself, so keep the pronoun with the form.

Full conjugation tables

Every form below comes from the verified conjugation tables for diferenciarse. The imperfect subjunctive is shown in its -ra forms; the -se forms use the same stem. For reflexive verbs, the pronoun column shows the reflexive pronoun that goes before each form.

Gerund: diferenciando · Past participle: diferenciado

Present Indicative

Person Pronoun Form
yo me diferencio
tú te diferencias
él/ella/Ud. se diferencia
nosotros/as nos diferenciamos
vosotros/as os diferenciáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se diferencian

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

Preterite

Person Pronoun Form
yo me diferencié
tú te diferenciaste
él/ella/Ud. se diferenció
nosotros/as nos diferenciamos
vosotros/as os diferenciasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se diferenciaron

The preterite of diferenciarse reports what happened. «Ayer yo diferencié por la tarde» places the action firmly in finished time. It is the tense of stories and reports, not of background description.

Imperfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me diferenciaba
tú te diferenciabas
él/ella/Ud. se diferenciaba
nosotros/as nos diferenciábamos
vosotros/as os diferenciabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se diferenciaban

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

Future

Person Pronoun Form
yo me diferenciaré
tú te diferenciarás
él/ella/Ud. se diferenciará
nosotros/as nos diferenciaremos
vosotros/as os diferenciaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se diferenciarán

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

Conditional

Person Pronoun Form
yo me diferenciaría
tú te diferenciarías
él/ella/Ud. se diferenciaría
nosotros/as nos diferenciaríamos
vosotros/as os diferenciaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se diferenciarían

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

Present Perfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me he diferenciado
tú te has diferenciado
él/ella/Ud. se ha diferenciado
nosotros/as nos hemos diferenciado
vosotros/as os habéis diferenciado
ellos/ellas/Uds. se han diferenciado

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

Pluperfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me había diferenciado
tú te habías diferenciado
él/ella/Ud. se había diferenciado
nosotros/as nos habíamos diferenciado
vosotros/as os habíais diferenciado
ellos/ellas/Uds. se habían diferenciado

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

Future Perfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me habré diferenciado
tú te habrás diferenciado
él/ella/Ud. se habrá diferenciado
nosotros/as nos habremos diferenciado
vosotros/as os habréis diferenciado
ellos/ellas/Uds. se habrán diferenciado

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

Conditional Perfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me habría diferenciado
tú te habrías diferenciado
él/ella/Ud. se habría diferenciado
nosotros/as nos habríamos diferenciado
vosotros/as os habríais diferenciado
ellos/ellas/Uds. se habrían diferenciado

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

Present Subjunctive

Person Pronoun Form
yo me diferencie
tú te diferencies
él/ella/Ud. se diferencie
nosotros/as nos diferenciemos
vosotros/as os diferenciéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se diferencien

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

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra forms)

Person Pronoun Form
yo me diferenciara
tú te diferenciaras
él/ella/Ud. se diferenciara
nosotros/as nos diferenciáramos
vosotros/as os diferenciarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se diferenciaran

The imperfect subjunctive of diferenciarse handles the hypothetical past and the polite conditional. «Ojalá yo diferenciara 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 Pronoun Form
tú te diferencia
él/ella/Ud. se diferencie
nosotros/as nos diferenciemos
vosotros/as os diferenciad
ellos/ellas/Uds. se diferencien

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

In real speech the reflexive pronoun attaches to the end of an affirmative command; the table shows the pronoun and the form separately so you can see both parts.

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

Imperative — Negative

Person Pronoun Form
tú te diferencies
él/ella/Ud. se diferencie
nosotros/as nos diferenciemos
vosotros/as os diferenciéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se diferencien

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

In real speech the reflexive pronoun attaches to the end of an affirmative command; the table shows the pronoun and the form separately so you can see both parts.

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

Example sentences

  1. Me diferencio todos los días. — I differ every day.
  2. Ayer me diferencié por la tarde. — Yesterday I differred in the afternoon.
  3. Antes, me diferenciaba todos los días. — In the past, I used to differ every day.
  4. Mañana me diferenciaré sin falta. — Tomorrow I will differ without fail.
  5. Si tuviera más tiempo, me diferenciaría ahora mismo. — If I had more time, I would differ right now.
  6. Hoy me he diferenciado dos veces. — Today I have differred twice.
  7. Espero que te diferencies pronto. — I hope You differ soon.
  8. Si me diferenciara, todo sería distinto. — If I differred, everything would be different.
  9. Ahora mismo me estoy diferenciando. — Right now I am differring.
  10. ¡No te diferencies! — Don't differ!

