Recomendar Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish

The present tense of recomendar — "to recommend" 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 recomendar 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. Recomendar means to recommend, and it is used for recommending a restaurant, a book, a hotel and a film. It is a stem-changing verb, e to ie, and it usually takes que plus the subjunctive for recommendations about actions: recomiendo que vayas. To see it in a real sentence: Él recomienda el restaurante a sus amigos. — "He/she recommends the restaurant to his friends." Work through the table below, then the formation notes, the usage rules and the contrast with the preterite, and test yourself at the end.

Present tense conjugation table: recomendar

Every person of recomendar in the present tense. The gerund is recomendando and the past participle is recomendado.

Present indicative

Person Form
yo recomiendo
tú recomiendas
él/ella/Ud. recomienda
nosotros/as recomendamos
vosotros/as recomendáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. recomiendan

How the present indicative of recomendar is formed

The present indicative of recomendar is built from the stem recomend- plus the present endings for -ar verbs. Take the infinitive, drop the -ar 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 recomiendo
tú -as recomiendas
él/ella/Ud. -a recomienda
nosotros/as -amos recomendamos
vosotros/as -áis recomendáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. -an recomiendan

recomendar is a stem-changing verb (e → ie), so the stem changes in the singular and third-person plural forms of the present, while nosotros and vosotros keep the original stem. In this tense the first-person form is recomiendo, and the nosotros form is recomendamos.

The gerund of recomendar is recomendando and the past participle is recomendado. Both are regular for this verb, and the participle is the form you need for all the perfect tenses with haber.

This tense is irregular for recomendar, so the forms in the table above are the ones to learn — do not try to derive them from the regular endings. recomendar is a stem-changing verb (e → ie), so the stem changes in the present singular and third-person plural forms, while nosotros and vosotros keep the original stem.

When to use the present tense of recomendar

The present tense is not one single use — it covers several situations, and recomendar 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 tense describes things you do regularly. If you do it every day, every week or every morning, the present is the tense to use. For recomendar, this use looks like this: "Yo recomiendo el restaurante a sus amigos." — "I recommend the restaurant to his friends." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

General facts

The present tense states facts that are generally true, not tied to one moment. It is the tense for definitions and permanent situations. For recomendar, this use looks like this: "Él recomienda un buen libro a la clase." — "He/she recommends a good book to the class." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

What is happening now

The present tense also covers what is happening at this moment, especially with verbs that describe an action in progress. For recomendar, this use looks like this: "Nosotros recomendamos este hotel a los viajeros." — "We recommend this hotel to travellers." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

Timetables and schedules

The present tense is used for fixed plans and timetables, such as trains, classes and opening times, even when they refer to the future. For recomendar, this use looks like this: "Ellos recomiendan la película a todo el mundo." — "They recommend the film to everyone." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

Instructions and requests

The present tense appears in instructions and polite requests, where it sounds softer than a direct command. For recomendar, this use looks like this: "Tú recomiendas el restaurante a sus amigos." — "You recommend the restaurant to his friends." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

The present tense vs the preterite

Learners often mix up the present and the preterite with recomendar. The rule is simple: the present is for habits, facts and what is happening now, while the preterite is for one finished action in the past. The three pairs below show the same idea in both tenses, so you can feel the difference.

Pair 1: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Yo recomiendo el restaurante a sus amigos." — "I recommend the restaurant to his friends."
  • Preterite: "Yo recomendé el restaurante a sus amigos." — "I recommended the restaurant to his friends." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Pair 2: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Él recomienda un buen libro a la clase." — "He/she recommends a good book to the class."
  • Preterite: "Él recomendó un buen libro a la clase." — "He/she recommended a good book to the class." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Pair 3: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Nosotros recomendamos este hotel a los viajeros." — "We recommend this hotel to travellers."
  • Preterite: "Nosotros recomendamos este hotel a los viajeros." — "We recommended this hotel to travellers." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Example sentences in the present tense

Eight natural sentences with recomendar in the present tense only. Each one uses a form from the table above.

