Evitar Conjugation in Spanish

evitar is the Spanish verb for «to avoid». As a regular -ar verb verb it follows the -ar endings, and the tables on this page list every form so you never have to guess. You will find the present, the past tenses, the future, the conditional, the perfect tenses, the subjunctive and the imperative, each with a short note on when to use it. Start with the present tense: «Yo evito todos los días» — I avoid every day. Then work down the page tense by tense, and finish with the quiz.

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: evitar
  • English: to avoid
  • Verb type: regular -ar verb
  • Ending: -ar
  • Gerund: evitando
  • Past participle: evitado
  • Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + evitado)

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

Full conjugation tables

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

Gerund: evitando · Past participle: evitado

Present Indicative

Person Form
yo evito
tú evitas
él/ella/Ud. evita
nosotros/as evitamos
vosotros/as evitáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. evitan

Use the present of evitar for things that happen regularly and for things that are true in general. The yo form evito 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 evité
tú evitaste
él/ella/Ud. evitó
nosotros/as evitamos
vosotros/as evitasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. evitaron

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

Imperfect

Person Form
yo evitaba
tú evitabas
él/ella/Ud. evitaba
nosotros/as evitábamos
vosotros/as evitabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. evitaban

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

Future

Person Form
yo evitaré
tú evitarás
él/ella/Ud. evitará
nosotros/as evitaremos
vosotros/as evitaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. evitarán

Use the future of evitar for plans, promises and predictions. The yo form is evitaré, 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 evitaría
tú evitarías
él/ella/Ud. evitaría
nosotros/as evitaríamos
vosotros/as evitaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. evitarían

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

Present Perfect

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

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

Pluperfect

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

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

Future Perfect

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

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

Conditional Perfect

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

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

Present Subjunctive

Person Form
yo evite
tú evites
él/ella/Ud. evite
nosotros/as evitemos
vosotros/as evitéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. eviten

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

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra forms)

Person Form
yo evitara
tú evitaras
él/ella/Ud. evitara
nosotros/as evitáramos
vosotros/as evitarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. evitaran

Use the imperfect subjunctive of evitar after past-tense wishes and doubts, and in si-clauses that set up a hypothetical present. The yo form is evitara. 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 evita
él/ella/Ud. evite
nosotros/as evitemos
vosotros/as evitad
ellos/ellas/Uds. eviten

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

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

Imperative — Negative

Person Form
tú evites
él/ella/Ud. evite
nosotros/as evitemos
vosotros/as evitéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. eviten

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

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

Example sentences

  1. Yo evito todos los días. — I avoid every day.
  2. Ayer yo evité por la tarde. — Yesterday I avoided in the afternoon.
  3. Antes, yo evitaba todos los días. — In the past, I used to avoid every day.
  4. Mañana yo evitaré sin falta. — Tomorrow I will avoid without fail.
  5. Si tuviera más tiempo, yo evitaría ahora mismo. — If I had more time, I would avoid right now.
  6. Hoy yo he evitado dos veces. — Today I have avoided twice.
  7. Espero que tú evites pronto. — I hope You avoid soon.
  8. Si yo evitara, todo sería distinto. — If I avoided, everything would be different.
  9. Ahora mismo yo estoy evitando. — Right now I am avoiding.
  10. ¡evita, por favor! — Avoid, please!

Common mistakes

1. Using the imperfect for a finished event

Wrong: Ayer yo evitaba.

Right: Ayer yo evité.

Yesterday's finished action needs the preterite, evité. The imperfect evitaba 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 evitas.

Right: Espero que tú evites.

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

3. Using the affirmative imperative after no

Wrong: No evita.

Right: No evites.

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

4. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

Wrong: Yo evitar todos los días.

Right: Yo evito todos los días.

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

5. Confusing the gerund with the past participle

Wrong: He evitando.

Right: He evitado.

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

Quiz

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

1. What is the tú form of evitar in the present indicative?

- (a) evitas
- (b) evitamos
- (c) evito
- (d) evita

2. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of evitar in the preterite?

- (a) evitamos
- (b) evité
- (c) evitaste
- (d) evitó

3. What is the nosotros/as form of evitar in the imperfect?

- (a) evitaba
- (b) evitábamos
- (c) evitaba
- (d) evitabas

4. What is the vosotros/as form of evitar in the future?

- (a) evitaré
- (b) evitaréis
- (c) evitarás
- (d) evitará

5. What is the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of evitar in the conditional?

- (a) evitaría
- (b) evitarían
- (c) evitaría
- (d) evitarías

6. What is the yo form of evitar in the present perfect?

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

7. What is the tú form of evitar in the present subjunctive?

- (a) evite
- (b) evite
- (c) evitemos
- (d) evites

8. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of evitar in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms)?

- (a) evitara
- (b) evitara
- (c) evitaras
- (d) evitáramos

9. What is the gerund of evitar?

- (a) evitado
- (b) evitando
- (c) evitar
- (d) evito

10. What is the past participle of evitar?

- (a) evité
- (b) evitar
- (c) evitado
- (d) evitando

Answer key

1. (a) — In the present indicative, the tú form of evitar is evitas. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 2. (d) — In the preterite, the él/ella/Ud. form of evitar is evitó. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 3. (b) — In the imperfect, the nosotros/as form of evitar is evitábamos. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 4. (b) — In the future, the vosotros/as form of evitar is evitaréis. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 5. (b) — In the conditional, the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of evitar is evitarían. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 6. (d) — In the present perfect, the yo form of evitar is he evitado. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 7. (d) — In the present subjunctive, the tú form of evitar is evites. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 8. (a) — In the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms), the él/ella/Ud. form of evitar is evitara. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 9. (b) — The gerund of evitar is evitando. It is used with estar for the progressive: «Estoy evitando». 10. (c) — The past participle of evitar is evitado. It follows haber in all the perfect tenses: «he evitado».

Frequently asked questions

Is evitar regular or irregular?

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

What are the gerund and past participle of evitar?

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

How do I say «I avoid» in Spanish?

Say «Yo evito 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 evitar?

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

When do I use the subjunctive with evitar?

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

How do I use evitar in the present perfect?

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

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