Hablar Conjugation in Spanish
hablar means “speak” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Spanish learners meet — it sits at number 20 in VerbFlow’s frequency list. You use it for speaking a language, for talking with people, and for speaking on the phone. 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 hablar — 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 hablo español en clase todos los días.” — “I speak Spanish in class every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: hablar
- English: to speak
- Verb type: Regular -ar verb
- Irregular in: no tense — fully regular
- Gerund: hablando
- Past participle: hablado
- 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 hablar. 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 | hablo |
| tú | hablas |
| él/ella/Ud. | habla |
| nosotros/as | hablamos |
| vosotros/as | habláis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | hablan |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | hablé |
| tú | hablaste |
| él/ella/Ud. | habló |
| nosotros/as | hablamos |
| vosotros/as | hablasteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | hablaron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | hablaba |
| tú | hablabas |
| él/ella/Ud. | hablaba |
| nosotros/as | hablábamos |
| vosotros/as | hablabais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | hablaban |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | hablaré |
| tú | hablarás |
| él/ella/Ud. | hablará |
| nosotros/as | hablaremos |
| vosotros/as | hablaréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | hablarán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | hablaría |
| tú | hablarías |
| él/ella/Ud. | hablaría |
| nosotros/as | hablaríamos |
| vosotros/as | hablaríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | hablarían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he hablado |
| tú | has hablado |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha hablado |
| nosotros/as | hemos hablado |
| vosotros/as | habéis hablado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han hablado |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había hablado |
| tú | habías hablado |
| él/ella/Ud. | había hablado |
| nosotros/as | habíamos hablado |
| vosotros/as | habíais hablado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían hablado |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré hablado |
| tú | habrás hablado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá hablado |
| nosotros/as | habremos hablado |
| vosotros/as | habréis hablado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán hablado |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría hablado |
| tú | habrías hablado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría hablado |
| nosotros/as | habríamos hablado |
| vosotros/as | habríais hablado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían hablado |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | hable |
| tú | hables |
| él/ella/Ud. | hable |
| nosotros/as | hablemos |
| vosotros/as | habléis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | hablen |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | hablara |
| tú | hablaras |
| él/ella/Ud. | hablara |
| nosotros/as | habláramos |
| vosotros/as | hablarais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | hablaran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | habla |
| él/ella/Ud. | hable |
| nosotros/as | hablemos |
| vosotros/as | hablad |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | hablen |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | hables |
| él/ella/Ud. | hable |
| nosotros/as | hablemos |
| vosotros/as | habléis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | hablen |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Gerund | hablando |
| Past participle | hablado |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Yo hablo español en clase todos los días.” — “I speak Spanish in class every day.”
Preterite
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past. For example: “Tú hablaste con mi abuela ayer.” — “You spoke with my grandmother yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Él hablaba por teléfono con Luis antes.” — “He used to speak on the phone with Luis before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and probability. For example: “Yo hablaré español en clase mañana.” — “I will speak Spanish in class tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Tú hablarías con mi abuela algún día.” — “You would speak with my grandmother someday.”
Present perfect
The present perfect is used for recent past actions and life experience, formed with haber + the past participle. For example: “Él ha hablado por teléfono con Luis esta semana.” — “He has spoken on the phone with Luis this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Yo había hablado español en clase antes de la fiesta.” — “I had spoken Spanish in class before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tú habrás hablado con mi abuela para mañana.” — “You will have spoken with my grandmother by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Él habría hablado por teléfono con Luis ayer.” — “He would have spoken on the phone with Luis yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Es importante que yo hable español en clase.” — “It is important that i speak Spanish in class.”
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 hablaras con mi abuela.” — “I wish you spoke with my grandmother.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. The imperative of hablar gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “¡Habla por teléfono con Luis!” — “Speak on the phone with Luis!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. The imperative of hablar gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “No hables español en clase.” — “Do not speak Spanish in class.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with hablar, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Spanish and try to produce it from the English.
- “Yo hablo español en clase todos los días.” — “I speak Spanish in class every day.”
- “Tú hablaste con mi abuela ayer.” — “You spoke with my grandmother yesterday.”
- “Él hablaba por teléfono con Luis antes.” — “He used to speak on the phone with Luis before.”
- “Yo hablaré con mi abuela mañana.” — “I will speak with my grandmother tomorrow.”
- “Tú hablarías español en clase algún día.” — “You would speak Spanish in class someday.”
- “Él ha hablado por teléfono con Luis esta semana.” — “He has spoken on the phone with Luis this week.”
