Dominar Conjugation in Spanish

dominar is the Spanish verb for «to dominate, to master». 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 domino todos los días» — I dominate every day. Then work down the page tense by tense, and finish with the quiz.

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: dominar
  • English: to dominate, to master
  • Verb type: regular -ar verb
  • Ending: -ar
  • Gerund: dominando
  • Past participle: dominado
  • Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + dominado)

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

Full conjugation tables

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

Gerund: dominando · Past participle: dominado

Present Indicative

Person Form
yo domino
tú dominas
él/ella/Ud. domina
nosotros/as dominamos
vosotros/as domináis
ellos/ellas/Uds. dominan

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

Preterite

Person Form
yo dominé
tú dominaste
él/ella/Ud. dominó
nosotros/as dominamos
vosotros/as dominasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. dominaron

The preterite of dominar reports what happened. «Ayer yo dominé 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 dominaba
tú dominabas
él/ella/Ud. dominaba
nosotros/as dominábamos
vosotros/as dominabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. dominaban

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

Future

Person Form
yo dominaré
tú dominarás
él/ella/Ud. dominará
nosotros/as dominaremos
vosotros/as dominaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. dominarán

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

Conditional

Person Form
yo dominaría
tú dominarías
él/ella/Ud. dominaría
nosotros/as dominaríamos
vosotros/as dominaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. dominarían

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

Present Perfect

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

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

Pluperfect

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

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

Future Perfect

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

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

Conditional Perfect

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

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

Present Subjunctive

Person Form
yo domine
tú domines
él/ella/Ud. domine
nosotros/as dominemos
vosotros/as dominéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. dominen

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

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra forms)

Person Form
yo dominara
tú dominaras
él/ella/Ud. dominara
nosotros/as domináramos
vosotros/as dominarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. dominaran

The imperfect subjunctive of dominar handles the hypothetical past and the polite conditional. «Ojalá yo dominara 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 domina
él/ella/Ud. domine
nosotros/as dominemos
vosotros/as dominad
ellos/ellas/Uds. dominen

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

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

Imperative — Negative

Person Form
tú domines
él/ella/Ud. domine
nosotros/as dominemos
vosotros/as dominéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. dominen

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

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

Example sentences

  1. Yo domino todos los días. — I dominate every day.
  2. Ayer yo dominé por la tarde. — Yesterday I dominated in the afternoon.
  3. Antes, yo dominaba todos los días. — In the past, I used to dominate every day.
  4. Mañana yo dominaré sin falta. — Tomorrow I will dominate without fail.
  5. Si tuviera más tiempo, yo dominaría ahora mismo. — If I had more time, I would dominate right now.
  6. Hoy yo he dominado dos veces. — Today I have dominated twice.
  7. Espero que tú domines pronto. — I hope You dominate soon.
  8. Si yo dominara, todo sería distinto. — If I dominated, everything would be different.
  9. Ahora mismo yo estoy dominando. — Right now I am dominating.
  10. ¡domina, por favor! — Dominate, please!

Common mistakes

1. Using the imperfect for a finished event

Wrong: Ayer yo dominaba.

Right: Ayer yo dominé.

Yesterday's finished action needs the preterite, dominé. The imperfect dominaba 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 dominas.

Right: Espero que tú domines.

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

3. Using the affirmative imperative after no

Wrong: No domina.

Right: No domines.

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

4. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

Wrong: Yo dominar todos los días.

Right: Yo domino todos los días.

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

5. Confusing the gerund with the past participle

Wrong: He dominando.

Right: He dominado.

The perfect tenses use haber plus the past participle: he dominado. The gerund dominando goes with estar for actions in progress («Estoy dominando»), 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 dominar in the present indicative?

- (a) domino
- (b) dominas
- (c) dominan
- (d) domina

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

- (a) dominé
- (b) dominamos
- (c) dominaste
- (d) dominó

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

- (a) dominabas
- (b) dominaba
- (c) dominábamos
- (d) dominaba

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

- (a) dominará
- (b) dominarás
- (c) dominaremos
- (d) dominaré

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

- (a) dominarías
- (b) dominaría
- (c) dominaríamos
- (d) dominaría

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

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

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

- (a) domines
- (b) domine
- (c) dominen
- (d) domine

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

- (a) dominaras
- (b) domináramos
- (c) dominara
- (d) dominara

9. What is the gerund of dominar?

- (a) dominando
- (b) dominado
- (c) dominar
- (d) domino

10. What is the past participle of dominar?

- (a) dominando
- (b) dominar
- (c) dominado
- (d) dominé

Answer key

1. (c) — In the present indicative, the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of dominar is dominan. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 2. (a) — In the preterite, the yo form of dominar is dominé. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 3. (a) — In the imperfect, the tú form of dominar is dominabas. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 4. (a) — In the future, the él/ella/Ud. form of dominar is dominará. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 5. (c) — In the conditional, the nosotros/as form of dominar is dominaríamos. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 6. (b) — In the present perfect, the vosotros/as form of dominar is habéis dominado. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 7. (c) — In the present subjunctive, the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of dominar is dominen. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 8. (c) — In the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms), the yo form of dominar is dominara. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 9. (a) — The gerund of dominar is dominando. It is used with estar for the progressive: «Estoy dominando». 10. (c) — The past participle of dominar is dominado. It follows haber in all the perfect tenses: «he dominado».

Frequently asked questions

Is dominar regular or irregular?

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

What are the gerund and past participle of dominar?

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

How do I say «I dominate» in Spanish?

Say «Yo domino 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 dominar?

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

When do I use the subjunctive with dominar?

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

How do I use dominar in the present perfect?

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

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