Errar Conjugation in Spanish

Learning to conjugate errar — «to err, to miss» — opens up a whole set of sentences you will use every day. It is a regular -ar verb verb, and this page covers it completely: thirteen tenses, the gerund errando and the past participle errado, example sentences in every tense, the common mistakes and a quiz with an answer key. A good first sentence to learn is «Yo erro todos los días» — I err every day. Once you can say that, the rest of the table falls into place person by person.

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: errar
  • English: to err, to miss
  • Verb type: regular -ar verb
  • Ending: -ar
  • Gerund: errando
  • Past participle: errado
  • Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + errado)

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

Full conjugation tables

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

Gerund: errando · Past participle: errado

Present Indicative

Person Form
yo erro
tú erras
él/ella/Ud. erra
nosotros/as erramos
vosotros/as erráis
ellos/ellas/Uds. erran

Use the present of errar for things that happen regularly and for things that are true in general. The yo form erro 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 Form
yo erré
tú erraste
él/ella/Ud. erró
nosotros/as erramos
vosotros/as errasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. erraron

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

Imperfect

Person Form
yo erraba
tú errabas
él/ella/Ud. erraba
nosotros/as errábamos
vosotros/as errabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. erraban

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

Future

Person Form
yo erraré
tú errarás
él/ella/Ud. errará
nosotros/as erraremos
vosotros/as erraréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. errarán

Use the future of errar for plans, promises and predictions. The yo form is erraré, 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 Form
yo erraría
tú errarías
él/ella/Ud. erraría
nosotros/as erraríamos
vosotros/as erraríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. errarían

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

Present Perfect

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

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

Pluperfect

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

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

Future Perfect

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

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

Conditional Perfect

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

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

Present Subjunctive

Person Form
yo erre
tú erres
él/ella/Ud. erre
nosotros/as erremos
vosotros/as erréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. erren

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

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra forms)

Person Form
yo errara
tú erraras
él/ella/Ud. errara
nosotros/as erráramos
vosotros/as errarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. erraran

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

Imperative — Affirmative

Person Form
tú erra
él/ella/Ud. erre
nosotros/as erremos
vosotros/as errad
ellos/ellas/Uds. erren

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

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

Imperative — Negative

Person Form
tú erres
él/ella/Ud. erre
nosotros/as erremos
vosotros/as erréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. erren

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

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

Example sentences

  1. Yo erro todos los días. — I err every day.
  2. Ayer yo erré por la tarde. — Yesterday I erred in the afternoon.
  3. Antes, yo erraba todos los días. — In the past, I used to err every day.
  4. Mañana yo erraré sin falta. — Tomorrow I will err without fail.
  5. Si tuviera más tiempo, yo erraría ahora mismo. — If I had more time, I would err right now.
  6. Hoy yo he errado dos veces. — Today I have erred twice.
  7. Espero que tú erres pronto. — I hope You err soon.
  8. Si yo errara, todo sería distinto. — If I erred, everything would be different.
  9. Ahora mismo yo estoy errando. — Right now I am erring.
  10. ¡erra, por favor! — Err, please!

Common mistakes

1. Using the imperfect for a finished event

Wrong: Ayer yo erraba.

Right: Ayer yo erré.

Yesterday's finished action needs the preterite, erré. The imperfect erraba 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 erras.

Right: Espero que tú erres.

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

3. Using the affirmative imperative after no

Wrong: No erra.

Right: No erres.

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

4. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

Wrong: Yo errar todos los días.

Right: Yo erro todos los días.

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

5. Confusing the gerund with the past participle

Wrong: He errando.

Right: He errado.

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

Quiz

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

1. What is the vosotros/as form of errar in the present indicative?

- (a) erráis
- (b) erra
- (c) erras
- (d) erro

2. What is the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of errar in the preterite?

- (a) erró
- (b) erraste
- (c) erré
- (d) erraron

3. What is the yo form of errar in the imperfect?

- (a) errábamos
- (b) errabas
- (c) erraba
- (d) erraba

4. What is the tú form of errar in the future?

- (a) erraré
- (b) erraremos
- (c) errarás
- (d) errará

5. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of errar in the conditional?

- (a) erraríamos
- (b) errarías
- (c) erraría
- (d) erraría

6. What is the nosotros/as form of errar in the present perfect?

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

7. What is the vosotros/as form of errar in the present subjunctive?

- (a) erre
- (b) erréis
- (c) erres
- (d) erre

8. What is the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of errar in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms)?

- (a) erraras
- (b) erraran
- (c) errara
- (d) errara

9. What is the gerund of errar?

- (a) errar
- (b) errado
- (c) errando
- (d) erro

10. What is the past participle of errar?

- (a) errar
- (b) errado
- (c) erré
- (d) errando

Answer key

1. (a) — In the present indicative, the vosotros/as form of errar is erráis. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 2. (d) — In the preterite, the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of errar is erraron. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 3. (c) — In the imperfect, the yo form of errar is erraba. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 4. (c) — In the future, the tú form of errar is errarás. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 5. (c) — In the conditional, the él/ella/Ud. form of errar is erraría. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 6. (d) — In the present perfect, the nosotros/as form of errar is hemos errado. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 7. (b) — In the present subjunctive, the vosotros/as form of errar is erréis. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 8. (b) — In the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms), the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of errar is erraran. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 9. (c) — The gerund of errar is errando. It is used with estar for the progressive: «Estoy errando». 10. (b) — The past participle of errar is errado. It follows haber in all the perfect tenses: «he errado».

Frequently asked questions

Is errar regular or irregular?

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

What are the gerund and past participle of errar?

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

How do I say «I err» in Spanish?

Say «Yo erro 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 errar?

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

When do I use the subjunctive with errar?

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

How do I use errar in the present perfect?

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

Related links