Engañarse Conjugation in Spanish

engañarse means «to deceive oneself». It is a regular -ar verb, reflexive verb, so the tables below show you exactly how it behaves in every tense. On this page you will find the full conjugation of engañarse 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: «Me engaño todos los días» — I deceive myself every day.

Quick facts

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

engañarse is reflexive: Me engaño todos los días; te engañas 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 engañarse. 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: engañando · Past participle: engañado

Present Indicative

Person Pronoun Form
yo me engaño
tú te engañas
él/ella/Ud. se engaña
nosotros/as nos engañamos
vosotros/as os engañáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se engañan

The present tense describes habits, facts and what is happening now. For engañarse, the yo form is engaño, as in the examples below. Use the present for routines («todos los días») and for general truths, and remember that Spanish often uses the present where English would use a progressive or a near future.

Preterite

Person Pronoun Form
yo me engañé
tú te engañaste
él/ella/Ud. se engañó
nosotros/as nos engañamos
vosotros/as os engañasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se engañaron

The preterite describes completed actions in the past — things that started and finished. «Ayer yo engañé» is the classic use. Do not confuse it with the imperfect: the preterite moves the story forward, one finished event at a time.

Imperfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me engañaba
tú te engañabas
él/ella/Ud. se engañaba
nosotros/as nos engañábamos
vosotros/as os engañabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se engañaban

The imperfect describes the past as background: habits, descriptions and actions in progress. «De pequeño, yo engañaba» shows the habitual use. It sets the scene while the preterite reports what happened inside it.

Future

Person Pronoun Form
yo me engañaré
tú te engañarás
él/ella/Ud. se engañará
nosotros/as nos engañaremos
vosotros/as os engañaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se engañarán

The future tense states what will happen. For engañarse the future is built on the infinitive: «Mañana yo engañaré». It is also used for predictions and promises, and in spoken Spanish it often alternates with ir a + infinitive.

Conditional

Person Pronoun Form
yo me engañaría
tú te engañarías
él/ella/Ud. se engañaría
nosotros/as nos engañaríamos
vosotros/as os engañaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se engañarían

The conditional expresses what would happen: wishes, polite requests and hypothetical results. «Si tuviera más tiempo, yo engañaría» is the typical pattern. It shares its stem with the future and changes only the endings.

Present Perfect

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

The present perfect connects the past with the present: something that has happened, often today or recently. It is haber in the present plus the past participle: «Hoy yo he engañado». In Spain it is used for anything that happened today; in Latin America the preterite is often preferred.

Pluperfect

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

The pluperfect describes an event that happened before another past event: «Cuando llegué, ya había engañado». It is haber in the imperfect plus the past participle, and it is the tense for explaining what had already happened when something else took place.

Future Perfect

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

The future perfect looks back from a future point: by then, something will already have happened. «Para mañana, yo habré engañado» is the pattern — haber in the future plus the past participle. It is less common in speech but regular in formal writing.

Conditional Perfect

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

The conditional perfect expresses what would have happened: «Yo habría engañado si hubiera podido». It is haber in the conditional plus the past participle, and it is the tense for regrets and missed chances.

Present Subjunctive

Person Pronoun Form
yo me engañe
tú te engañes
él/ella/Ud. se engañe
nosotros/as nos engañemos
vosotros/as os engañéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se engañen

The present subjunctive appears after wishes, doubts, emotions and impersonal expressions: «Espero que él engañe». The trigger is in the main clause; the subjunctive is the mood of uncertainty, desire and influence. Learn the yo form first — most of the table follows from it.

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra forms)

Person Pronoun Form
yo me engañara
tú te engañaras
él/ella/Ud. se engañara
nosotros/as nos engañáramos
vosotros/as os engañarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se engañaran

The imperfect subjunctive is the past partner of the present subjunctive, used after past-tense triggers and in si-clauses: «Si él engañara, todo sería distinto». The table above shows the -ra forms, the ones you will hear most often. There is also a less common -se set built on the same stem.

Imperative — Affirmative

Person Pronoun Form
tú te engaña
él/ella/Ud. se engañe
nosotros/as nos engañemos
vosotros/as os engañad
ellos/ellas/Uds. se engañen

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 gives direct commands and instructions: «¡engaña!». There is no yo form — you cannot command yourself. The tú form is the one you will use with friends and family, and the usted form with people you address formally.

