Espantarse Conjugation in Spanish

espantarse means «to get frightened». 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 espantarse 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 espanto todos los días» — I get frightened every day.

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: espantarse
  • English: to get frightened
  • Verb type: regular -ar verb, reflexive
  • Ending: -ar
  • Gerund: espantando
  • Past participle: espantado
  • Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + espantado)
  • 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 espantarse, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

espantarse is reflexive: Me espanto todos los días; te espantas 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 espantarse. 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: espantando · Past participle: espantado

Present Indicative

Person Pronoun Form
yo me espanto
tú te espantas
él/ella/Ud. se espanta
nosotros/as nos espantamos
vosotros/as os espantáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se espantan

Use the present of espantarse for things that happen regularly and for things that are true in general. The yo form espanto 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 Pronoun Form
yo me espanté
tú te espantaste
él/ella/Ud. se espantó
nosotros/as nos espantamos
vosotros/as os espantasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se espantaron

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

Imperfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me espantaba
tú te espantabas
él/ella/Ud. se espantaba
nosotros/as nos espantábamos
vosotros/as os espantabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se espantaban

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

Future

Person Pronoun Form
yo me espantaré
tú te espantarás
él/ella/Ud. se espantará
nosotros/as nos espantaremos
vosotros/as os espantaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se espantarán

Use the future of espantarse for plans, promises and predictions. The yo form is espantaré, 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 Pronoun Form
yo me espantaría
tú te espantarías
él/ella/Ud. se espantaría
nosotros/as nos espantaríamos
vosotros/as os espantaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se espantarían

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

Present Perfect

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

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

Pluperfect

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

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

Future Perfect

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

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

Conditional Perfect

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

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

Present Subjunctive

Person Pronoun Form
yo me espante
tú te espantes
él/ella/Ud. se espante
nosotros/as nos espantemos
vosotros/as os espantéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se espanten

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

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra forms)

Person Pronoun Form
yo me espantara
tú te espantaras
él/ella/Ud. se espantara
nosotros/as nos espantáramos
vosotros/as os espantarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se espantaran

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

Imperative — Affirmative

Person Pronoun Form
tú te espanta
él/ella/Ud. se espante
nosotros/as nos espantemos
vosotros/as os espantad
ellos/ellas/Uds. se espanten

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.

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

Imperative — Negative

Person Pronoun Form
tú te espantes
él/ella/Ud. se espante
nosotros/as nos espantemos
vosotros/as os espantéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se espanten

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.

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

Example sentences

  1. Me espanto todos los días. — I get frightened every day.
  2. Ayer me espanté por la tarde. — Yesterday I got frightened in the afternoon.
  3. Antes, me espantaba todos los días. — In the past, I used to get frightened every day.
  4. Mañana me espantaré sin falta. — Tomorrow I will get frightened without fail.
  5. Si tuviera más tiempo, me espantaría ahora mismo. — If I had more time, I would get frightened right now.
  6. Hoy me he espantado dos veces. — Today I have got frightened twice.
  7. Espero que te espantes pronto. — I hope You get frightened soon.
  8. Si me espantara, todo sería distinto. — If I got frightened, everything would be different.
  9. Ahora mismo me estoy espantando. — Right now I am getting frightened.
  10. ¡No te espantes! — Don't get frightened!

Common mistakes

1. Forgetting the reflexive pronoun

Wrong: yo espanto todos los días.

Right: me espanto todos los días.

espantarse 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 espantaba.

Right: Ayer me espanté.

Yesterday's finished action needs the preterite, espanté. The imperfect espantaba 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 espantas.

Right: Espero que te espantes.

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

4. Using the affirmative imperative after no

Wrong: No te espanta.

Right: No te espantes.

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

5. Confusing the gerund with the past participle

Wrong: He espantando.

Right: He espantado.

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

- (a) espantas
- (b) espantáis
- (c) espanto
- (d) espanta

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

- (a) espantaron
- (b) espantó
- (c) espantaste
- (d) espanté

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

- (a) espantábamos
- (b) espantabas
- (c) espantaba
- (d) espantaba

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

- (a) espantará
- (b) espantarás
- (c) espantaré
- (d) espantaremos

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

- (a) espantaríamos
- (b) espantaría
- (c) espantarías
- (d) espantaría

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

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

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

- (a) espantéis
- (b) espantes
- (c) espante
- (d) espante

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

- (a) espantaras
- (b) espantara
- (c) espantaran
- (d) espantara

9. What is the gerund of espantarse?

- (a) espantando
- (b) espanto
- (c) espantarse
- (d) espantado

10. What is the past participle of espantarse?

- (a) espanté
- (b) espantado
- (c) espantarse
- (d) espantando

Answer key

1. (b) — In the present indicative, the vosotros/as form of espantarse is espantáis. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 2. (a) — In the preterite, the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of espantarse is espantaron. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 3. (c) — In the imperfect, the yo form of espantarse is espantaba. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 4. (b) — In the future, the tú form of espantarse is espantarás. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 5. (b) — In the conditional, the él/ella/Ud. form of espantarse is espantaría. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 6. (c) — In the present perfect, the nosotros/as form of espantarse is hemos espantado. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 7. (a) — In the present subjunctive, the vosotros/as form of espantarse is espantéis. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 8. (c) — In the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms), the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of espantarse is espantaran. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 9. (a) — The gerund of espantarse is espantando. It is used with estar for the progressive: «Estoy espantando». 10. (b) — The past participle of espantarse is espantado. It follows haber in all the perfect tenses: «he espantado».

Frequently asked questions

Is espantarse regular or irregular?

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

What are the gerund and past participle of espantarse?

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

How do I say «I get frightened» in Spanish?

Say «Me espanto 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 espantarse?

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

When do I use the subjunctive with espantarse?

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

The -se marks espantarse 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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