Ejercitarse Conjugation in Spanish

ejercitarse is the Spanish verb for «to exercise». As a regular -ar verb, reflexive 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: «Me ejercito todos los días» — I exercise every day. Then work down the page tense by tense, and finish with the quiz.

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: ejercitarse
  • English: to exercise
  • Verb type: regular -ar verb, reflexive
  • Ending: -ar
  • Gerund: ejercitando
  • Past participle: ejercitado
  • Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + ejercitado)
  • 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 ejercitarse, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

ejercitarse is reflexive: Me ejercito todos los días; te ejercitas 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 ejercitarse. 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: ejercitando · Past participle: ejercitado

Present Indicative

Person Pronoun Form
yo me ejercito
tú te ejercitas
él/ella/Ud. se ejercita
nosotros/as nos ejercitamos
vosotros/as os ejercitáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se ejercitan

Use the present of ejercitarse for things that happen regularly and for things that are true in general. The yo form ejercito 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 Pronoun Form
yo me ejercité
tú te ejercitaste
él/ella/Ud. se ejercitó
nosotros/as nos ejercitamos
vosotros/as os ejercitasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se ejercitaron

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

Imperfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me ejercitaba
tú te ejercitabas
él/ella/Ud. se ejercitaba
nosotros/as nos ejercitábamos
vosotros/as os ejercitabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se ejercitaban

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

Future

Person Pronoun Form
yo me ejercitaré
tú te ejercitarás
él/ella/Ud. se ejercitará
nosotros/as nos ejercitaremos
vosotros/as os ejercitaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se ejercitarán

Use the future of ejercitarse for plans, promises and predictions. The yo form is ejercitaré, 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 Pronoun Form
yo me ejercitaría
tú te ejercitarías
él/ella/Ud. se ejercitaría
nosotros/as nos ejercitaríamos
vosotros/as os ejercitaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se ejercitarían

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

Present Perfect

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

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

Pluperfect

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

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

Future Perfect

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

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

Conditional Perfect

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

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

Present Subjunctive

Person Pronoun Form
yo me ejercite
tú te ejercites
él/ella/Ud. se ejercite
nosotros/as nos ejercitemos
vosotros/as os ejercitéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se ejerciten

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

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra forms)

Person Pronoun Form
yo me ejercitara
tú te ejercitaras
él/ella/Ud. se ejercitara
nosotros/as nos ejercitáramos
vosotros/as os ejercitarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se ejercitaran

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

Imperative — Affirmative

Person Pronoun Form
tú te ejercita
él/ella/Ud. se ejercite
nosotros/as nos ejercitemos
vosotros/as os ejercitad
ellos/ellas/Uds. se ejerciten

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.

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

Imperative — Negative

Person Pronoun Form
tú te ejercites
él/ella/Ud. se ejercite
nosotros/as nos ejercitemos
vosotros/as os ejercitéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se ejerciten

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.

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

Example sentences

  1. Me ejercito todos los días. — I exercise every day.
  2. Ayer me ejercité por la tarde. — Yesterday I exercised in the afternoon.
  3. Antes, me ejercitaba todos los días. — In the past, I used to exercise every day.
  4. Mañana me ejercitaré sin falta. — Tomorrow I will exercise without fail.
  5. Si tuviera más tiempo, me ejercitaría ahora mismo. — If I had more time, I would exercise right now.
  6. Hoy me he ejercitado dos veces. — Today I have exercised twice.
  7. Espero que te ejercites pronto. — I hope You exercise soon.
  8. Si me ejercitara, todo sería distinto. — If I exercised, everything would be different.
  9. Ahora mismo me estoy ejercitando. — Right now I am exercising.
  10. ¡No te ejercites! — Don't exercise!

Common mistakes

1. Forgetting the reflexive pronoun

Wrong: yo ejercito todos los días.

Right: me ejercito todos los días.

ejercitarse 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 ejercitaba.

Right: Ayer me ejercité.

Yesterday's finished action needs the preterite, ejercité. The imperfect ejercitaba 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 ejercitas.

Right: Espero que te ejercites.

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

4. Using the affirmative imperative after no

Wrong: No te ejercita.

Right: No te ejercites.

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

5. Confusing the gerund with the past participle

Wrong: He ejercitando.

Right: He ejercitado.

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

- (a) ejercitas
- (b) ejercita
- (c) ejercito
- (d) ejercitamos

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

- (a) ejercitaste
- (b) ejercitamos
- (c) ejercitó
- (d) ejercité

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

- (a) ejercitabas
- (b) ejercitaba
- (c) ejercitábamos
- (d) ejercitaba

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

- (a) ejercitarás
- (b) ejercitaré
- (c) ejercitaréis
- (d) ejercitará

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

- (a) ejercitaría
- (b) ejercitarías
- (c) ejercitaría
- (d) ejercitarían

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

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

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

- (a) ejercites
- (b) ejercite
- (c) ejercitemos
- (d) ejercite

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

- (a) ejercitaras
- (b) ejercitara
- (c) ejercitara
- (d) ejercitáramos

9. What is the gerund of ejercitarse?

- (a) ejercitando
- (b) ejercitarse
- (c) ejercitado
- (d) ejercito

10. What is the past participle of ejercitarse?

- (a) ejercitando
- (b) ejercitado
- (c) ejercitarse
- (d) ejercité

Answer key

1. (a) — In the present indicative, the tú form of ejercitarse is ejercitas. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 2. (c) — In the preterite, the él/ella/Ud. form of ejercitarse is ejercitó. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 3. (c) — In the imperfect, the nosotros/as form of ejercitarse is ejercitábamos. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 4. (c) — In the future, the vosotros/as form of ejercitarse is ejercitaréis. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 5. (d) — In the conditional, the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of ejercitarse is ejercitarían. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 6. (d) — In the present perfect, the yo form of ejercitarse is he ejercitado. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 7. (a) — In the present subjunctive, the tú form of ejercitarse is ejercites. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 8. (b) — In the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms), the él/ella/Ud. form of ejercitarse is ejercitara. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 9. (a) — The gerund of ejercitarse is ejercitando. It is used with estar for the progressive: «Estoy ejercitando». 10. (b) — The past participle of ejercitarse is ejercitado. It follows haber in all the perfect tenses: «he ejercitado».

Frequently asked questions

Is ejercitarse regular or irregular?

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

What are the gerund and past participle of ejercitarse?

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

How do I say «I exercise» in Spanish?

Say «Me ejercito 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 ejercitarse?

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

When do I use the subjunctive with ejercitarse?

Use the subjunctive after wishes, doubts, emotions and impersonal expressions — for example «Espero que tú ejercites». 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 ejercitarse mean?

The -se marks ejercitarse 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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