  1. Yo recomiendo el restaurante a sus amigos. — I recommend the restaurant to his friends.
  2. Tú recomiendas un buen libro a la clase. — You recommend a good book to the class.
  3. Él recomienda este hotel a los viajeros. — He/she recommends this hotel to travellers.
  4. Nosotros recomendamos la película a todo el mundo. — We recommend the film to everyone.
  5. Vosotros recomendáis el restaurante a sus amigos. — You all recommend the restaurant to his friends.
  6. Ellos recomiendan un buen libro a la clase. — They recommend a good book to the class.
  7. Yo recomiendo este hotel a los viajeros. — I recommend this hotel to travellers.
  8. Él recomienda la película a todo el mundo. — He/she recommends the film to everyone.

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Yo recomendo un buen libro a la clase. — Right: Yo recomiendo un buen libro a la clase. — In the present, the correct first-person form is recomiendo, not recomendo. recomendar is a stem-changing verb (e → ie), so the stem changes in the present singular and third-person plural forms, while nosotros and vosotros keep the original stem.
  2. Wrong: Ayer, yo recomiendo este hotel a los viajeros. — Right: Ayer, yo recomendé este hotel a los viajeros. — Ayer means yesterday, so it needs the preterite (recomendé), not the present (recomiendo). The present is for now, not for yesterday.
  3. Wrong: Yo recomienda el restaurante a sus amigos. — Right: Yo recomiendo el restaurante a sus amigos. — The person matters: recomienda is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is recomiendo.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy recomendado un buen libro a la clase. — Right: Yo he recomendado un buen libro a la clase. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he recomendado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.

Quiz: test yourself

Eight questions on the present tense of recomendar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.

  1. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ el restaurante a sus amigos. (present tense) A. recomiendo B. recomiendas C. recomienda D. recomendamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ un buen libro a la clase. (present tense) A. recomiendas B. recomiendo C. recomienda D. recomendamos

  3. Complete the sentence: Él ___ este hotel a los viajeros. (present tense) A. recomienda B. recomiendo C. recomiendas D. recomendamos

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ la película a todo el mundo. (present tense) A. recomendamos B. recomiendo C. recomiendas D. recomienda

  5. Complete the sentence: Vosotros ___ el restaurante a sus amigos. (present tense) A. recomendáis B. recomiendo C. recomiendas D. recomienda

  6. Complete the sentence: Ellos ___ un buen libro a la clase. (present tense) A. recomiendan B. recomiendo C. recomiendas D. recomienda

  7. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ este hotel a los viajeros. (present tense) A. recomiendo B. recomiendas C. recomienda D. recomendamos

  8. Complete the sentence: Él ___ la película a todo el mundo. (present tense) A. recomienda B. recomiendo C. recomiendas D. recomendamos

Answer key

  1. recomiendo — The yo present form of recomendar is recomiendo. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  2. recomiendas — The tu present form of recomendar is recomiendas. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  3. recomienda — The el present form of recomendar is recomienda. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  4. recomendamos — The nosotros present form of recomendar is recomendamos. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  5. recomendáis — The vosotros present form of recomendar is recomendáis. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  6. recomiendan — The ellos present form of recomendar is recomiendan. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  7. recomiendo — The yo present form of recomendar is recomiendo. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  8. recomienda — The el present form of recomendar is recomienda. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.

Frequently asked questions

When do I use the present tense of recomendar?

Use the present tense of recomendar for habits, facts and what is happening now. For example: Yo recomiendo el restaurante a sus amigos. — "I recommend the restaurant to his friends." The usage rules above give five situations with examples.

How is the present tense of recomendar formed?

Take the stem recomend- and add the present endings for -ar verbs. The full table is at the top of this page. Remember the stem change: the singular and third-person plural forms change the stem vowel.

What is the difference between the present and the preterite of recomendar?

The present describes a habit or a present fact, while the preterite describes a finished action. Compare Yo recomiendo un buen libro a la clase. with Yo recomendé un buen libro a la clase. — the verb is the same, but the time meaning changes.

How do I practise the present tense of recomendar?

Drill the six forms in the table above until you can say them without looking, then use the recomendar examples and quiz page for more sentences, and test yourself with the Recomendar conjugation page for the full picture across all tenses.

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