Perder Conjugation in Spanish
perder means “lose” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Spanish learners meet — it sits at number 44 in VerbFlow’s frequency list. You use it for losing keys, for missing the train, and for wasting time. 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 perder — 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 pierdo las llaves todos los días.” — “I lose the keys every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: perder
- English: to lose
- Verb type: Irregular — stem-changing (e → ie)
- Irregular in: present, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative
- Gerund: perdiendo
- Past participle: perdido
- 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 perder. 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 | pierdo |
| tú | pierdes |
| él/ella/Ud. | pierde |
| nosotros/as | perdemos |
| vosotros/as | perdéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | pierden |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | perdí |
| tú | perdiste |
| él/ella/Ud. | perdió |
| nosotros/as | perdimos |
| vosotros/as | perdisteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | perdieron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | perdía |
| tú | perdías |
| él/ella/Ud. | perdía |
| nosotros/as | perdíamos |
| vosotros/as | perdíais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | perdían |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | perderé |
| tú | perderás |
| él/ella/Ud. | perderá |
| nosotros/as | perderemos |
| vosotros/as | perderéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | perderán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | perdería |
| tú | perderías |
| él/ella/Ud. | perdería |
| nosotros/as | perderíamos |
| vosotros/as | perderíais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | perderían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he perdido |
| tú | has perdido |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha perdido |
| nosotros/as | hemos perdido |
| vosotros/as | habéis perdido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han perdido |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había perdido |
| tú | habías perdido |
| él/ella/Ud. | había perdido |
| nosotros/as | habíamos perdido |
| vosotros/as | habíais perdido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían perdido |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré perdido |
| tú | habrás perdido |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá perdido |
| nosotros/as | habremos perdido |
| vosotros/as | habréis perdido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán perdido |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría perdido |
| tú | habrías perdido |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría perdido |
| nosotros/as | habríamos perdido |
| vosotros/as | habríais perdido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían perdido |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | pierda |
| tú | pierdas |
| él/ella/Ud. | pierda |
| nosotros/as | perdamos |
| vosotros/as | perdáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | pierdan |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | perdiera |
| tú | perdieras |
| él/ella/Ud. | perdiera |
| nosotros/as | perdiéramos |
| vosotros/as | perdierais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | perdieran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | pierde |
| él/ella/Ud. | pierda |
| nosotros/as | perdamos |
| vosotros/as | perded |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | pierdan |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | pierdas |
| él/ella/Ud. | pierda |
| nosotros/as | perdamos |
| vosotros/as | perdáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | pierdan |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Gerund | perdiendo |
| Past participle | perdido |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With perder this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Yo pierdo las llaves todos los días.” — “I lose the keys every day.”
Preterite
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past. For example: “Tú perdiste el tren ayer.” — “You lost the train yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Él perdía tiempo en la televisión antes.” — “He used to lose time on television before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and probability. For example: “Yo perderé las llaves mañana.” — “I will lose the keys tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Tú perderías el tren algún día.” — “You would lose the train 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 perdido tiempo en la televisión esta semana.” — “He has lost time on television this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Yo había perdido las llaves antes de la fiesta.” — “I had lost the keys 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 perdido el tren para mañana.” — “You will have lost the train by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Él habría perdido tiempo en la televisión ayer.” — “He would have lost time on television yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. With perder this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Es importante que yo pierda las llaves.” — “It is important that i lose the keys.”
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 perdieras el tren.” — “I wish you lost the train.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. With perder this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “¡Pierde tiempo en la televisión!” — “Lose time on television!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. With perder this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “No pierdas las llaves.” — “Do not lose the keys.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with perder, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Spanish and try to produce it from the English.
- “Yo pierdo las llaves todos los días.” — “I lose the keys every day.”
- “Tú perdiste el tren ayer.” — “You lost the train yesterday.”
- “Él perdía tiempo en la televisión antes.” — “He used to lose time on television before.”
- “Yo perderé el tren mañana.” — “I will lose the train tomorrow.”
- “Tú perderías las llaves algún día.” — “You would lose the keys someday.”
- “Él ha perdido tiempo en la televisión esta semana.” — “He has lost time on television this week.”
- “Yo había perdido las llaves antes de la fiesta.” — “I had lost the keys before the party.”
- “Tú habrás perdido el tren para mañana.” — “You will have lost the train by tomorrow.”
- “Es importante que él pierda tiempo en la televisión.” — “It is important that he lose time on television.”
- “¡Pierde las llaves!” — “Lose the keys!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Yo perder las llaves.”
