Equivocarse Conjugation in Spanish
Introduction
equivocarse means "to make a mistake" in English, and it is one of the verbs you will meet constantly in everyday Spanish — for making a mistake, or being wrong. Learning it properly means more than memorising one form: the verb changes across thirteen tenses, and this page gives you every one of them, with the exact forms from the VerbFlow engine, so you can check any person or tense in seconds. Equivocarse is a reflexive (pronominal) -ar verb verb, and it is regular in its endings, with a spelling change. That matters because the patterns on this page are the patterns you will reuse every time you speak or write. Work through the tables first, then read the notes under each tense — they explain when to use each tense and what to watch out for with this verb in particular. A natural example is: Cada día, yo me equivoco de número al llamar. — "Every day, I make a mistake the number when calling." Once you can say that sentence confidently, try changing the person and the tense using the tables below.
Quick facts
| Infinitive | equivocarse |
| Translation | to make a mistake |
| Verb type | Reflexive (pronominal) -ar verb |
| Gerund | equivocando |
| Past participle | equivocado |
| Auxiliary | haber (all compound tenses) |
| Irregular tenses | regular in its endings, with a spelling change |
Reflexive verb: the pronouns me, te, se, nos, os, se go with the verb in every tense. The tables below show the verb forms themselves; add the pronoun in front (me equivoco, te equivocas, se equivoca, and so on). In affirmative commands the pronoun attaches to the end of the verb instead.
Full conjugation of equivocarse
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | equivoco |
| tú | equivocas |
| él / ella / Ud. | equivoca |
| nosotros / nosotras | equivocamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | equivocáis |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | equivocan |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | equivoqué |
| tú | equivocaste |
| él / ella / Ud. | equivocó |
| nosotros / nosotras | equivocamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | equivocasteis |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | equivocaron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | equivocaba |
| tú | equivocabas |
| él / ella / Ud. | equivocaba |
| nosotros / nosotras | equivocábamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | equivocabais |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | equivocaban |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | equivocaré |
| tú | equivocarás |
| él / ella / Ud. | equivocará |
| nosotros / nosotras | equivocaremos |
| vosotros / vosotras | equivocaréis |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | equivocarán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | equivocaría |
| tú | equivocarías |
| él / ella / Ud. | equivocaría |
| nosotros / nosotras | equivocaríamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | equivocaríais |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | equivocarían |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | equivoque |
| tú | equivoques |
| él / ella / Ud. | equivoque |
| nosotros / nosotras | equivoquemos |
| vosotros / vosotras | equivoquéis |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | equivoquen |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | equivocara |
| tú | equivocaras |
| él / ella / Ud. | equivocara |
| nosotros / nosotras | equivocáramos |
| vosotros / vosotras | equivocarais |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | equivocaran |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he equivocado |
| tú | has equivocado |
| él / ella / Ud. | ha equivocado |
| nosotros / nosotras | hemos equivocado |
| vosotros / vosotras | habéis equivocado |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | han equivocado |
Pluperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había equivocado |
| tú | habías equivocado |
| él / ella / Ud. | había equivocado |
| nosotros / nosotras | habíamos equivocado |
| vosotros / vosotras | habíais equivocado |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | habían equivocado |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré equivocado |
| tú | habrás equivocado |
| él / ella / Ud. | habrá equivocado |
| nosotros / nosotras | habremos equivocado |
| vosotros / vosotras | habréis equivocado |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | habrán equivocado |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría equivocado |
| tú | habrías equivocado |
| él / ella / Ud. | habría equivocado |
| nosotros / nosotras | habríamos equivocado |
| vosotros / vosotras | habríais equivocado |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | habrían equivocado |
Imperative — affirmative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | equivoca |
| él / ella / Ud. | equivoque |
| nosotros / nosotras | equivoquemos |
| vosotros / vosotras | equivocad |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | equivoquen |
Imperative — negative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | equivoques |
| él / ella / Ud. | equivoque |
| nosotros / nosotras | equivoquemos |
| vosotros / vosotras | equivoquéis |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | equivoquen |
Gerund: equivocando · Past participle: equivocado
Equivocarse in every tense — notes and examples
Present indicative
The present is the tense for habits, facts and what is happening now. It is the first tense to master, because the present subjunctive and the affirmative imperative are both built from the present yo form. Example: Cada día, yo me equivoco de número al llamar. — "Every day, I make a mistake the number when calling."
