Indultar Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish
The present tense of indultar — “to pardon” in English — is the form you need for what happens now, for habits and for general truths. This page gives you the full present conjugation table for indultar with all six persons, explains exactly how the tense is formed for this verb, shows when to use it with real examples, and finishes with a quiz so you can test yourself. Indultar means to pardon, to grant an official pardon that frees a prisoner or cancels a punishment. It is a formal legal verb, used for governments and heads of state, and it is fully regular. To see it in a real sentence: Indulto al preso después de veinte años. — “I pardon the prisoner after twenty years.” Learn the six forms in the table below, and the present tense of indultar will be ready for everyday conversation.
Present tense conjugation table: indultar
Every person of indultar in the present tense. The gerund is indultando and the past participle is indultado.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | indulto |
| tú | indultas |
| él/ella/Ud. | indulta |
| nosotros/as | indultamos |
| vosotros/as | indultáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | indultan |
How the present indicative of indultar is formed
The present indicative of indultar is built from the stem plus the present indicative endings for -ar verbs. Take the infinitive, drop the -ar ending, and add the ending that matches the person. The table below shows the endings, and the full table above shows them attached to the stem.
| Person | Ending | Form |
|---|---|---|
| yo | -o | indulto |
| tú | -as | indultas |
| él/ella/Ud. | -a | indulta |
| nosotros/as | -amos | indultamos |
| vosotros/as | -áis | indultáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | -an | indultan |
Indultar is a regular -ar verb in the present tense, so the table above is completely regular. The stem is indult- and the endings are the normal -ar endings, so once you know the pattern you can produce every form on this page.
The gerund of indultar is indultando and the past participle is indultado. Both are regular for this verb, and the participle is the form you need for all the perfect tenses with haber.
When to use the present tense of indultar
The present tense is not one single use — it covers several situations, and indultar appears in all of them. The five uses below are the ones you will meet most often, each with an example that shows the verb in a natural sentence.
Routines and habits
Use the present for things you do regularly, every day or every week. The present is the tense of routine, and indultar fits naturally into daily life.
“Yo indulto al preso después de veinte años todos los días.” — “I pardon the prisoner after twenty years every day.”
General facts
Use the present for facts that are true in general, not just today. When you state how something is, the present is the tense to use.
“Él indulta a los condenados en Navidad.” — “He/she pardons those convicted at Christmas.”
What is happening right now
Use the present for what is happening at this moment. Spanish often uses the simple present where English uses the progressive, so indulto can mean both “I pardon” and “I am pardoning”.
“Ahora mismo, yo indulto al reo por buena conducta.” — “Right now, I pardon the offender for good behaviour.”
Fixed plans in the near future
Use the present for a plan that is already fixed, such as something arranged for tomorrow. Spanish uses the present for near-future plans much more freely than English does.
“Mañana, yo indulto a los prisioneros de guerra.” — “Tomorrow, I will pardon the prisoners of war.”
Questions and negatives
Use the present to ask about habits and to say what does not happen. The question and the negative use exactly the same forms as the statement.
“¿Tú indultas al preso después de veinte años?” — “Do you pardon the prisoner after twenty years?”
The present tense vs the closest tenses
Present — habit or general fact vs Preterite — one finished occasion
The present describes a habit, a routine or a general fact — something that happens again and again or that is true in general. The preterite reports one finished occasion in the past. Use the present when the action repeats or is still true, and the preterite when you are telling what happened once, on a specific day.
- Present — habit or general fact: Indulta a los condenados en Navidad. — “He/she pardons those convicted at Christmas.”
- Preterite — one finished occasion: Indultó a los condenados en Navidad. — the same idea, placed in the preterite.
Present — now vs Imperfect — a past habit or background
The present talks about now. The imperfect talks about the past as a background — a repeated habit, an ongoing situation, something that used to happen. If you can add “used to” in English, the imperfect is usually the right choice; if it is happening now or always, use the present.
- Present — now: Indultan al reo por buena conducta. — “They pardon the offender for good behaviour.”
- Imperfect — a past habit or background: Indultaban al reo por buena conducta. — the same idea, placed in the imperfect.
Present — now or a fixed plan vs Future — what will happen
The present describes what happens now, what you do regularly, or a plan that is already fixed. The future describes what will happen later — a promise, a prediction, a plan that is not yet under way. Spanish often uses the present for near-future plans, but the future is the form for a clear statement about tomorrow.
- Present — now or a fixed plan: Indultas a los prisioneros de guerra. — “You pardon the prisoners of war.”
- Future — what will happen: Indultarás a los prisioneros de guerra. — the same idea, placed in the future.
Examples: indultar in the present tense
Seven sentences that show indultar in the present tense only, across all six persons. Read each one aloud, notice the ending, and check the translation.
- Yo indulto al preso después de veinte años. — “I pardon the prisoner after twenty years.”
- Tú indultas a los condenados en Navidad. — “You pardon those convicted at Christmas.”
- Él indulta al reo por buena conducta. — “He pardons the offender for good behaviour.”
- Nosotros indultamos a los prisioneros de guerra. — “We pardon the prisoners of war.”
- Vosotros indultáis al preso después de veinte años. — “You (plural) pardon the prisoner after twenty years.”
