Olvidarse Conjugation in Spanish

The Spanish verb olvidarse means to forget, 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 olvid 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 olvido todos los días», which means «I forget 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: olvidarse
  • English: to forget
  • Verb type: regular -ar verb, reflexive
  • Ending: -ar
  • Gerund: olvidando
  • Past participle: olvidado
  • Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + olvidado)
  • 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 olvidarse, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

olvidarse is reflexive: Me olvido todos los días; te olvidas 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 olvidarse. 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: olvidando · Past participle: olvidado

Present Indicative

Person Pronoun Form
yo me olvido
tú te olvidas
él/ella/Ud. se olvida
nosotros/as nos olvidamos
vosotros/as os olvidáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se olvidan

The present is the tense you will use most with olvidarse. It covers daily routines, permanent facts and actions in progress. Learn the yo form olvido first, then the tú and él forms, which are the ones that change the stem in stem-changing verbs.

Preterite

Person Pronoun Form
yo me olvidé
tú te olvidaste
él/ella/Ud. se olvidó
nosotros/as nos olvidamos
vosotros/as os olvidasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se olvidaron

The preterite of olvidarse reports what happened. «Ayer yo olvidé por la tarde» places the action firmly in finished time. It is the tense of stories and reports, not of background description.

Imperfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me olvidaba
tú te olvidabas
él/ella/Ud. se olvidaba
nosotros/as nos olvidábamos
vosotros/as os olvidabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se olvidaban

The imperfect of olvidarse paints the background of a past scene: repeated actions, states and descriptions. «Antes, yo olvidaba todos los días» is the pattern. Pair it with the preterite when one event interrupts another.

Future

Person Pronoun Form
yo me olvidaré
tú te olvidarás
él/ella/Ud. se olvidará
nosotros/as nos olvidaremos
vosotros/as os olvidaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se olvidarán

The future of olvidarse looks forward: what will happen tomorrow, next week or next year. «Mañana yo olvidaré sin falta» is the pattern. Remember that the future can also express probability about the present in Spanish.

Conditional

Person Pronoun Form
yo me olvidaría
tú te olvidarías
él/ella/Ud. se olvidaría
nosotros/as nos olvidaríamos
vosotros/as os olvidaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se olvidarían

The conditional of olvidarse is the tense of «would»: what you would do, what would happen, what you would like. «Si pudiera, yo olvidaría sin dudarlo» shows the pattern. It is built on the infinitive, just like the future.

Present Perfect

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

The present perfect of olvidarse says «have done»: the action is finished but its result still matters now. «Hoy yo he olvidado dos veces» is the pattern. Learn the participle olvidado well — every perfect tense depends on it.

Pluperfect

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

The pluperfect of olvidarse steps one event further back than the preterite. «Antes de salir, yo había olvidado» is the pattern: first this happened, then the story moved on. It is haber in the imperfect plus olvidado.

Future Perfect

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

The future perfect of olvidarse combines the future of haber with olvidado. «Para el viernes, yo habré olvidado ya» is the pattern. Use it when the completion matters more than the action itself.

Conditional Perfect

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

The conditional perfect of olvidarse is the tense of «would have done». «Yo habría olvidado si hubiera podido» is the pattern. It is built from haber in the conditional plus olvidado.

Present Subjunctive

Person Pronoun Form
yo me olvide
tú te olvides
él/ella/Ud. se olvide
nosotros/as nos olvidemos
vosotros/as os olvidéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se olviden

The present subjunctive of olvidarse is the mood of what is wished, doubted or demanded rather than stated as fact. «Espero que tú olvides» is the pattern. If the trigger is in the past, switch to the imperfect subjunctive instead.

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra forms)

Person Pronoun Form
yo me olvidara
tú te olvidaras
él/ella/Ud. se olvidara
nosotros/as nos olvidáramos
vosotros/as os olvidarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se olvidaran

The imperfect subjunctive of olvidarse handles the hypothetical past and the polite conditional. «Ojalá yo olvidara más a menudo» is the pattern. The -ra forms in the table are the standard ones; the -se forms use the same stem with -se endings.

Imperative — Affirmative

Person Pronoun Form
tú te olvida
él/ella/Ud. se olvide
nosotros/as nos olvidemos
vosotros/as os olvidad
ellos/ellas/Uds. se olviden

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.

The affirmative imperative of olvidarse is for orders and instructions. «¡olvida, por favor!» is the pattern. Remember there is no yo form in the imperative, and the nosotros form doubles as a suggestion: «¡olvidemos!» means «let's do it».

