Mirar Conjugation in Spanish
mirar means “look” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Spanish learners meet — it sits at number 35 in VerbFlow’s frequency list. You use it for looking out of the window, for watching television, and for looking at a map. 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 mirar — 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 miro por la ventana todos los días.” — “I look out of the window every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: mirar
- English: to look
- Verb type: Regular -ar verb
- Irregular in: no tense — fully regular
- Gerund: mirando
- Past participle: mirado
- 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 mirar. 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 | miro |
| tú | miras |
| él/ella/Ud. | mira |
| nosotros/as | miramos |
| vosotros/as | miráis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | miran |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | miré |
| tú | miraste |
| él/ella/Ud. | miró |
| nosotros/as | miramos |
| vosotros/as | mirasteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | miraron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | miraba |
| tú | mirabas |
| él/ella/Ud. | miraba |
| nosotros/as | mirábamos |
| vosotros/as | mirabais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | miraban |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | miraré |
| tú | mirarás |
| él/ella/Ud. | mirará |
| nosotros/as | miraremos |
| vosotros/as | miraréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | mirarán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | miraría |
| tú | mirarías |
| él/ella/Ud. | miraría |
| nosotros/as | miraríamos |
| vosotros/as | miraríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | mirarían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he mirado |
| tú | has mirado |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha mirado |
| nosotros/as | hemos mirado |
| vosotros/as | habéis mirado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han mirado |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había mirado |
| tú | habías mirado |
| él/ella/Ud. | había mirado |
| nosotros/as | habíamos mirado |
| vosotros/as | habíais mirado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían mirado |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré mirado |
| tú | habrás mirado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá mirado |
| nosotros/as | habremos mirado |
| vosotros/as | habréis mirado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán mirado |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría mirado |
| tú | habrías mirado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría mirado |
| nosotros/as | habríamos mirado |
| vosotros/as | habríais mirado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían mirado |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | mire |
| tú | mires |
| él/ella/Ud. | mire |
| nosotros/as | miremos |
| vosotros/as | miréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | miren |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | mirara |
| tú | miraras |
| él/ella/Ud. | mirara |
| nosotros/as | miráramos |
| vosotros/as | mirarais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | miraran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | mira |
| él/ella/Ud. | mire |
| nosotros/as | miremos |
| vosotros/as | mirad |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | miren |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | mires |
| él/ella/Ud. | mire |
| nosotros/as | miremos |
| vosotros/as | miréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | miren |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Gerund | mirando |
| Past participle | mirado |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Yo miro por la ventana todos los días.” — “I look out of the window every day.”
Preterite
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past. For example: “Tú miraste la televisión ayer.” — “You looked television yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Él miraba el mapa antes.” — “He used to look the map before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and probability. For example: “Yo miraré por la ventana mañana.” — “I will look out of the window tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Tú mirarías la televisión algún día.” — “You would look television 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 mirado el mapa esta semana.” — “He has looked the map this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Yo había mirado por la ventana antes de la fiesta.” — “I had looked out of the window 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 mirado la televisión para mañana.” — “You will have looked television by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Él habría mirado el mapa ayer.” — “He would have looked the map yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Es importante que yo mire por la ventana.” — “It is important that i look out of the window.”
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 miraras la televisión.” — “I wish you looked television.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. The imperative of mirar gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “¡Mira el mapa!” — “Look the map!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. The imperative of mirar gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “No mires por la ventana.” — “Do not look out of the window.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with mirar, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Spanish and try to produce it from the English.
- “Yo miro por la ventana todos los días.” — “I look out of the window every day.”
- “Tú miraste la televisión ayer.” — “You looked television yesterday.”
- “Él miraba el mapa antes.” — “He used to look the map before.”
- “Yo miraré la televisión mañana.” — “I will look television tomorrow.”
- “Tú mirarías por la ventana algún día.” — “You would look out of the window someday.”
- “Él ha mirado el mapa esta semana.” — “He has looked the map this week.”
- “Yo había mirado por la ventana antes de la fiesta.” — “I had looked out of the window before the party.”
- “Tú habrás mirado la televisión para mañana.” — “You will have looked television by tomorrow.”
