Llover Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish
The present tense of llover — "to rain" 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 llover 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. Llover is a weather verb, used almost only in the third person singular: llueve, llovió, llovía. It appears in the idiom llover a cántaros, to rain cats and dogs. To see it in a real sentence: Llueve mucho en abril — "It rains a lot in April".
Present tense conjugation table: llover
Every person of llover in the present tense. The gerund is lloviendo and the past participle is llovido.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | lluevo |
| tú | llueves |
| él/ella/Ud. | llueve |
| nosotros/as | llovemos |
| vosotros/as | llovéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | llueven |
How the present of llover is formed
The present of llover is built from the stem llov- plus the present endings for -er verbs. Take the infinitive, drop the -er 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 | lluevo |
| tú | -es | llueves |
| él/ella/Ud. | -e | llueve |
| nosotros/as | -emos | llovemos |
| vosotros/as | -éis | llovéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | -en | llueven |
The stem vowel changes in the stressed forms of the present: lluevo, llueves, llueve and llueven — but nosotros and vosotros keep the plain stem: llovemos, llovéis. llover is a weather verb, so in practice you will meet it in the third person singular: llueve. The other persons exist in the table above, but everyday Spanish keeps weather verbs impersonal.
The gerund of llover is lloviendo and the past participle is llovido. Both are the forms you need with estar and haber respectively.
When to use the present tense of llover
The present tense is not one single use — it covers several situations, and llover 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.
Habits and routines
The present describes things that happen regularly, as a habit or routine.
"Cada día, llueve mucho en abril" — "Every day, It rains a lot in April"
General truths
The present states facts that are always true, not just true today.
"Llueve toda la tarde" — "It rains all afternoon"
What is happening now
The present describes an action in progress right now.
"Ahora, llueve a cántaros en la ciudad" — "Right now, It rains cats and dogs in the city"
Near-future plans
Spanish often uses the present for a plan that is already fixed.
"Mañana, llueve sobre el campo" — "Tomorrow, It rains over the countryside"
Timetables and scheduled events
The present is the tense for timetables, programmes and things that happen on a schedule.
"Llueve sin parar en invierno" — "It rains without stopping in winter"
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: {'pre_es': 'Cada día, ', 'pre_en': 'Every day, '}llueve mucho en abril — "It rains a lot in April"
- Preterite — one finished occasion: {'pre_es': 'Ayer, ', 'pre_en': 'Yesterday, '}llovió mucho en abril — "It rained a lot in April"
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: {}llueve toda la tarde — "It rains all afternoon"
- Imperfect — a past habit or background: {}llovía toda la tarde — "It used to rain all afternoon"
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: {'subj_es': 'Mi amigo', 'subj_en': 'My friend'}llueve a cántaros en la ciudad — "It rains cats and dogs in the city"
- Future — what will happen: {'subj_es': 'Mi amigo', 'subj_en': 'My friend'}lloverá a cántaros en la ciudad — "It will rain cats and dogs in the city"
Examples: llover in the present tense
Seven sentences that show llover in the present tense. Weather verbs are used in the third person singular, so each sentence uses that form with a different time or place phrase. Read each one aloud, notice the ending, and check the translation.
- Llueve mucho en abril — "It rains a lot in April"
- Llueve toda la tarde — "It rains all afternoon"
- Llueve a cántaros en la ciudad — "It rains cats and dogs in the city"
- Llueve sobre el campo — "It rains over the countryside"
- Llueve sin parar en invierno — "It rains without stopping in winter"
- Llueve mucho en abril — "It rains a lot in April"
- Llueve toda la tarde — "It rains all afternoon"
Common mistakes with llover in the present tense
These are the errors learners actually make with llover in the present tense. Each one shows the wrong form, the right form, and why the right form is right.
✗ *Yo llovo mucho en abril.
✓ Correct: Yo lluevo mucho en abril.
llover is a stem-changing verb (o → ue): the stem vowel changes in the stressed present forms, so the yo form is lluevo, not llovo.
✗ *Tú llueve toda la tarde.
✓ Correct: Tú llueves toda la tarde.
The tú form and the él form are different: tú takes llueves, él takes llueve.
✗ *Cada día, llovió a cántaros en la ciudad
✓ Correct: Cada día, llueve a cántaros en la ciudad
Cada día describes a habit, so it needs the present, not the preterite.
✗ *Espero que llueve sobre el campo
✓ Correct: Espero que llueva sobre el campo
After espero que, Spanish requires the subjunctive: Espero que llueva sobre el campo — not the indicative Espero que llueve sobre el campo.
Quiz: llover in the present tense
Eight questions on the present tense of llover. Choose the best answer for each one, then check the answer key below — every answer is explained.
Which is the correct present form of llover for tú? A. llueves B. lluevo C. llueve D. llovemos
Complete the sentence: ______ mucho en abril — "It rains a lot in April" (present) A. lloverá B. llueve C. llovió D. llovía
Complete the sentence: ______ toda la tarde — "It rains all afternoon" (present) A. llovió B. llovía C. lloverá D. llueve
Which is the correct present form of llover for nosotros? A. llueves B. llueve C. llueven D. llovemos
Which sentence uses llover correctly in the present? A. Lloverá a cántaros en la ciudad B. Llueve a cántaros en la ciudad C. Llovió a cántaros en la ciudad D. Llovía a cántaros en la ciudad
Complete the sentence: ______ sobre el campo — "It rains over the countryside" (present) A. llovió B. llovía C. lloverá D. llueve
Complete the sentence: ______ sin parar en invierno — "It rains without stopping in winter" (present) A. llueve B. llovió C. llovía D. lloverá
What is the gerund of llover? A. lluevo B. lloví C. lloviendo D. llovido
Answer key
- llueves — The tú form in the present is llueves.
- llueve — The present form is llueve.
- llueve — The present form is llueve.
- llovemos — The nosotros form in the present is llovemos.
- Llueve a cántaros en la ciudad — Llueve a cántaros en la ciudad is correct: the verb agrees with its subject and the tense is the present.
- llueve — The present form is llueve.
- llueve — The present form is llueve.
- lloviendo — The gerund is lloviendo. It is the form you use with estar for the progressive, and it is not the past participle llovido.
Frequently asked questions
Is llover regular in the present tense?
No — in the present the stem changes: The stem vowel changes in the stressed forms of the present: lluevo, llueves, llueve and llueven — but nosotros and vosotros keep the plain stem: llovemos, llovéis. The nosotros and vosotros forms keep the plain stem.
What is the gerund and the past participle of llover?
The gerund is lloviendo and the past participle is llovido. Use the gerund with estar for the progressive, and the participle with haber for the perfect tenses.
How do you say "I rain" in the present tense?
Say lluevo. For example: Llueve mucho en abril — "It rains a lot in April".
What is the difference between the present and the preterite of llover?
The present describes a habit or what happens now: Llueve mucho en abril — "It rains a lot in April". The preterite reports one finished occasion: Ayer, llovió mucho en abril — "Yesterday, It rained a lot in April". Use the present when the action repeats or is still true, and the preterite when you are telling what happened once.
Related links
- Full conjugation of llover — every tense and mood, with the complete tables.
- llover 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.