- Ellos indultan a los condenados en Navidad. — “They pardon those convicted at Christmas.”
- ¿Tú indultas al reo por buena conducta? — “Do you pardon the offender for good behaviour?”
Common mistakes with indultar in the present tense
These are the errors learners actually make with indultar in the present tense. Each one shows the wrong form, the right form, and why the right form is right.
✗ Yo indultar al preso después de veinte años. (using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form).
✓ Correct: Yo indulto al preso después de veinte años.
The infinitive is not a conjugated form. With yo, the present tense of indultar is indulto, not the infinitive indultar.
✗ Vosotros indultais al preso después de veinte años. (forgetting the accent on the vosotros form).
✓ Correct: Vosotros indultáis al preso después de veinte años.
The vosotros present form carries a written accent: indultáis, not indultais. The accent marks the stressed vowel, and leaving it out is a spelling mistake.
✗ Ayer, yo indulto a los condenados en Navidad. (using the present for a finished past action).
✓ Correct: Ayer, yo indulté a los condenados en Navidad.
The present and the preterite are different tenses: indulto is happening now, while indulté is a finished action in the past. Use the preterite with ayer.
✗ Treating indultar and perdonar as identical in every context. (confusing indultar with perdonar).
✓ Correct: Indultar means to pardon, while perdonar means to forgive, in everyday life.
They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: indultar fits sentences such as Indulto al preso después de veinte años, while perdonar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
Quiz: indultar in the present tense
Eight questions on the present tense of indultar. Choose the best answer for each one, then check the answer key below — every answer is explained.
1. Which is the correct present tense form of indultar for tú?
- a) indultas
- b) indulto
- c) indulta
- d) indultan
2. Complete the sentence: Yo ______ al preso después de veinte años. — “I pardon the prisoner after twenty years.”
- a) indulta
- b) indultamos
- c) indultas
- d) indulto
3. Complete the sentence: Él ______ a los condenados en Navidad. — “He/she pardons those convicted at Christmas.” (present tense)
- a) indultaba
- b) indultará
- c) indulta
- d) indultó
4. Which is the correct present tense form of indultar for nosotros?
- a) indultan
- b) indultamos
- c) indulto
- d) indulta
5. Which sentence uses indultar correctly in the present tense?
- a) Él indultó a los condenados en Navidad.
- b) Él indulta a los condenados en Navidad.
- c) Él indultará a los condenados en Navidad.
- d) Ellos indulta a los condenados en Navidad.
6. Complete the sentence: Ellos ______ al reo por buena conducta. — “They pardon the offender for good behaviour.”
- a) indulto
- b) indulta
- c) indultamos
- d) indultan
7. Complete the question: ¿Tú ______ a los prisioneros de guerra? — “Do you pardon the prisoners of war?”
- a) indulta
- b) indultarás
- c) indultas
- d) indulto
8. What is the gerund of indultar?
- a) indulté
- b) indultando
- c) indultado
- d) indulto
Answer key
a) indultas — The tú form is indultas. The -s ending belongs to tú in the present; indulto is yo, indulta is él/ella and indultan is ellos/ellas.
d) indulto — The sentence needs the yo form in the present: indulto. The other options are the wrong person.
c) indulta — The sentence needs the él/ella/Ud. form in the present: indulta. The other options are the preterite, the imperfect and the future.
b) indultamos — Nosotros takes indultamos. In the present the nosotros ending for -ar verbs is -amos, attached to the stem.
b) Él indulta a los condenados en Navidad. — Él indulta a los condenados en Navidad. is correct: the verb agrees with its subject. The other sentences use the wrong person or the wrong tense.
d) indultan — The subject is ellos/ellas/Uds., so the present form is indultan.
c) indultas — The question needs the tú form in the present: indultas.
b) indultando — The gerund is indultando. It is the form you use with estar for the progressive (estar + gerund), and it is not the past participle indultado.
Frequently asked questions
Is indultar regular in the present tense?
Yes. Indultar is a regular -ar verb in the present tense, so the forms follow the standard endings: indulto, indultas, indulta, indultamos, indultáis and indultan.
What is the gerund and the past participle of indultar?
The gerund is indultando and the past participle is indultado. Use the gerund with estar for the progressive, and the participle with haber for the perfect tenses.
How do you say “I pardon” in Spanish?
Say indulto. For example: Indulto al preso después de veinte años. — “I pardon the prisoner after twenty years.”
What is the difference between indultar and perdonar?
Indultar means “to pardon”, while perdonar means “to forgive, in everyday life”. They are related words that learners often meet together, but they are not interchangeable — use indultar when you mean “to pardon” and perdonar when you mean “to forgive, in everyday life”. The full conjugation of indultar is on its own page.
Related links
- Full conjugation of indultar — every tense and mood, with the complete tables.
- indultar examples and quiz — more sentences, dialogues and a longer quiz.
- Spanish Present tense guide — how the present tense works for all Spanish verbs.
- Spanish verbs — the full list of Spanish verbs on VerbFlow.
- Condenar conjugation — another -ar verb to compare with indultar.
- Declarar conjugation — another -ar verb to compare with indultar.
- Empatar conjugation — another -ar verb to compare with indultar.
- Present Tense Conjugator — practise this verb in the interactive tool.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — test yourself on Spanish verbs.