Envidiar Conjugation in Spanish

envidiar means «to envy». 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 envidiar 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 envidio todos los días» — I envy every day.

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: envidiar
  • English: to envy
  • Verb type: regular -ar verb
  • Ending: -ar
  • Gerund: envidiando
  • Past participle: envidiado
  • Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + envidiado)

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

Full conjugation tables

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

Gerund: envidiando · Past participle: envidiado

Present Indicative

Person Form
yo envidio
tú envidias
él/ella/Ud. envidia
nosotros/as envidiamos
vosotros/as envidiáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. envidian

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

Preterite

Person Form
yo envidié
tú envidiaste
él/ella/Ud. envidió
nosotros/as envidiamos
vosotros/as envidiasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. envidiaron

The preterite of envidiar reports what happened. «Ayer yo envidié 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 envidiaba
tú envidiabas
él/ella/Ud. envidiaba
nosotros/as envidiábamos
vosotros/as envidiabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. envidiaban

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

Future

Person Form
yo envidiaré
tú envidiarás
él/ella/Ud. envidiará
nosotros/as envidiaremos
vosotros/as envidiaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. envidiarán

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

Conditional

Person Form
yo envidiaría
tú envidiarías
él/ella/Ud. envidiaría
nosotros/as envidiaríamos
vosotros/as envidiaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. envidiarían

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

Present Perfect

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

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

Pluperfect

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

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

Future Perfect

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

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

Conditional Perfect

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

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

Present Subjunctive

Person Form
yo envidie
tú envidies
él/ella/Ud. envidie
nosotros/as envidiemos
vosotros/as envidiéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. envidien

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

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra forms)

Person Form
yo envidiara
tú envidiaras
él/ella/Ud. envidiara
nosotros/as envidiáramos
vosotros/as envidiarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. envidiaran

The imperfect subjunctive of envidiar handles the hypothetical past and the polite conditional. «Ojalá yo envidiara 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 envidia
él/ella/Ud. envidie
nosotros/as envidiemos
vosotros/as envidiad
ellos/ellas/Uds. envidien

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

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

Imperative — Negative

Person Form
tú envidies
él/ella/Ud. envidie
nosotros/as envidiemos
vosotros/as envidiéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. envidien

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

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

Example sentences

  1. Yo envidio todos los días. — I envy every day.
  2. Ayer yo envidié por la tarde. — Yesterday I envied in the afternoon.
  3. Antes, yo envidiaba todos los días. — In the past, I used to envy every day.
  4. Mañana yo envidiaré sin falta. — Tomorrow I will envy without fail.
  5. Si tuviera más tiempo, yo envidiaría ahora mismo. — If I had more time, I would envy right now.
  6. Hoy yo he envidiado dos veces. — Today I have envied twice.
  7. Espero que tú envidies pronto. — I hope You envy soon.
  8. Si yo envidiara, todo sería distinto. — If I envied, everything would be different.
  9. Ahora mismo yo estoy envidiando. — Right now I am envying.
  10. ¡envidia, por favor! — Envy, please!

Common mistakes

1. Using the imperfect for a finished event

Wrong: Ayer yo envidiaba.

Right: Ayer yo envidié.

Yesterday's finished action needs the preterite, envidié. The imperfect envidiaba 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 envidias.

Right: Espero que tú envidies.

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

3. Using the affirmative imperative after no

Wrong: No envidia.

Right: No envidies.

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

4. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

Wrong: Yo envidiar todos los días.

Right: Yo envidio todos los días.

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

5. Confusing the gerund with the past participle

Wrong: He envidiando.

Right: He envidiado.

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

- (a) envidia
- (b) envidio
- (c) envidias
- (d) envidiamos

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

- (a) envidiamos
- (b) envidió
- (c) envidiaste
- (d) envidié

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

- (a) envidiabas
- (b) envidiaba
- (c) envidiabais
- (d) envidiaba

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

- (a) envidiaré
- (b) envidiará
- (c) envidiarán
- (d) envidiarás

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

- (a) envidiaríamos
- (b) envidiaría
- (c) envidiaría
- (d) envidiarías

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

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

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

- (a) envidies
- (b) envidie
- (c) envidiemos
- (d) envidie

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

- (a) envidiara
- (b) envidiaras
- (c) envidiáramos
- (d) envidiara

9. What is the gerund of envidiar?

- (a) envidiar
- (b) envidio
- (c) envidiando
- (d) envidiado

10. What is the past participle of envidiar?

- (a) envidié
- (b) envidiar
- (c) envidiado
- (d) envidiando

Answer key

1. (a) — In the present indicative, the él/ella/Ud. form of envidiar is envidia. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 2. (a) — In the preterite, the nosotros/as form of envidiar is envidiamos. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 3. (c) — In the imperfect, the vosotros/as form of envidiar is envidiabais. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 4. (c) — In the future, the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of envidiar is envidiarán. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 5. (b) — In the conditional, the yo form of envidiar is envidiaría. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 6. (c) — In the present perfect, the tú form of envidiar is has envidiado. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 7. (b) — In the present subjunctive, the él/ella/Ud. form of envidiar is envidie. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 8. (c) — In the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms), the nosotros/as form of envidiar is envidiáramos. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 9. (c) — The gerund of envidiar is envidiando. It is used with estar for the progressive: «Estoy envidiando». 10. (c) — The past participle of envidiar is envidiado. It follows haber in all the perfect tenses: «he envidiado».

Frequently asked questions

Is envidiar regular or irregular?

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

What are the gerund and past participle of envidiar?

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

How do I say «I envy» in Spanish?

Say «Yo envidio 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 envidiar?

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

When do I use the subjunctive with envidiar?

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

How do I use envidiar in the present perfect?

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

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