Escribir Conjugation in Spanish
escribir means “write” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Spanish learners meet — it sits at number 43 in VerbFlow’s frequency list. You use it for writing letters and emails, for writing in Spanish, and for writing to family. Because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of escribir — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Yo escribo una carta a mi abuela todos los días.” — “I write a letter to my grandmother every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: escribir
- English: to write
- Verb type: Irregular
- Irregular in: past-participle, present-perfect, pluperfect, future-perfect, conditional-perfect
- Gerund: escribiendo
- Past participle: escrito
- Auxiliary: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + the past participle)
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for escribir. Learn the present tense first, then the preterite and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | escribo |
| tú | escribes |
| él/ella/Ud. | escribe |
| nosotros/as | escribimos |
| vosotros/as | escribís |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | escriben |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | escribí |
| tú | escribiste |
| él/ella/Ud. | escribió |
| nosotros/as | escribimos |
| vosotros/as | escribisteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | escribieron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | escribía |
| tú | escribías |
| él/ella/Ud. | escribía |
| nosotros/as | escribíamos |
| vosotros/as | escribíais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | escribían |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | escribiré |
| tú | escribirás |
| él/ella/Ud. | escribirá |
| nosotros/as | escribiremos |
| vosotros/as | escribiréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | escribirán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | escribiría |
| tú | escribirías |
| él/ella/Ud. | escribiría |
| nosotros/as | escribiríamos |
| vosotros/as | escribiríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | escribirían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he escrito |
| tú | has escrito |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha escrito |
| nosotros/as | hemos escrito |
| vosotros/as | habéis escrito |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han escrito |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había escrito |
| tú | habías escrito |
| él/ella/Ud. | había escrito |
| nosotros/as | habíamos escrito |
| vosotros/as | habíais escrito |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían escrito |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré escrito |
| tú | habrás escrito |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá escrito |
| nosotros/as | habremos escrito |
| vosotros/as | habréis escrito |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán escrito |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría escrito |
| tú | habrías escrito |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría escrito |
| nosotros/as | habríamos escrito |
| vosotros/as | habríais escrito |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían escrito |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | escriba |
| tú | escribas |
| él/ella/Ud. | escriba |
| nosotros/as | escribamos |
| vosotros/as | escribáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | escriban |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | escribiera |
| tú | escribieras |
| él/ella/Ud. | escribiera |
| nosotros/as | escribiéramos |
| vosotros/as | escribierais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | escribieran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | escribe |
| él/ella/Ud. | escriba |
| nosotros/as | escribamos |
| vosotros/as | escribid |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | escriban |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | escribas |
| él/ella/Ud. | escriba |
| nosotros/as | escribamos |
| vosotros/as | escribáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | escriban |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Gerund | escribiendo |
| Past participle | escrito |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Yo escribo una carta a mi abuela todos los días.” — “I write a letter to my grandmother every day.”
Preterite
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past. For example: “Tú escribiste un correo al jefe ayer.” — “You wrote an email to the boss yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Él escribía en español antes.” — “He used to write in Spanish before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and probability. For example: “Yo escribiré una carta a mi abuela mañana.” — “I will write a letter to my grandmother tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Tú escribirías un correo al jefe algún día.” — “You would write an email to the boss someday.”
Present perfect
The present perfect is used for recent past actions and life experience, formed with haber + the past participle. With escribir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Él ha escrito en español esta semana.” — “He has written in Spanish this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. With escribir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Yo había escrito una carta a mi abuela antes de la fiesta.” — “I had written a letter to my grandmother before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. With escribir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Tú habrás escrito un correo al jefe para mañana.” — “You will have written an email to the boss by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. With escribir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Él habría escrito en español ayer.” — “He would have written in Spanish yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Es importante que yo escriba una carta a mi abuela.” — “It is important that i write a letter to my grandmother.”
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
The imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, and clauses after a past-tense trigger. For example: “Ojalá tú escribieras un correo al jefe.” — “I wish you wrote an email to the boss.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. The imperative of escribir gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “¡Escribe en español!” — “Write in Spanish!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. The imperative of escribir gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “No escribas una carta a mi abuela.” — “Do not write a letter to my grandmother.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with escribir, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Spanish and try to produce it from the English.
- “Yo escribo una carta a mi abuela todos los días.” — “I write a letter to my grandmother every day.”
- “Tú escribiste un correo al jefe ayer.” — “You wrote an email to the boss yesterday.”
- “Él escribía en español antes.” — “He used to write in Spanish before.”
- “Yo escribiré un correo al jefe mañana.” — “I will write an email to the boss tomorrow.”
- “Tú escribirías una carta a mi abuela algún día.” — “You would write a letter to my grandmother someday.”
- “Él ha escrito en español esta semana.” — “He has written in Spanish this week.”
- “Yo había escrito una carta a mi abuela antes de la fiesta.” — “I had written a letter to my grandmother before the party.”
- “Tú habrás escrito un correo al jefe para mañana.” — “You will have written an email to the boss by tomorrow.”
