Examinar Conjugation in Spanish

examinar means «to examine». It is a regular -ar verb verb, so the tables below show you exactly how it behaves in every tense. On this page you will find the full conjugation of examinar 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: «Yo examino todos los días» — I examine every day.

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: examinar
  • English: to examine
  • Verb type: regular -ar verb
  • Ending: -ar
  • Gerund: examinando
  • Past participle: examinado
  • Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + examinado)

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

Full conjugation tables

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

Gerund: examinando · Past participle: examinado

Present Indicative

Person Form
yo examino
tú examinas
él/ella/Ud. examina
nosotros/as examinamos
vosotros/as examináis
ellos/ellas/Uds. examinan

The present is the tense you will use most with examinar. It covers daily routines, permanent facts and actions in progress. Learn the yo form examino first, then the tú and él forms, which are the ones that change the stem in stem-changing verbs.

Preterite

Person Form
yo examiné
tú examinaste
él/ella/Ud. examinó
nosotros/as examinamos
vosotros/as examinasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. examinaron

The preterite of examinar reports what happened. «Ayer yo examiné por la tarde» places the action firmly in finished time. It is the tense of stories and reports, not of background description.

Imperfect

Person Form
yo examinaba
tú examinabas
él/ella/Ud. examinaba
nosotros/as examinábamos
vosotros/as examinabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. examinaban

The imperfect of examinar paints the background of a past scene: repeated actions, states and descriptions. «Antes, yo examinaba todos los días» is the pattern. Pair it with the preterite when one event interrupts another.

Future

Person Form
yo examinaré
tú examinarás
él/ella/Ud. examinará
nosotros/as examinaremos
vosotros/as examinaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. examinarán

The future of examinar looks forward: what will happen tomorrow, next week or next year. «Mañana yo examinaré sin falta» is the pattern. Remember that the future can also express probability about the present in Spanish.

Conditional

Person Form
yo examinaría
tú examinarías
él/ella/Ud. examinaría
nosotros/as examinaríamos
vosotros/as examinaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. examinarían

The conditional of examinar is the tense of «would»: what you would do, what would happen, what you would like. «Si pudiera, yo examinaría sin dudarlo» shows the pattern. It is built on the infinitive, just like the future.

Present Perfect

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

The present perfect of examinar says «have done»: the action is finished but its result still matters now. «Hoy yo he examinado dos veces» is the pattern. Learn the participle examinado well — every perfect tense depends on it.

Pluperfect

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

The pluperfect of examinar steps one event further back than the preterite. «Antes de salir, yo había examinado» is the pattern: first this happened, then the story moved on. It is haber in the imperfect plus examinado.

Future Perfect

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

The future perfect of examinar combines the future of haber with examinado. «Para el viernes, yo habré examinado ya» is the pattern. Use it when the completion matters more than the action itself.

Conditional Perfect

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

The conditional perfect of examinar is the tense of «would have done». «Yo habría examinado si hubiera podido» is the pattern. It is built from haber in the conditional plus examinado.

Present Subjunctive

Person Form
yo examine
tú examines
él/ella/Ud. examine
nosotros/as examinemos
vosotros/as examinéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. examinen

The present subjunctive of examinar is the mood of what is wished, doubted or demanded rather than stated as fact. «Espero que tú examines» is the pattern. If the trigger is in the past, switch to the imperfect subjunctive instead.

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra forms)

Person Form
yo examinara
tú examinaras
él/ella/Ud. examinara
nosotros/as examináramos
vosotros/as examinarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. examinaran

The imperfect subjunctive of examinar handles the hypothetical past and the polite conditional. «Ojalá yo examinara más a menudo» is the pattern. The -ra forms in the table are the standard ones; the -se forms use the same stem with -se endings.

Imperative — Affirmative

Person Form
tú examina
él/ella/Ud. examine
nosotros/as examinemos
vosotros/as examinad
ellos/ellas/Uds. examinen

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

The affirmative imperative of examinar is for orders and instructions. «¡examina, por favor!» is the pattern. Remember there is no yo form in the imperative, and the nosotros form doubles as a suggestion: «¡examinemos!» means «let's do it».