✓ Right: “Yo pierdo las llaves.”
The infinitive perder never takes a subject. After yo you need the conjugated present form pierdo.
2. Confusing perder with olvidar
✗ Wrong: “Yo olvido las llaves.”
✓ Right: “Yo pierdo las llaves.”
Perder is to lose; olvidar is to forget — losing the keys is not the same as forgetting them.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary in perfect tenses
✗ Wrong: “Yo soy perdido las llaves.”
✓ Right: “Yo he perdido las llaves.”
Spanish perfect tenses are always built with haber, never with ser. The correct form is he + the participle perdido.
4. Dropping the written accent
✗ Wrong: “perdi”
✓ Right: “perdí”
The accent on perdí is part of the spelling in the preterite. Without it the form looks like a different word, so always write the accent.
5. Forgetting the e → ie stem change
✗ Wrong: “Yo perdo las llaves.”
✓ Right: “Yo pierdo las llaves.”
perder changes its stem vowel in the present tense (e → ie), so the yo form is pierdo, not the unchanged stem.
6. Using the preterite for a habitual past action
✗ Wrong: “Yo perdí las llaves antes.” (said of a repeated habit)
✓ Right: “Yo perdía las llaves antes.”
The preterite perdí describes one finished action. For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect perdía.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on perder. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the yo form of perder in the Present indicative?
- A) pierdes
- B) pierde
- C) perdemos
- D) pierdo
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of perder in the Preterite?
- A) perdiste
- B) perdimos
- C) perdió
- D) perdí
What is the nosotros/as form of perder in the Imperfect?
- A) perdíais
- B) perdíamos
- C) perdía
- D) perdías
What is the tú form of perder in the Future?
- A) perderás
- B) perderé
- C) perderá
- D) perderemos
What is the yo form of perder in the Conditional?
- A) perderías
- B) perderíamos
- C) perderíais
- D) perdería
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of perder in the Present subjunctive?
- A) perdamos
- B) perdáis
- C) pierda
- D) pierdas
What is the yo form of perder in the Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)?
- A) perdierais
- B) perdiera
- C) perdieras
- D) perdiéramos
What is the gerund of perder?
- A) perdiendo
- B) escribiendo
- C) produciendo
- D) ocurriendo
What is the past participle of perder?
- A) escrito
- B) producido
- C) ocurrido
- D) perdido
What does perder mean in English?
- A) to produce
- B) to happen
- C) to lose
- D) to write
Answer key
- D) pierdo — the yo form of perder in the present indicative is pierdo. The other options (pierdes, pierde, perdemos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) perdió — the él/ella/Ud. form of perder in the preterite is perdió. The other options (perdí, perdiste, perdimos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) perdíamos — the nosotros/as form of perder in the imperfect is perdíamos. The other options (perdía, perdías, perdía) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) perderás — the tú form of perder in the future is perderás. The other options (perderé, perderá, perderemos) are the same tense for different persons.
- D) perdería — the yo form of perder in the conditional is perdería. The other options (perderías, perdería, perderíamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) pierda — the él/ella/Ud. form of perder in the present subjunctive is pierda. The other options (pierda, pierdas, perdamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) perdiera — the yo form of perder in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is perdiera. The other options (perdieras, perdiera, perdiéramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) perdiendo — the gerund of perder is perdiendo; it is used with estar for the progressive. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) perdido — the past participle of perder is perdido; perfect tenses use haber + perdido. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to lose — perder means “to lose” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does perder mean in English?
perder means “to lose”. You use it for losing keys, for missing the train, and for wasting time. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is perder regular or irregular?
perder is irregular — stem-changing (e → ie), and it is irregular in these tenses: present, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is perdiendo and the past participle is perdido.
What are the gerund and past participle of perder?
The gerund is perdiendo — use it with estar for actions in progress. The past participle is perdido — use it with haber for the perfect tenses, as in he perdido (I have lost).
What is the difference between perder and olvidar?
Perder is to lose; olvidar is to forget — losing the keys is not the same as forgetting them. If you are unsure, check the full table for olvidar and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I lose” in Spanish?
Say “Yo pierdo las llaves.” — “I lose the keys every day.” The yo form of the present is pierdo, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- perder in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in its most practised tense.
- perder examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Spanish irregular verbs — every common irregular Spanish verb, grouped by pattern.
- Escribir conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Producir conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Ocurrir 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 perder with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise perder with the interactive tool.
- Subjunctive Helper — practise perder with the interactive tool.