Ocultarse Conjugation in Spanish

The Spanish verb ocultarse means to hide oneself, and it is a verb you will use again and again once you know it. It is a regular -ar verb, reflexive verb: the stem is ocult and the endings follow the -ar pattern, with the exceptions noted in the tables below. This page gives you the complete picture — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle, all from the verified conjugation tables. For example, in the present tense you say «Me oculto todos los días», which means «I hide myself every day». Work through the tables below, read the notes for each tense, and then test yourself with the examples, the common mistakes and the quiz at the end of the page.

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: ocultarse
  • English: to hide oneself
  • Verb type: regular -ar verb, reflexive
  • Ending: -ar
  • Gerund: ocultando
  • Past participle: ocultado
  • Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + ocultado)
  • Reflexive pronouns: me, te, se, nos, os, se — one before every conjugated form, matching the person.

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

ocultarse is reflexive: Me oculto todos los días; te ocultas todos los días. Without the pronoun, the verb means doing the action to someone else rather than to yourself, so keep the pronoun with the form.

Full conjugation tables

Every form below comes from the verified conjugation tables for ocultarse. The imperfect subjunctive is shown in its -ra forms; the -se forms use the same stem. For reflexive verbs, the pronoun column shows the reflexive pronoun that goes before each form.

Gerund: ocultando · Past participle: ocultado

Present Indicative

Person Pronoun Form
yo me oculto
tú te ocultas
él/ella/Ud. se oculta
nosotros/as nos ocultamos
vosotros/as os ocultáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se ocultan

Use the present of ocultarse for things that happen regularly and for things that are true in general. The yo form oculto is the anchor of the table: the other persons follow the regular -ar endings from it. When you talk about yourself right now, this is the form you need.

Preterite

Person Pronoun Form
yo me oculté
tú te ocultaste
él/ella/Ud. se ocultó
nosotros/as nos ocultamos
vosotros/as os ocultasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se ocultaron

Use the preterite of ocultarse for a single finished event: something that happened once and is over. The yo form is oculté. If you can put a finished time expression with it — ayer, la semana pasada, anoche — the preterite is usually right.

Imperfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me ocultaba
tú te ocultabas
él/ella/Ud. se ocultaba
nosotros/as nos ocultábamos
vosotros/as os ocultabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se ocultaban

Use the imperfect of ocultarse for what used to happen and for what was going on when something else happened. The yo form is ocultaba. If the action has no clear beginning or end in the story, the imperfect is the right choice.

Future

Person Pronoun Form
yo me ocultaré
tú te ocultarás
él/ella/Ud. se ocultará
nosotros/as nos ocultaremos
vosotros/as os ocultaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se ocultarán

Use the future of ocultarse for plans, promises and predictions. The yo form is ocultaré, built on the infinitive plus the future endings. For a firm plan, the future sounds more formal than ir a + infinitive; for a casual plan, either works.

Conditional

Person Pronoun Form
yo me ocultaría
tú te ocultarías
él/ella/Ud. se ocultaría
nosotros/as nos ocultaríamos
vosotros/as os ocultaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se ocultarían

Use the conditional of ocultarse for hypothetical situations and for softening requests. The yo form is ocultaría. It appears after si-clauses with the imperfect subjunctive and on its own for polite suggestions.

Present Perfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me he ocultado
tú te has ocultado
él/ella/Ud. se ha ocultado
nosotros/as nos hemos ocultado
vosotros/as os habéis ocultado
ellos/ellas/Uds. se han ocultado

Use the present perfect of ocultarse for recent events with present relevance. The yo form is he ocultado — haber in the present plus ocultado. Time expressions like hoy, esta semana and últimamente are its natural partners.

Pluperfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me había ocultado
tú te habías ocultado
él/ella/Ud. se había ocultado
nosotros/as nos habíamos ocultado
vosotros/as os habíais ocultado
ellos/ellas/Uds. se habían ocultado

Use the pluperfect of ocultarse when you need two layers of past: one event already finished before another past event began. The yo form is había ocultado. It is the tense of «had already done».

Future Perfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me habré ocultado
tú te habrás ocultado
él/ella/Ud. se habrá ocultado
nosotros/as nos habremos ocultado
vosotros/as os habréis ocultado
ellos/ellas/Uds. se habrán ocultado

Use the future perfect of ocultarse to say that something will be finished by a future moment. The yo form is habré ocultado. It pairs naturally with deadlines: para mañana, para el viernes, para entonces.

Conditional Perfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me habría ocultado
tú te habrías ocultado
él/ella/Ud. se habría ocultado
nosotros/as nos habríamos ocultado
vosotros/as os habríais ocultado
ellos/ellas/Uds. se habrían ocultado

Use the conditional perfect of ocultarse for the past that did not happen: what would have been done with more time or a different choice. The yo form is habría ocultado. It follows si-clauses with the pluperfect subjunctive.

Present Subjunctive

Person Pronoun Form
yo me oculte
tú te ocultes
él/ella/Ud. se oculte
nosotros/as nos ocultemos
vosotros/as os ocultéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se oculten

Use the present subjunctive of ocultarse when the main clause expresses a wish, a doubt, an emotion or an impersonal judgement. The yo form is oculte. After espero que, ojalá que and no creo que, the subjunctive is required, not optional.

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra forms)

Person Pronoun Form
yo me ocultara
tú te ocultaras
él/ella/Ud. se ocultara
nosotros/as nos ocultáramos
vosotros/as os ocultarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se ocultaran

Use the imperfect subjunctive of ocultarse after past-tense wishes and doubts, and in si-clauses that set up a hypothetical present. The yo form is ocultara. It is built on the third-person plural preterite stem, which is why it looks different from the present subjunctive.