Common mistakes

1. Forgetting the reflexive pronoun

Wrong: yo diferencio todos los días.

Right: me diferencio todos los días.

diferenciarse is reflexive: the pronoun me belongs before every conjugated form. Without it, you are using the non-reflexive verb, which means something different — doing the action to someone else instead of to yourself.

2. Using the imperfect for a finished event

Wrong: Ayer me diferenciaba.

Right: Ayer me diferencié.

Yesterday's finished action needs the preterite, diferencié. The imperfect diferenciaba describes what used to happen or what was going on, not a single completed event.

3. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

Wrong: Espero que te diferencias.

Right: Espero que te diferencies.

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

4. Using the affirmative imperative after no

Wrong: No te diferencia.

Right: No te diferencies.

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

5. Confusing the gerund with the past participle

Wrong: He diferenciando.

Right: He diferenciado.

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

Quiz

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

1. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of diferenciarse in the present indicative?

- (a) diferencias
- (b) diferencia
- (c) diferencio
- (d) diferenciamos

2. What is the nosotros/as form of diferenciarse in the preterite?

- (a) diferencié
- (b) diferenció
- (c) diferenciaste
- (d) diferenciamos

3. What is the vosotros/as form of diferenciarse in the imperfect?

- (a) diferenciabais
- (b) diferenciaba
- (c) diferenciaba
- (d) diferenciabas

4. What is the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of diferenciarse in the future?

- (a) diferenciaré
- (b) diferenciará
- (c) diferenciarás
- (d) diferenciarán

5. What is the yo form of diferenciarse in the conditional?

- (a) diferenciaría
- (b) diferenciarías
- (c) diferenciaría
- (d) diferenciaríamos

6. What is the tú form of diferenciarse in the present perfect?

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

7. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of diferenciarse in the present subjunctive?

- (a) diferenciemos
- (b) diferencie
- (c) diferencies
- (d) diferencie

8. What is the nosotros/as form of diferenciarse in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms)?

- (a) diferenciáramos
- (b) diferenciara
- (c) diferenciaras
- (d) diferenciara

9. What is the gerund of diferenciarse?

- (a) diferencio
- (b) diferenciado
- (c) diferenciarse
- (d) diferenciando

10. What is the past participle of diferenciarse?

- (a) diferenciando
- (b) diferenciado
- (c) diferencié
- (d) diferenciarse

Answer key

1. (b) — In the present indicative, the él/ella/Ud. form of diferenciarse is diferencia. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 2. (d) — In the preterite, the nosotros/as form of diferenciarse is diferenciamos. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 3. (a) — In the imperfect, the vosotros/as form of diferenciarse is diferenciabais. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 4. (d) — In the future, the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of diferenciarse is diferenciarán. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 5. (a) — In the conditional, the yo form of diferenciarse is diferenciaría. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 6. (b) — In the present perfect, the tú form of diferenciarse is has diferenciado. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 7. (b) — In the present subjunctive, the él/ella/Ud. form of diferenciarse is diferencie. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 8. (a) — In the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms), the nosotros/as form of diferenciarse is diferenciáramos. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 9. (d) — The gerund of diferenciarse is diferenciando. It is used with estar for the progressive: «Estoy diferenciando». 10. (b) — The past participle of diferenciarse is diferenciado. It follows haber in all the perfect tenses: «he diferenciado».

Frequently asked questions

Is diferenciarse regular or irregular?

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

What are the gerund and past participle of diferenciarse?

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

How do I say «I differ» in Spanish?

Say «Me diferencio 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 diferenciarse?

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

When do I use the subjunctive with diferenciarse?

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

What does the -se in diferenciarse mean?

The -se marks diferenciarse as reflexive: the action comes back to the subject. You always pair the form with its pronoun — me, te, se, nos, os, se — placed before the conjugated verb. Dropping the pronoun changes the meaning, so treat the pronoun as part of the verb.

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