Durar Conjugation in Spanish

The Spanish verb durar means to last, and it is a verb you will use again and again once you know it. It is a regular -ar verb verb: the stem is dur and the endings follow the -ar pattern, with the exceptions noted in the tables below. This page gives you the complete picture — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle, all from the verified conjugation tables. For example, in the present tense you say «Yo duro todos los días», which means «I last every day». Work through the tables below, read the notes for each tense, and then test yourself with the examples, the common mistakes and the quiz at the end of the page.

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: durar
  • English: to last
  • Verb type: regular -ar verb
  • Ending: -ar
  • Gerund: durando
  • Past participle: durado
  • Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + durado)

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

Full conjugation tables

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

Gerund: durando · Past participle: durado

Present Indicative

Person Form
yo duro
tú duras
él/ella/Ud. dura
nosotros/as duramos
vosotros/as duráis
ellos/ellas/Uds. duran

Use the present of durar for things that happen regularly and for things that are true in general. The yo form duro 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 duré
tú duraste
él/ella/Ud. duró
nosotros/as duramos
vosotros/as durasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. duraron

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

Imperfect

Person Form
yo duraba
tú durabas
él/ella/Ud. duraba
nosotros/as durábamos
vosotros/as durabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. duraban

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

Future

Person Form
yo duraré
tú durarás
él/ella/Ud. durará
nosotros/as duraremos
vosotros/as duraréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. durarán

Use the future of durar for plans, promises and predictions. The yo form is duraré, 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 duraría
tú durarías
él/ella/Ud. duraría
nosotros/as duraríamos
vosotros/as duraríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. durarían

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

Present Perfect

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

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

Pluperfect

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

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

Future Perfect

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

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

Conditional Perfect

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

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

Present Subjunctive

Person Form
yo dure
tú dures
él/ella/Ud. dure
nosotros/as duremos
vosotros/as duréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. duren

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

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra forms)

Person Form
yo durara
tú duraras
él/ella/Ud. durara
nosotros/as duráramos
vosotros/as durarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. duraran

Use the imperfect subjunctive of durar after past-tense wishes and doubts, and in si-clauses that set up a hypothetical present. The yo form is durara. 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 dura
él/ella/Ud. dure
nosotros/as duremos
vosotros/as durad
ellos/ellas/Uds. duren

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

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

Imperative — Negative

Person Form
tú dures
él/ella/Ud. dure
nosotros/as duremos
vosotros/as duréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. duren

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

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

Example sentences

  1. Yo duro todos los días. — I last every day.
  2. Ayer yo duré por la tarde. — Yesterday I lasted in the afternoon.
  3. Antes, yo duraba todos los días. — In the past, I used to last every day.
  4. Mañana yo duraré sin falta. — Tomorrow I will last without fail.
  5. Si tuviera más tiempo, yo duraría ahora mismo. — If I had more time, I would last right now.
  6. Hoy yo he durado dos veces. — Today I have lasted twice.
  7. Espero que tú dures pronto. — I hope You last soon.
  8. Si yo durara, todo sería distinto. — If I lasted, everything would be different.
  9. Ahora mismo yo estoy durando. — Right now I am lasting.
  10. ¡dura, por favor! — Last, please!

Common mistakes

1. Using the imperfect for a finished event

Wrong: Ayer yo duraba.

Right: Ayer yo duré.

Yesterday's finished action needs the preterite, duré. The imperfect duraba 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 duras.

Right: Espero que tú dures.

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

3. Using the affirmative imperative after no

Wrong: No dura.

Right: No dures.

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

4. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

Wrong: Yo durar todos los días.

Right: Yo duro todos los días.

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

5. Confusing the gerund with the past participle

Wrong: He durando.

Right: He durado.

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

Quiz

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

1. What is the tú form of durar in the present indicative?

- (a) duramos
- (b) dura
- (c) duras
- (d) duro

2. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of durar in the preterite?

- (a) duré
- (b) duraste
- (c) duró
- (d) duramos

3. What is the nosotros/as form of durar in the imperfect?

- (a) durábamos
- (b) duraba
- (c) duraba
- (d) durabas

4. What is the vosotros/as form of durar in the future?

- (a) duraré
- (b) duraréis
- (c) durarás
- (d) durará

5. What is the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of durar in the conditional?

- (a) duraría
- (b) durarías
- (c) duraría
- (d) durarían

6. What is the yo form of durar in the present perfect?

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

7. What is the tú form of durar in the present subjunctive?

- (a) dure
- (b) duremos
- (c) dure
- (d) dures

8. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of durar in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms)?

- (a) duraras
- (b) duráramos
- (c) durara
- (d) durara

9. What is the gerund of durar?

- (a) durando
- (b) duro
- (c) durado
- (d) durar

10. What is the past participle of durar?

- (a) durado
- (b) durar
- (c) duré
- (d) durando

Answer key

1. (c) — In the present indicative, the tú form of durar is duras. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 2. (c) — In the preterite, the él/ella/Ud. form of durar is duró. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 3. (a) — In the imperfect, the nosotros/as form of durar is durábamos. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 4. (b) — In the future, the vosotros/as form of durar is duraréis. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 5. (d) — In the conditional, the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of durar is durarían. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 6. (c) — In the present perfect, the yo form of durar is he durado. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 7. (d) — In the present subjunctive, the tú form of durar is dures. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 8. (c) — In the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms), the él/ella/Ud. form of durar is durara. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 9. (a) — The gerund of durar is durando. It is used with estar for the progressive: «Estoy durando». 10. (a) — The past participle of durar is durado. It follows haber in all the perfect tenses: «he durado».

Frequently asked questions

Is durar regular or irregular?

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

What are the gerund and past participle of durar?

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

How do I say «I last» in Spanish?

Say «Yo duro 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 durar?

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

When do I use the subjunctive with durar?

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

How do I use durar in the present perfect?

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

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