Imperative — Negative

Person Pronoun Form
tú te engañes
él/ella/Ud. se engañe
nosotros/as nos engañemos
vosotros/as os engañéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se engañen

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 tells someone not to do something: «¡No engañes!». Unlike the affirmative imperative, the negative forms come from the present subjunctive, which is why they look different. Never use the affirmative form after no.

Example sentences

  1. Me engaño todos los días. — I deceive myself every day.
  2. Ayer me engañé por la tarde. — Yesterday I deceived myself in the afternoon.
  3. Antes, me engañaba todos los días. — In the past, I used to deceive myself every day.
  4. Mañana me engañaré sin falta. — Tomorrow I will deceive myself without fail.
  5. Si tuviera más tiempo, me engañaría ahora mismo. — If I had more time, I would deceive myself right now.
  6. Hoy me he engañado dos veces. — Today I have deceived myself twice.
  7. Espero que te engañes pronto. — I hope You deceive yourself soon.
  8. Si me engañara, todo sería distinto. — If I deceived myself, everything would be different.
  9. Ahora mismo me estoy engañando. — Right now I am deceiving myself.
  10. ¡No te engañes! — Don't deceive yourself!

Common mistakes

1. Forgetting the reflexive pronoun

Wrong: yo engaño todos los días.

Right: me engaño todos los días.

engañarse 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 engañaba.

Right: Ayer me engañé.

Yesterday's finished action needs the preterite, engañé. The imperfect engañaba 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 engañas.

Right: Espero que te engañes.

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

4. Using the affirmative imperative after no

Wrong: No te engaña.

Right: No te engañes.

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

5. Confusing the gerund with the past participle

Wrong: He engañando.

Right: He engañado.

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

Quiz

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

1. What is the yo form of engañarse in the present indicative?

- (a) engaña
- (b) engañas
- (c) engaño
- (d) engañamos

2. What is the tú form of engañarse in the preterite?

- (a) engañé
- (b) engañaste
- (c) engañamos
- (d) engañó

3. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of engañarse in the imperfect?

- (a) engañaba
- (b) engañaba
- (c) engañábamos
- (d) engañabas

4. What is the nosotros/as form of engañarse in the future?

- (a) engañaremos
- (b) engañarás
- (c) engañaré
- (d) engañará

5. What is the vosotros/as form of engañarse in the conditional?

- (a) engañarías
- (b) engañaría
- (c) engañaría
- (d) engañaríais

6. What is the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of engañarse in the present perfect?

- (a) han engañado
- (b) ha engañado
- (c) he engañado
- (d) has engañado

7. What is the yo form of engañarse in the present subjunctive?

- (a) engañe
- (b) engañe
- (c) engañemos
- (d) engañes

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

- (a) engañaras
- (b) engañara
- (c) engañara
- (d) engañáramos

9. What is the gerund of engañarse?

- (a) engañando
- (b) engaño
- (c) engañado
- (d) engañarse

10. What is the past participle of engañarse?

- (a) engañando
- (b) engañarse
- (c) engañé
- (d) engañado

Answer key

1. (c) — In the present indicative, the yo form of engañarse is engaño. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 2. (b) — In the preterite, the tú form of engañarse is engañaste. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 3. (a) — In the imperfect, the él/ella/Ud. form of engañarse is engañaba. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 4. (a) — In the future, the nosotros/as form of engañarse is engañaremos. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 5. (d) — In the conditional, the vosotros/as form of engañarse is engañaríais. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 6. (a) — In the present perfect, the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of engañarse is han engañado. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 7. (a) — In the present subjunctive, the yo form of engañarse is engañe. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 8. (a) — In the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms), the tú form of engañarse is engañaras. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 9. (a) — The gerund of engañarse is engañando. It is used with estar for the progressive: «Estoy engañando». 10. (d) — The past participle of engañarse is engañado. It follows haber in all the perfect tenses: «he engañado».

Frequently asked questions

Is engañarse regular or irregular?

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

What are the gerund and past participle of engañarse?

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

How do I say «I deceive myself» in Spanish?

Say «Me engaño 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 engañarse?

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

When do I use the subjunctive with engañarse?

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

The -se marks engañarse 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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