- “Es importante que él mire el mapa.” — “It is important that he look the map.”
- “¡Mira por la ventana!” — “Look out of the window!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Yo mirar por la ventana.”
✓ Right: “Yo miro por la ventana.”
The infinitive mirar never takes a subject. After yo you need the conjugated present form miro.
2. Confusing mirar with ver
✗ Wrong: “Yo veo por la ventana.”
✓ Right: “Yo miro por la ventana.”
Mirar is to look at something deliberately; ver is simply to see.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary in perfect tenses
✗ Wrong: “Yo soy mirado por la ventana.”
✓ Right: “Yo he mirado por la ventana.”
Spanish perfect tenses are always built with haber, never with ser. The correct form is he + the participle mirado.
4. Dropping the written accent
✗ Wrong: “mire”
✓ Right: “miré”
The accent on miré 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 miras por la ventana.”
✓ Right: “Ojalá tú mires por la ventana.”
After ojalá Spanish needs the subjunctive, so use mires here, not the indicative miras.
6. Using the preterite for a habitual past action
✗ Wrong: “Yo miré por la ventana antes.” (said of a repeated habit)
✓ Right: “Yo miraba por la ventana antes.”
The preterite miré describes one finished action. For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect miraba.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on mirar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the yo form of mirar in the Present indicative?
- A) miras
- B) mira
- C) miramos
- D) miro
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of mirar in the Preterite?
- A) miraste
- B) miramos
- C) miró
- D) miré
What is the nosotros/as form of mirar in the Imperfect?
- A) mirabais
- B) mirábamos
- C) miraba
- D) mirabas
What is the tú form of mirar in the Future?
- A) mirarás
- B) miraré
- C) mirará
- D) miraremos
What is the yo form of mirar in the Conditional?
- A) mirarías
- B) miraríamos
- C) miraríais
- D) miraría
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of mirar in the Present subjunctive?
- A) miremos
- B) miréis
- C) mire
- D) mires
What is the yo form of mirar in the Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)?
- A) mirarais
- B) mirara
- C) miraras
- D) miráramos
What is the gerund of mirar?
- A) mirando
- B) tratando
- C) contando
- D) empezando
What is the past participle of mirar?
- A) tratado
- B) contado
- C) empezado
- D) mirado
What does mirar mean in English?
- A) to tell
- B) to begin
- C) to look
- D) to try
Answer key
- D) miro — the yo form of mirar in the present indicative is miro. The other options (miras, mira, miramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) miró — the él/ella/Ud. form of mirar in the preterite is miró. The other options (miré, miraste, miramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) mirábamos — the nosotros/as form of mirar in the imperfect is mirábamos. The other options (miraba, mirabas, miraba) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) mirarás — the tú form of mirar in the future is mirarás. The other options (miraré, mirará, miraremos) are the same tense for different persons.
- D) miraría — the yo form of mirar in the conditional is miraría. The other options (mirarías, miraría, miraríamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) mire — the él/ella/Ud. form of mirar in the present subjunctive is mire. The other options (mire, mires, miremos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) mirara — the yo form of mirar in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is mirara. The other options (miraras, mirara, miráramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) mirando — the gerund of mirar is mirando; it is used with estar for the progressive. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) mirado — the past participle of mirar is mirado; perfect tenses use haber + mirado. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to look — mirar means “to look” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does mirar mean in English?
mirar means “to look”. You use it for looking out of the window, for watching television, and for looking at a map. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is mirar regular or irregular?
mirar is regular -ar verb, with no irregular tense — it follows the regular pattern throughout. The gerund is mirando and the past participle is mirado.
What are the gerund and past participle of mirar?
The gerund is mirando — use it with estar for actions in progress. The past participle is mirado — use it with haber for the perfect tenses, as in he mirado (I have looked).
What is the difference between mirar and ver?
Mirar is to look at something deliberately; ver is simply to see. If you are unsure, check the full table for ver and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I look” in Spanish?
Say “Yo miro por la ventana.” — “I look out of the window every day.” The yo form of the present is miro, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- mirar in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in its most practised tense.
- mirar examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Tratar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Contar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Empezar 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 mirar with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise mirar with the interactive tool.