Imperative — Negative

Person Form
tú examines
él/ella/Ud. examine
nosotros/as examinemos
vosotros/as examinéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. examinen

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

The negative imperative of examinar is built on the present subjunctive: «¡No examines!». Learn it as a set with the subjunctive table above, and never follow no with the affirmative command form.

Example sentences

  1. Yo examino todos los días. — I examine every day.
  2. Ayer yo examiné por la tarde. — Yesterday I examined in the afternoon.
  3. Antes, yo examinaba todos los días. — In the past, I used to examine every day.
  4. Mañana yo examinaré sin falta. — Tomorrow I will examine without fail.
  5. Si tuviera más tiempo, yo examinaría ahora mismo. — If I had more time, I would examine right now.
  6. Hoy yo he examinado dos veces. — Today I have examined twice.
  7. Espero que tú examines pronto. — I hope You examine soon.
  8. Si yo examinara, todo sería distinto. — If I examined, everything would be different.
  9. Ahora mismo yo estoy examinando. — Right now I am examining.
  10. ¡examina, por favor! — Examine, please!

Common mistakes

1. Using the imperfect for a finished event

Wrong: Ayer yo examinaba.

Right: Ayer yo examiné.

Yesterday's finished action needs the preterite, examiné. The imperfect examinaba 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 examinas.

Right: Espero que tú examines.

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

3. Using the affirmative imperative after no

Wrong: No examina.

Right: No examines.

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

4. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

Wrong: Yo examinar todos los días.

Right: Yo examino todos los días.

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

5. Confusing the gerund with the past participle

Wrong: He examinando.

Right: He examinado.

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

Quiz

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

1. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of examinar in the present indicative?

- (a) examinamos
- (b) examina
- (c) examinas
- (d) examino

2. What is the nosotros/as form of examinar in the preterite?

- (a) examiné
- (b) examinaste
- (c) examinó
- (d) examinamos

3. What is the vosotros/as form of examinar in the imperfect?

- (a) examinaba
- (b) examinaba
- (c) examinabas
- (d) examinabais

4. What is the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of examinar in the future?

- (a) examinará
- (b) examinarás
- (c) examinarán
- (d) examinaré

5. What is the yo form of examinar in the conditional?

- (a) examinarías
- (b) examinaría
- (c) examinaría
- (d) examinaríamos

6. What is the tú form of examinar in the present perfect?

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

7. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of examinar in the present subjunctive?

- (a) examines
- (b) examine
- (c) examine
- (d) examinemos

8. What is the nosotros/as form of examinar in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms)?

- (a) examinara
- (b) examinaras
- (c) examinara
- (d) examináramos

9. What is the gerund of examinar?

- (a) examinando
- (b) examino
- (c) examinar
- (d) examinado

10. What is the past participle of examinar?

- (a) examinando
- (b) examinar
- (c) examiné
- (d) examinado

Answer key

1. (b) — In the present indicative, the él/ella/Ud. form of examinar is examina. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 2. (d) — In the preterite, the nosotros/as form of examinar is examinamos. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 3. (d) — In the imperfect, the vosotros/as form of examinar is examinabais. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 4. (c) — In the future, the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of examinar is examinarán. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 5. (b) — In the conditional, the yo form of examinar is examinaría. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 6. (c) — In the present perfect, the tú form of examinar is has examinado. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 7. (b) — In the present subjunctive, the él/ella/Ud. form of examinar is examine. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 8. (d) — In the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms), the nosotros/as form of examinar is examináramos. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 9. (a) — The gerund of examinar is examinando. It is used with estar for the progressive: «Estoy examinando». 10. (d) — The past participle of examinar is examinado. It follows haber in all the perfect tenses: «he examinado».

Frequently asked questions

Is examinar regular or irregular?

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

What are the gerund and past participle of examinar?

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

How do I say «I examine» in Spanish?

Say «Yo examino 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 examinar?

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

When do I use the subjunctive with examinar?

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

How do I use examinar in the present perfect?

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

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