Elaborar Conjugation in Spanish

elaborar means «to make, to prepare». It is a regular -ar verb verb, so the tables below show you exactly how it behaves in every tense. On this page you will find the full conjugation of elaborar in all thirteen tenses, notes on when to use each one, example sentences, the mistakes learners make most often, a ten-question quiz and answers to the questions students ask about this verb. For example: «Yo elaboro todos los días» — I make every day.

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: elaborar
  • English: to make, to prepare
  • Verb type: regular -ar verb
  • Ending: -ar
  • Gerund: elaborando
  • Past participle: elaborado
  • Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + elaborado)

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

Full conjugation tables

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

Gerund: elaborando · Past participle: elaborado

Present Indicative

Person Form
yo elaboro
tú elaboras
él/ella/Ud. elabora
nosotros/as elaboramos
vosotros/as elaboráis
ellos/ellas/Uds. elaboran

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

Preterite

Person Form
yo elaboré
tú elaboraste
él/ella/Ud. elaboró
nosotros/as elaboramos
vosotros/as elaborasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. elaboraron

The preterite of elaborar reports what happened. «Ayer yo elaboré 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 elaboraba
tú elaborabas
él/ella/Ud. elaboraba
nosotros/as elaborábamos
vosotros/as elaborabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. elaboraban

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

Future

Person Form
yo elaboraré
tú elaborarás
él/ella/Ud. elaborará
nosotros/as elaboraremos
vosotros/as elaboraréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. elaborarán

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

Conditional

Person Form
yo elaboraría
tú elaborarías
él/ella/Ud. elaboraría
nosotros/as elaboraríamos
vosotros/as elaboraríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. elaborarían

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

Present Perfect

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

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

Pluperfect

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

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

Future Perfect

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

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

Conditional Perfect

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

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

Present Subjunctive

Person Form
yo elabore
tú elabores
él/ella/Ud. elabore
nosotros/as elaboremos
vosotros/as elaboréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. elaboren

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

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra forms)

Person Form
yo elaborara
tú elaboraras
él/ella/Ud. elaborara
nosotros/as elaboráramos
vosotros/as elaborarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. elaboraran

The imperfect subjunctive of elaborar handles the hypothetical past and the polite conditional. «Ojalá yo elaborara 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 elabora
él/ella/Ud. elabore
nosotros/as elaboremos
vosotros/as elaborad
ellos/ellas/Uds. elaboren

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

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

Imperative — Negative

Person Form
tú elabores
él/ella/Ud. elabore
nosotros/as elaboremos
vosotros/as elaboréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. elaboren

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

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

Example sentences

  1. Yo elaboro todos los días. — I make every day.
  2. Ayer yo elaboré por la tarde. — Yesterday I made in the afternoon.
  3. Antes, yo elaboraba todos los días. — In the past, I used to make every day.
  4. Mañana yo elaboraré sin falta. — Tomorrow I will make without fail.
  5. Si tuviera más tiempo, yo elaboraría ahora mismo. — If I had more time, I would make right now.
  6. Hoy yo he elaborado dos veces. — Today I have made twice.
  7. Espero que tú elabores pronto. — I hope You make soon.
  8. Si yo elaborara, todo sería distinto. — If I made, everything would be different.
  9. Ahora mismo yo estoy elaborando. — Right now I am making.
  10. ¡elabora, por favor! — Make, please!

Common mistakes

1. Using the imperfect for a finished event

Wrong: Ayer yo elaboraba.

Right: Ayer yo elaboré.

Yesterday's finished action needs the preterite, elaboré. The imperfect elaboraba 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 elaboras.

Right: Espero que tú elabores.

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

3. Using the affirmative imperative after no

Wrong: No elabora.

Right: No elabores.

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

4. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

Wrong: Yo elaborar todos los días.

Right: Yo elaboro todos los días.

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

5. Confusing the gerund with the past participle

Wrong: He elaborando.

Right: He elaborado.

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

- (a) elaboras
- (b) elaboramos
- (c) elaboro
- (d) elabora

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

- (a) elaboraste
- (b) elaboramos
- (c) elaboró
- (d) elaboré

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

- (a) elaborabais
- (b) elaboraba
- (c) elaborabas
- (d) elaboraba

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

- (a) elaboraré
- (b) elaborarás
- (c) elaborará
- (d) elaborarán

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

- (a) elaborarías
- (b) elaboraríamos
- (c) elaboraría
- (d) elaboraría

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

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

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

- (a) elaboremos
- (b) elabore
- (c) elabore
- (d) elabores

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

- (a) elaborara
- (b) elaboraras
- (c) elaborara
- (d) elaboráramos

9. What is the gerund of elaborar?

- (a) elaboro
- (b) elaborar
- (c) elaborando
- (d) elaborado

10. What is the past participle of elaborar?

- (a) elaboré
- (b) elaborar
- (c) elaborado
- (d) elaborando

Answer key

1. (d) — In the present indicative, the él/ella/Ud. form of elaborar is elabora. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 2. (b) — In the preterite, the nosotros/as form of elaborar is elaboramos. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 3. (a) — In the imperfect, the vosotros/as form of elaborar is elaborabais. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 4. (d) — In the future, the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of elaborar is elaborarán. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 5. (c) — In the conditional, the yo form of elaborar is elaboraría. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 6. (c) — In the present perfect, the tú form of elaborar is has elaborado. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 7. (b) — In the present subjunctive, the él/ella/Ud. form of elaborar is elabore. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 8. (d) — In the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms), the nosotros/as form of elaborar is elaboráramos. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 9. (c) — The gerund of elaborar is elaborando. It is used with estar for the progressive: «Estoy elaborando». 10. (c) — The past participle of elaborar is elaborado. It follows haber in all the perfect tenses: «he elaborado».

Frequently asked questions

Is elaborar regular or irregular?

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

What are the gerund and past participle of elaborar?

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

How do I say «I make» in Spanish?

Say «Yo elaboro 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 elaborar?

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

When do I use the subjunctive with elaborar?

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

How do I use elaborar in the present perfect?

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

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