- “Es importante que él escriba en español.” — “It is important that he write in Spanish.”
- “¡Escribe una carta a mi abuela!” — “Write a letter to my grandmother!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Yo escribir una carta a mi abuela.”
✓ Right: “Yo escribo una carta a mi abuela.”
The infinitive escribir never takes a subject. After yo you need the conjugated present form escribo.
2. Confusing escribir with leer
✗ Wrong: “Yo leo una carta a mi abuela.”
✓ Right: “Yo escribo una carta a mi abuela.”
Escribir is to write; leer is to read.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary in perfect tenses
✗ Wrong: “Yo soy escrito una carta a mi abuela.”
✓ Right: “Yo he escrito una carta a mi abuela.”
Spanish perfect tenses are always built with haber, never with ser. The correct form is he + the participle escrito.
4. Dropping the written accent
✗ Wrong: “escribi”
✓ Right: “escribí”
The accent on escribí is part of the spelling in the preterite. Without it the form looks like a different word, so always write the accent.
5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Ojalá tú escribes una carta a mi abuela.”
✓ Right: “Ojalá tú escribas una carta a mi abuela.”
After ojalá Spanish needs the subjunctive, so use escribas here, not the indicative escribes.
6. Using the preterite for a habitual past action
✗ Wrong: “Yo escribí una carta a mi abuela antes.” (said of a repeated habit)
✓ Right: “Yo escribía una carta a mi abuela antes.”
The preterite escribí describes one finished action. For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect escribía.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on escribir. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the yo form of escribir in the Present indicative?
- A) escribes
- B) escribe
- C) escribimos
- D) escribo
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of escribir in the Preterite?
- A) escribiste
- B) escribimos
- C) escribió
- D) escribí
What is the nosotros/as form of escribir in the Imperfect?
- A) escribíais
- B) escribíamos
- C) escribía
- D) escribías
What is the tú form of escribir in the Future?
- A) escribirás
- B) escribiré
- C) escribirá
- D) escribiremos
What is the yo form of escribir in the Conditional?
- A) escribirías
- B) escribiríamos
- C) escribiríais
- D) escribiría
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of escribir in the Present subjunctive?
- A) escribamos
- B) escribáis
- C) escriba
- D) escribas
What is the yo form of escribir in the Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)?
- A) escribierais
- B) escribiera
- C) escribieras
- D) escribiéramos
What is the gerund of escribir?
- A) escribiendo
- B) trabajando
- C) perdiendo
- D) produciendo
What is the past participle of escribir?
- A) trabajado
- B) perdido
- C) producido
- D) escrito
What does escribir mean in English?
- A) to lose
- B) to produce
- C) to write
- D) to work
Answer key
- D) escribo — the yo form of escribir in the present indicative is escribo. The other options (escribes, escribe, escribimos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) escribió — the él/ella/Ud. form of escribir in the preterite is escribió. The other options (escribí, escribiste, escribimos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) escribíamos — the nosotros/as form of escribir in the imperfect is escribíamos. The other options (escribía, escribías, escribía) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) escribirás — the tú form of escribir in the future is escribirás. The other options (escribiré, escribirá, escribiremos) are the same tense for different persons.
- D) escribiría — the yo form of escribir in the conditional is escribiría. The other options (escribirías, escribiría, escribiríamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) escriba — the él/ella/Ud. form of escribir in the present subjunctive is escriba. The other options (escriba, escribas, escribamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) escribiera — the yo form of escribir in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is escribiera. The other options (escribieras, escribiera, escribiéramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) escribiendo — the gerund of escribir is escribiendo; it is used with estar for the progressive. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) escrito — the past participle of escribir is escrito; perfect tenses use haber + escrito. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to write — escribir means “to write” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does escribir mean in English?
escribir means “to write”. You use it for writing letters and emails, for writing in Spanish, and for writing to family. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is escribir regular or irregular?
escribir is irregular, and it is irregular in these tenses: past-participle, present-perfect, pluperfect, future-perfect, conditional-perfect. The gerund is escribiendo and the past participle is escrito.
What are the gerund and past participle of escribir?
The gerund is escribiendo — use it with estar for actions in progress. The past participle is escrito — use it with haber for the perfect tenses, as in he escrito (I have written).
What is the difference between escribir and leer?
Escribir is to write; leer is to read. If you are unsure, check the full table for leer and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I write” in Spanish?
Say “Yo escribo una carta a mi abuela.” — “I write a letter to my grandmother every day.” The yo form of the present is escribo, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- escribir in the preterite tense — the full table and uses for this verb in its most practised tense.
- escribir examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Spanish irregular verbs — every common irregular Spanish verb, grouped by pattern.
- Trabajar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Perder conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Producir conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Present tense guide — how the present tense works for regular verbs.
- Preterite tense guide — how the preterite works, and when to choose it over the imperfect.
- Verb Conjugator — practise escribir with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise escribir with the interactive tool.
- Preterite Vs Imperfect — practise escribir with the interactive tool.