Introduction

recomponer means “to repair, to put together again”, and it is one of the verbs you will use every day in Spanish. It is the verb for expressing “to repair, to put together again” in everyday Spanish — in conversation, at work, and at home. This page shows recomponer in real sentences, in short dialogues, and in the mistakes learners make most often, and it finishes with a ten-question quiz so you can test yourself. Every sentence below comes with its English translation, and every form is the correct form unless the sentence is clearly marked as past or future. For a first taste: “Yo recompongo la silla rota por la mañana.” — “I repair the broken chair.”

recomponer in real example sentences

The twelve sentences below are grouped by how recomponer is used. Read each one out loud, then read the translation. If a sentence feels useful, copy it into your own notebook with one small change — a different time, a different person, a different place — and you have a new sentence of your own.

In the present: everyday use

These sentences use {verb} in the present tense, which is how you will meet it most often: routines, facts, and things happening now.

  1. “Yo recompongo la silla rota cada día.” — “I repair the broken chair.”
  2. “Tú recompones la silla rota cada día.” — “you repair the broken chair.”
  3. “Él recompone la silla rota siempre.” — “He repairs the broken chair.”
  4. “Nosotros recomponemos la silla rota todos los días.” — “We repair the broken chair.”

Talking about the past

The present is not the only tense you need. These sentences show {verb} in the past, so you can talk about what already happened. 5. “Yo recompuse la silla rota ayer.” — “I repaired the broken chair.” (preterite) 6. “Él recompuso la silla rota ayer.” — “He repaired the broken chair.” (preterite) 7. “Yo recomponía la silla rota cuando era joven.” — “I used to repair the broken chair.” (imperfect)

Plans and things already done

These sentences look forward, or look back at something already finished. Notice how the verb form changes while the meaning of {verb} stays the same. 8. “Nosotros recompondremos la silla rota mañana.” — “We will repair the broken chair.” (future) 9. “Tú has recompuesto la silla rota hoy.” — “you have repaired the broken chair.” (present-perfect) 10. “Espero que yo recomponga la silla rota.” — “I hope that I repair the broken chair.” (present-subjunctive)

More everyday uses

Two more present-tense sentences, covering the remaining persons, so you can see the whole table in action. 11. “Vosotros recomponéis la silla rota cada semana.” — “You repair the broken chair.” 12. “Ellos recomponen la silla rota normalmente.” — “They repair the broken chair.”

recomponer in context

Single sentences teach you the forms. Dialogues teach you when to use them. Read the short conversation below, then the paragraph that follows, and notice how recomponer appears naturally, without anyone stopping to think about conjugation.

Dialogue at home in the evening

Ana: “¿Tú recompones la silla rota?” — Do you repair the broken chair?

Luis: “Sí, yo recompongo la silla rota cada día. Es parte de mi rutina.” — Yes, I repair the broken chair every day. It is part of my routine.

Ana: “¿Y ayer? ¿También recompones la silla rota?” — And yesterday? Did you repair the broken chair too?

Luis: “Sí, ayer yo recompuse la silla rota. Mañana nosotros recompondremos la silla rota otra vez.” — Yes, yesterday I repaired the broken chair. Tomorrow we will repair the broken chair again.

A short paragraph

Él recompone la silla rota cada día — that one sentence already tells you a lot about how recomponer works in real Spanish: who does it, when, and with what. Around it you can build a whole paragraph: what happened yesterday, what is happening now, and what will happen tomorrow, all with the same verb. When you write your own paragraph, start with the present — yo recompongo la silla rota — then add one past sentence and one future sentence, and you have practised three tenses with one verb. That is the fastest way to make recomponer yours: use it in a story, not only in a table.

Common mistakes

Using the unchanged stem

Learners often write recompono for the yo form, keeping the infinitive stem unchanged. The correct form is recompongo. Because recomponer changes its stem vowel, the change appears in the stressed syllables of the present: say the correct form out loud a few times — yo recompongo la silla rota — until the changed stem feels natural.

Guessing the past participle

A common error is writing recomponido as the past participle of recomponer. The correct participle is recompuesto. That matters in every perfect tense: it is he recompuesto, había recompuesto, habré recompuesto. Memorise the participle on its own and the perfect tenses take care of themselves.