Preterite
The preterite is for completed actions in the past — things that started and finished at a definite moment. Use it for a single event, a sequence of events, or an action with a clear end. Example: Ayer, yo me equivoqué de número al llamar. — "Yesterday, I made a mistake the number when calling."
Imperfect
The imperfect is for the past without a definite end: habits, background scenes, descriptions and actions in progress when something else happened. It never states when the action finished. Example: Antes, yo me equivocaba de número al llamar. — "Before, I made a mistake the number when calling."
Future
The future is for what will happen, and also for guesses about the present ("I wonder if…"). For regular verbs it is the infinitive plus the endings -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án. Example: Mañana, yo me equivocaré de número al llamar. — "Tomorrow, I will make a mistake the number when calling."
Conditional
The conditional is for what would happen — polite requests, hypothetical results and reported expectations. It shares its stem with the future, so any irregular future stem appears here too. Example: Yo me equivocaría de número al llamar si tuviera la oportunidad. — "I would make a mistake the number when calling if I had the chance."
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is for wishes, doubts, emotions and other non-facts after que, and after expressions such as ojalá, es importante que or no creo que. It is not a tense for stating facts. Example: Espero que ella se equivoque de número al llamar. — "I hope she will make a mistake the number when calling."
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms)
The imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms) is for wishes and doubts about the past, and for the if-part of hypothetical sentences (si + imperfect subjunctive, conditional). This page shows the -ra forms from the engine. Example: Si ella se equivocara de número al llamar, todo cambiaría. — "If she made a mistake the number when calling, everything would change."
Present perfect
The present perfect (haber + past participle) is for past actions connected to the present — recent events, experience, or something that has just happened. The auxiliary is always haber. Example: Yo me he equivocado de camino al salir varias veces. — "I have made a mistake the way when leaving several times."
Pluperfect
The pluperfect (había + past participle) is the past of the past: something that had already happened before another past event. Example: Yo me había equivocado de número al llamar antes de la reunión. — "I had made a mistake the number when calling before the meeting."
Future perfect
The future perfect (habré + past participle) is for something that will already be finished by a future moment, or for a guess about the past. It is less common in speech than the simple future. Example: Para mañana, yo me habré equivocado de número al llamar. — "By tomorrow, I will have made a mistake the number when calling."
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect (habría + past participle) is for what would have happened — the past of the conditional, used for regrets and unreal past conditions. Example: Yo me habría equivocado de número al llamar si hubiera tenido tiempo. — "I would have made a mistake the number when calling if I had had time."
Imperative — affirmative
The affirmative imperative is for direct orders, instructions and invitations. The tú form comes from the present él/ella form, and the formal, nosotros and plural forms come from the present subjunctive. Example: Que ella se equivoque de número al llamar. — "Let her make a mistake the number when calling."
Imperative — negative
The negative imperative (no + subjunctive) is for telling someone not to do something. All five persons come from the present subjunctive, which is why they look different from the affirmative tú form. Example: No te equivoques de número al llamar. — "Do not make a mistake the number when calling."
Example sentences with equivocarse
Yo me equivoco de número al llamar. — "I make a mistake the number when calling."
¿Tú te equivocas de camino al salir? — "Do you make a mistake the way when leaving?"
Ayer, él se equivocó de número al llamar. — "Yesterday, he made a mistake the number when calling."
Nosotros nos equivocamos de camino al salir a tiempo. — "We made a mistake the way when leaving on time."
Antes, ellos se equivocaban de número al llamar. — "Before, they made a mistake the number when calling."
Mañana, yo me equivocaré de camino al salir. — "Tomorrow, I will make a mistake the way when leaving."
Nosotros nos equivocaríamos de número al llamar si pudiéramos. — "We would make a mistake the number when calling if we could."
Yo me he equivocado de camino al salir varias veces. — "I have made a mistake the way when leaving several times."
Espero que ella se equivoque de número al llamar. — "I hope she will make a mistake the number when calling."
Me estoy equivocando de número al llamar ahora mismo. — "I am making a mistake the number when calling right now."