Imperative — Affirmative

Person Pronoun Form
tú te oculta
él/ella/Ud. se oculte
nosotros/as nos ocultemos
vosotros/as os ocultad
ellos/ellas/Uds. se oculten

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

In real speech the reflexive pronoun attaches to the end of an affirmative command; the table shows the pronoun and the form separately so you can see both parts.

Use the affirmative imperative of ocultarse to tell someone to do something: instructions, invitations and requests. The tú form is oculta. For a polite command, use the usted form oculte instead of the tú form.

Imperative — Negative

Person Pronoun Form
tú te ocultes
él/ella/Ud. se oculte
nosotros/as nos ocultemos
vosotros/as os ocultéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se oculten

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

In real speech the reflexive pronoun attaches to the end of an affirmative command; the table shows the pronoun and the form separately so you can see both parts.

Use the negative imperative of ocultarse to forbid or to warn: «¡No ocultes!». The tú form is ocultes, taken from the present subjunctive. The word no always comes first, and the form never changes for emphasis.

Example sentences

  1. Me oculto todos los días. — I hide myself every day.
  2. Ayer me oculté por la tarde. — Yesterday I hid myself in the afternoon.
  3. Antes, me ocultaba todos los días. — In the past, I used to hide myself every day.
  4. Mañana me ocultaré sin falta. — Tomorrow I will hide myself without fail.
  5. Si tuviera más tiempo, me ocultaría ahora mismo. — If I had more time, I would hide myself right now.
  6. Hoy me he ocultado dos veces. — Today I have hid myself twice.
  7. Espero que te ocultes pronto. — I hope You hide yourself soon.
  8. Si me ocultara, todo sería distinto. — If I hid myself, everything would be different.
  9. Ahora mismo me estoy ocultando. — Right now I am hiding myself.
  10. ¡No te ocultes! — Don't hide yourself!

Common mistakes

1. Forgetting the reflexive pronoun

Wrong: yo oculto todos los días.

Right: me oculto todos los días.

ocultarse is reflexive: the pronoun me belongs before every conjugated form. Without it, you are using the non-reflexive verb, which means something different — doing the action to someone else instead of to yourself.

2. Using the imperfect for a finished event

Wrong: Ayer me ocultaba.

Right: Ayer me oculté.

Yesterday's finished action needs the preterite, oculté. The imperfect ocultaba describes what used to happen or what was going on, not a single completed event.

3. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

Wrong: Espero que te ocultas.

Right: Espero que te ocultes.

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

4. Using the affirmative imperative after no

Wrong: No te oculta.

Right: No te ocultes.

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

5. Confusing the gerund with the past participle

Wrong: He ocultando.

Right: He ocultado.

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

Quiz

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

1. What is the tú form of ocultarse in the present indicative?

- (a) oculta
- (b) ocultamos
- (c) ocultas
- (d) oculto

2. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of ocultarse in the preterite?

- (a) ocultaste
- (b) oculté
- (c) ocultamos
- (d) ocultó

3. What is the nosotros/as form of ocultarse in the imperfect?

- (a) ocultábamos
- (b) ocultabas
- (c) ocultaba
- (d) ocultaba

4. What is the vosotros/as form of ocultarse in the future?

- (a) ocultaré
- (b) ocultaréis
- (c) ocultarás
- (d) ocultará

5. What is the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of ocultarse in the conditional?

- (a) ocultarías
- (b) ocultarían
- (c) ocultaría
- (d) ocultaría

6. What is the yo form of ocultarse in the present perfect?

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

7. What is the tú form of ocultarse in the present subjunctive?

- (a) oculte
- (b) oculte
- (c) ocultes
- (d) ocultemos

8. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of ocultarse in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms)?

- (a) ocultara
- (b) ocultara
- (c) ocultaras
- (d) ocultáramos

9. What is the gerund of ocultarse?

- (a) ocultado
- (b) oculto
- (c) ocultarse
- (d) ocultando

10. What is the past participle of ocultarse?

- (a) oculté
- (b) ocultarse
- (c) ocultado
- (d) ocultando

Answer key

1. (c) — In the present indicative, the tú form of ocultarse is ocultas. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 2. (d) — In the preterite, the él/ella/Ud. form of ocultarse is ocultó. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 3. (a) — In the imperfect, the nosotros/as form of ocultarse is ocultábamos. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 4. (b) — In the future, the vosotros/as form of ocultarse is ocultaréis. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 5. (b) — In the conditional, the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of ocultarse is ocultarían. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 6. (d) — In the present perfect, the yo form of ocultarse is he ocultado. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 7. (c) — In the present subjunctive, the tú form of ocultarse is ocultes. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 8. (a) — In the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms), the él/ella/Ud. form of ocultarse is ocultara. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 9. (d) — The gerund of ocultarse is ocultando. It is used with estar for the progressive: «Estoy ocultando». 10. (c) — The past participle of ocultarse is ocultado. It follows haber in all the perfect tenses: «he ocultado».

Frequently asked questions

Is ocultarse regular or irregular?

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

What are the gerund and past participle of ocultarse?

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

How do I say «I hide myself» in Spanish?

Say «Me oculto 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 ocultarse?

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

When do I use the subjunctive with ocultarse?

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

What does the -se in ocultarse mean?

The -se marks ocultarse as reflexive: the action comes back to the subject. You always pair the form with its pronoun — me, te, se, nos, os, se — placed before the conjugated verb. Dropping the pronoun changes the meaning, so treat the pronoun as part of the verb.

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