Using ser instead of haber in perfect tenses

Spanish perfect tenses always use haber, never ser: yo he recompuesto la silla rota. English speakers sometimes reach for soy because English uses to be in some passives, but soy recompuesto is not the present perfect of recomponer — it is a passive construction with a different meaning.

Confusing recomponer with recuperar

recomponer and recuperar look similar, and learners mix them up. They are different verbs with different meanings, so check which one the sentence needs before you conjugate. If you can substitute the English meaning of recomponer — repair — the sentence needs recomponer; if it needs the meaning of recuperar, use that verb instead.

Using the indicative after "espero que"

After espero que (I hope that), Spanish needs the subjunctive: Espero que yo recomponga la silla rota. Using the indicative — Espero que yo recompongo — is one of the most frequent learner errors with recomponer. Whenever the main clause expresses a wish, doubt or emotion, switch to the subjunctive.

Quiz

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

1. What is the yo form of recomponer in the present?

  • A. recompones
  • B. recompone
  • C. recomponemos
  • D. recompongo

2. What is the tu form of recomponer in the preterite?

  • A. recompusimos
  • B. recompusiste
  • C. recompuse
  • D. recompuso

3. What is the el form of recomponer in the imperfect?

  • A. recomponías
  • B. recomponíamos
  • C. recomponíais
  • D. recomponía

4. What is the nosotros form of recomponer in the future?

  • A. recompondrá
  • B. recompondremos
  • C. recompondré
  • D. recompondrás

5. What is the vosotros form of recomponer in the present perfect?

  • A. he recompuesto
  • B. has recompuesto
  • C. ha recompuesto
  • D. habéis recompuesto

6. What is the ellos form of recomponer in the present subjunctive?

  • A. recomponga
  • B. recompongan
  • C. recomponga
  • D. recompongas

7. What is the yo form of recomponer in the preterite?

  • A. recompusiste
  • B. recompuso
  • C. recompusimos
  • D. recompuse

8. What is the tu form of recomponer in the imperfect?

  • A. recomponíamos
  • B. recomponías
  • C. recomponía
  • D. recomponía

9. What is the el form of recomponer in the future?

  • A. recompondré
  • B. recompondrás
  • C. recompondremos
  • D. recompondrá

10. What is the nosotros form of recomponer in the conditional?

  • A. recompondría
  • B. recompondríamos
  • C. recompondría
  • D. recompondrías

Answer key

  1. recompongo — The present table gives yo = recompongo.
  2. recompusiste — The preterite table gives tu = recompusiste.
  3. recomponía — The imperfect table gives el = recomponía.
  4. recompondremos — The future table gives nosotros = recompondremos.
  5. habéis recompuesto — The present perfect table gives vosotros = habéis recompuesto.
  6. recompongan — The present subjunctive table gives ellos = recompongan.
  7. recompuse — The preterite table gives yo = recompuse.
  8. recomponías — The imperfect table gives tu = recomponías.
  9. recompondrá — The future table gives el = recompondrá.
  10. recompondríamos — The conditional table gives nosotros = recompondríamos.

Frequently asked questions

How do I use recomponer in a sentence?

Put the subject first, then the conjugated form, then the rest: “Yo recompongo la silla rota.” — “I repair the broken chair.” Change the form for the person and the tense, but keep the sentence pattern the same.

What is the most useful form of recomponer to learn first?

Learn the present yo form recompongo first, then the preterite yo form recompuse and the participle recompuesto. With those three you can talk about the present, the past and the perfect tenses. Add the gerund recomponiendo next, and you can describe actions in progress too.

Is recomponer reflexive?

No — recomponer is not reflexive. It takes a direct object, not a reflexive pronoun: yo recompongo la silla rota. Do not add me or se to it unless the sentence genuinely needs a pronoun for another reason.

Where can I see the full conjugation of recomponer?

On the main conjugation page for recomponer, which has every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle, plus notes, examples and a quiz. The preterite-tense page covers one tense in depth if that is what you need right now.

Related links