Imperative — Negative

Person Pronoun Form
tú te olvides
él/ella/Ud. se olvide
nosotros/as nos olvidemos
vosotros/as os olvidéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se olviden

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.

The negative imperative of olvidarse is built on the present subjunctive: «¡No olvides!». Learn it as a set with the subjunctive table above, and never follow no with the affirmative command form.

Example sentences

  1. Me olvido todos los días. — I forget every day.
  2. Ayer me olvidé por la tarde. — Yesterday I forgot in the afternoon.
  3. Antes, me olvidaba todos los días. — In the past, I used to forget every day.
  4. Mañana me olvidaré sin falta. — Tomorrow I will forget without fail.
  5. Si tuviera más tiempo, me olvidaría ahora mismo. — If I had more time, I would forget right now.
  6. Hoy me he olvidado dos veces. — Today I have forgot twice.
  7. Espero que te olvides pronto. — I hope You forget soon.
  8. Si me olvidara, todo sería distinto. — If I forgot, everything would be different.
  9. Ahora mismo me estoy olvidando. — Right now I am forgetting.
  10. ¡No te olvides! — Don't forget!

Common mistakes

1. Forgetting the reflexive pronoun

Wrong: yo olvido todos los días.

Right: me olvido todos los días.

olvidarse 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 olvidaba.

Right: Ayer me olvidé.

Yesterday's finished action needs the preterite, olvidé. The imperfect olvidaba 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 olvidas.

Right: Espero que te olvides.

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

4. Using the affirmative imperative after no

Wrong: No te olvida.

Right: No te olvides.

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

5. Confusing the gerund with the past participle

Wrong: He olvidando.

Right: He olvidado.

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

Quiz

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

1. What is the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of olvidarse in the present indicative?

- (a) olvidan
- (b) olvida
- (c) olvido
- (d) olvidas

2. What is the yo form of olvidarse in the preterite?

- (a) olvidó
- (b) olvidamos
- (c) olvidaste
- (d) olvidé

3. What is the tú form of olvidarse in the imperfect?

- (a) olvidabas
- (b) olvidábamos
- (c) olvidaba
- (d) olvidaba

4. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of olvidarse in the future?

- (a) olvidará
- (b) olvidaré
- (c) olvidaremos
- (d) olvidarás

5. What is the nosotros/as form of olvidarse in the conditional?

- (a) olvidaría
- (b) olvidaríamos
- (c) olvidaría
- (d) olvidarías

6. What is the vosotros/as form of olvidarse in the present perfect?

- (a) he olvidado
- (b) ha olvidado
- (c) habéis olvidado
- (d) has olvidado

7. What is the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of olvidarse in the present subjunctive?

- (a) olvides
- (b) olviden
- (c) olvide
- (d) olvide

8. What is the yo form of olvidarse in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms)?

- (a) olvidara
- (b) olvidaras
- (c) olvidara
- (d) olvidáramos

9. What is the gerund of olvidarse?

- (a) olvidando
- (b) olvido
- (c) olvidado
- (d) olvidarse

10. What is the past participle of olvidarse?

- (a) olvidé
- (b) olvidado
- (c) olvidando
- (d) olvidarse

Answer key

1. (a) — In the present indicative, the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of olvidarse is olvidan. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 2. (d) — In the preterite, the yo form of olvidarse is olvidé. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 3. (a) — In the imperfect, the tú form of olvidarse is olvidabas. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 4. (a) — In the future, the él/ella/Ud. form of olvidarse is olvidará. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 5. (b) — In the conditional, the nosotros/as form of olvidarse is olvidaríamos. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 6. (c) — In the present perfect, the vosotros/as form of olvidarse is habéis olvidado. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 7. (b) — In the present subjunctive, the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of olvidarse is olviden. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 8. (a) — In the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms), the yo form of olvidarse is olvidara. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 9. (a) — The gerund of olvidarse is olvidando. It is used with estar for the progressive: «Estoy olvidando». 10. (b) — The past participle of olvidarse is olvidado. It follows haber in all the perfect tenses: «he olvidado».

Frequently asked questions

Is olvidarse regular or irregular?

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

What are the gerund and past participle of olvidarse?

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

How do I say «I forget» in Spanish?

Say «Me olvido 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 olvidarse?

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

When do I use the subjunctive with olvidarse?

Use the subjunctive after wishes, doubts, emotions and impersonal expressions — for example «Espero que tú olvides». 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 olvidarse mean?

The -se marks olvidarse 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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