- “Yo había hablado español en clase antes de la fiesta.” — “I had spoken Spanish in class before the party.”
- “Tú habrás hablado con mi abuela para mañana.” — “You will have spoken with my grandmother by tomorrow.”
- “Es importante que él hable por teléfono con Luis.” — “It is important that he speak on the phone with Luis.”
- “¡Habla español en clase!” — “Speak Spanish in class!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Yo hablar español en clase.”
✓ Right: “Yo hablo español en clase.”
The infinitive hablar never takes a subject. After yo you need the conjugated present form hablo.
2. Confusing hablar with decir
✗ Wrong: “Yo digo español en clase.”
✓ Right: “Yo hablo español en clase.”
Hablar is to speak or talk; decir is to say or tell something specific.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary in perfect tenses
✗ Wrong: “Yo soy hablado español en clase.”
✓ Right: “Yo he hablado español en clase.”
Spanish perfect tenses are always built with haber, never with ser. The correct form is he + the participle hablado.
4. Dropping the written accent
✗ Wrong: “hable”
✓ Right: “hablé”
The accent on hablé 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 hablas español en clase.”
✓ Right: “Ojalá tú hables español en clase.”
After ojalá Spanish needs the subjunctive, so use hables here, not the indicative hablas.
6. Using the preterite for a habitual past action
✗ Wrong: “Yo hablé español en clase antes.” (said of a repeated habit)
✓ Right: “Yo hablaba español en clase antes.”
The preterite hablé describes one finished action. For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect hablaba.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on hablar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the yo form of hablar in the Present indicative?
- A) hablas
- B) habla
- C) hablamos
- D) hablo
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of hablar in the Preterite?
- A) hablaste
- B) hablamos
- C) habló
- D) hablé
What is the nosotros/as form of hablar in the Imperfect?
- A) hablabais
- B) hablábamos
- C) hablaba
- D) hablabas
What is the tú form of hablar in the Future?
- A) hablarás
- B) hablaré
- C) hablará
- D) hablaremos
What is the yo form of hablar in the Conditional?
- A) hablarías
- B) hablaríamos
- C) hablaríais
- D) hablaría
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of hablar in the Present subjunctive?
- A) hablemos
- B) habléis
- C) hable
- D) hables
What is the yo form of hablar in the Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)?
- A) hablarais
- B) hablara
- C) hablaras
- D) habláramos
What is the gerund of hablar?
- A) hablando
- B) creyendo
- C) llevando
- D) dejando
What is the past participle of hablar?
- A) creído
- B) llevado
- C) dejado
- D) hablado
What does hablar mean in English?
- A) to carry
- B) to leave
- C) to speak
- D) to believe
Answer key
- D) hablo — the yo form of hablar in the present indicative is hablo. The other options (hablas, habla, hablamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) habló — the él/ella/Ud. form of hablar in the preterite is habló. The other options (hablé, hablaste, hablamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) hablábamos — the nosotros/as form of hablar in the imperfect is hablábamos. The other options (hablaba, hablabas, hablaba) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) hablarás — the tú form of hablar in the future is hablarás. The other options (hablaré, hablará, hablaremos) are the same tense for different persons.
- D) hablaría — the yo form of hablar in the conditional is hablaría. The other options (hablarías, hablaría, hablaríamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) hable — the él/ella/Ud. form of hablar in the present subjunctive is hable. The other options (hable, hables, hablemos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) hablara — the yo form of hablar in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is hablara. The other options (hablaras, hablara, habláramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) hablando — the gerund of hablar is hablando; it is used with estar for the progressive. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) hablado — the past participle of hablar is hablado; perfect tenses use haber + hablado. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to speak — hablar means “to speak” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does hablar mean in English?
hablar means “to speak”. You use it for speaking a language, for talking with people, and for speaking on the phone. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is hablar regular or irregular?
hablar is regular -ar verb, with no irregular tense — it follows the regular pattern throughout. The gerund is hablando and the past participle is hablado.
What are the gerund and past participle of hablar?
The gerund is hablando — use it with estar for actions in progress. The past participle is hablado — use it with haber for the perfect tenses, as in he hablado (I have spoken).
What is the difference between hablar and decir?
Hablar is to speak or talk; decir is to say or tell something specific. If you are unsure, check the full table for decir and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I speak” in Spanish?
Say “Yo hablo español en clase.” — “I speak Spanish in class every day.” The yo form of the present is hablo, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- hablar in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in its most practised tense.
- hablar examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Creer conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Llevar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Dejar 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 hablar with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise hablar with the interactive tool.