Common mistakes with equivocarse
1. Dropping the accent on the preterite yo form
The preterite yo form is equivoqué — with the accent. Without it the word is misspelled, and in some verbs the accent is the only thing separating one tense from another.
2. Confusing equivocarse with acertar (to get right, to hit the target)
equivocarse means "to make a mistake", while acertar means "to get right, to hit the target". They overlap in English but they are not interchangeable in Spanish: use equivocarse when you mean making a mistake, or being wrong, and acertar for its own meaning. Check the conjugation of acertar before choosing.
3. Mixing up the preterite and the imperfect
Ayer yo equivoqué de número al llamar (preterite: one finished event yesterday) is not the same as antes yo equivocaba de número al llamar (imperfect: what used to happen). If you can add "yesterday" or "last week", you usually want the preterite; if you can add "used to", you want the imperfect.
4. Forgetting the reflexive pronoun
equivocarse is reflexive: the pronoun is part of the verb. It is yo me equivoco de número al llamar, not yo equivoco de número al llamar. Without me the sentence is incomplete.
5. Putting the pronoun in the wrong place with the gerund
With the gerund the pronoun goes before estar, not after the gerund: me estoy equivocando de número al llamar. Saying estoy equivocando without the pronoun loses the reflexive meaning.
Quiz: equivocarse
1. Yo me ___ de número al llamar.
a. equivoca b. equivoco c. equivocan
2. Ella se ___ de número al llamar.
a. equivoco b. equivoca c. equivocan
3. Ayer, yo me ___ de número al llamar.
a. equivoco b. equivoqué c. equivoca
4. Ellos se ___ de número al llamar ayer.
a. equivoco b. equivocaron c. equivoca
5. Antes, yo me ___ de número al llamar.
a. equivoco b. equivocaba c. equivoca
6. Mañana, yo me ___ de número al llamar.
a. equivoco b. equivocaré c. equivoca
7. Yo me ___ de número al llamar si pudiera.
a. equivoco b. equivocaría c. equivoca
8. Espero que ella se ___ de número al llamar.
a. equivoco b. equivoque c. equivoca
9. Me estoy ___ de número al llamar ahora mismo.
a. equivocado b. equivocando c. equivoco
10. Yo me he ___ de camino al salir varias veces.
a. equivocando b. equivocado c. equivoco
Answer key
equivoco — present tense, yo form.
equivoca — present tense, él/ella form.
equivoqué — preterite, yo form — a finished action yesterday.
equivocaron — preterite, ellos/ellas form.
equivocaba — imperfect, yo form — a past habit.
equivocaré — future, yo form.
equivocaría — conditional, yo form — a hypothetical.
equivoque — present subjunctive after 'espero que'.
equivocando — gerund — the progressive is estar + gerund, with the pronoun before estar.
equivocado — past participle — the present perfect is haber + participle.
Frequently asked questions about equivocarse
What does equivocarse mean in English?
Equivocarse means "to make a mistake". It is used for making a mistake, or being wrong. A simple example is yo equivoco de número al llamar — "I make a mistake the number when calling."
Is equivocarse regular or irregular?
Equivocarse is a reflexive (pronominal) -ar verb verb, and it is regular in its endings, with a spelling change. The forms that most often catch learners out are the present yo form equivoco, the preterite yo form equivoqué and the past participle equivocado — learn those three first, then fill in the rest from the tables above.
What is the gerund and the past participle of equivocarse?
The gerund is equivocando (used for the progressive: estoy equivocando) and the past participle is equivocado (used with haber in all perfect tenses: he equivocado). Both forms are used constantly, so they are worth memorising on their own.
How do I say "I make a mistake" in the past?
It depends on the meaning. For one finished action use the preterite: ayer yo equivoqué de número al llamar — "yesterday I made a mistake the number when calling". For a past habit or background use the imperfect: antes yo equivocaba de número al llamar — "before, I made a mistake the number when calling". The mistake most learners make is using one for the other.
Does equivocarse take the subjunctive?
Not usually. Equivocarse on its own takes the indicative — yo equivoco de número al llamar. You will meet the subjunctive with equivocarse only inside a larger construction that itself triggers it, such as no creo que or es importante que, and then the subjunctive form is equivoque.