Introduction

recomponer means “to repair, to put together again” in English, and it is a verb you will meet again and again once you start reading and speaking Spanish. It is used whenever you need to talk about the broken chair — at home, at work, and in everyday conversation — which makes it a practical verb to learn early and to use confidently. This page gives you the complete conjugation of recomponer in every tense and mood, with all six persons, plus the gerund and the past participle, example sentences, the mistakes learners make most often, a ten-question quiz and answers to the questions students ask about this verb. Every form below comes from VerbFlow's verified conjugation tables, so you can trust the accents and the irregular forms. recomponer is a irregular -er verb, and the notes under each tense explain exactly where it follows the rules and where it breaks them. To hear it in a real sentence: “Yo recompongo la silla rota todos los días.” — “I repair the broken chair.” Work through the tables, read the notes, then test yourself with the quiz at the end of the page.

Quick facts
Infinitive recomponer
English to repair, to put together again
Verb type Irregular -er verb
Gerund recomponiendo
Past participle recompuesto
Auxiliary verb haber

Full conjugation tables

Gerund: recomponiendo · Past participle: recompuesto

Present Indicative

Person Form
yo recompongo
tú recompones
él/ella/Ud. recompone
nosotros/as recomponemos
vosotros/as recomponéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. recomponen

The present tense describes habits, facts and what is happening now. For recomponer, the yo form is recompongo, as in “Yo recompongo la silla rota.” — “I repair the broken chair.” This is one of the tenses where recomponer does not follow the regular -er pattern, so learn the forms in the table above rather than guessing them from the infinitive.

Preterite

Person Form
yo recompuse
tú recompusiste
él/ella/Ud. recompuso
nosotros/as recompusimos
vosotros/as recompusisteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. recompusieron

The preterite describes completed actions in the past — things that started and finished. For recomponer, the yo form is recompuse, as in “Yo recompuse la silla rota.” — “I repaired the broken chair.” This is one of the tenses where recomponer does not follow the regular -er pattern, so learn the forms in the table above rather than guessing them from the infinitive.

Imperfect

Person Form
yo recomponía
tú recomponías
él/ella/Ud. recomponía
nosotros/as recomponíamos
vosotros/as recomponíais
ellos/ellas/Uds. recomponían

The imperfect describes the past as background: habits, descriptions and actions in progress. For recomponer, the yo form is recomponía, as in “Yo recomponía la silla rota.” — “I used to repair the broken chair.”

Future

Person Form
yo recompondré
tú recompondrás
él/ella/Ud. recompondrá
nosotros/as recompondremos
vosotros/as recompondréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. recompondrán

The future tense states what will happen. It is also used for predictions and promises. For recomponer, the yo form is recompondré, as in “Yo recompondré la silla rota.” — “I will repair the broken chair.” This is one of the tenses where recomponer does not follow the regular -er pattern, so learn the forms in the table above rather than guessing them from the infinitive.

Conditional

Person Form
yo recompondría
tú recompondrías
él/ella/Ud. recompondría
nosotros/as recompondríamos
vosotros/as recompondríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. recompondrían

The conditional expresses what would happen: wishes, polite requests and hypothetical results. For recomponer, the yo form is recompondría, as in “Yo recompondría la silla rota.” — “I would repair the broken chair.” This is one of the tenses where recomponer does not follow the regular -er pattern, so learn the forms in the table above rather than guessing them from the infinitive.

Present Perfect

Person Form
yo he recompuesto
tú has recompuesto
él/ella/Ud. ha recompuesto
nosotros/as hemos recompuesto
vosotros/as habéis recompuesto
ellos/ellas/Uds. han recompuesto

The present perfect connects the past with the present: something that has happened, often today or recently. For recomponer, the yo form is he recompuesto, as in “Yo he recompuesto la silla rota.” — “I have repaired the broken chair.” Watch out: the past participle of recomponer is irregular — recompuesto, not the regular form — and that irregular participle appears in every perfect tense.

Pluperfect

Person Form
yo había recompuesto
tú habías recompuesto
él/ella/Ud. había recompuesto
nosotros/as habíamos recompuesto
vosotros/as habíais recompuesto
ellos/ellas/Uds. habían recompuesto

The pluperfect describes an event that happened before another past event. For recomponer, the yo form is había recompuesto, as in “Yo había recompuesto la silla rota.” — “I had repaired the broken chair.” Watch out: the past participle of recomponer is irregular — recompuesto, not the regular form — and that irregular participle appears in every perfect tense.

Future Perfect

Person Form
yo habré recompuesto
tú habrás recompuesto
él/ella/Ud. habrá recompuesto
nosotros/as habremos recompuesto
vosotros/as habréis recompuesto
ellos/ellas/Uds. habrán recompuesto

The future perfect describes something that will already be finished by a future moment. For recomponer, the yo form is habré recompuesto, as in “Yo habré recompuesto la silla rota.” — “I will have repaired the broken chair.” Watch out: the past participle of recomponer is irregular — recompuesto, not the regular form — and that irregular participle appears in every perfect tense.

Conditional Perfect

Person Form
yo habría recompuesto
tú habrías recompuesto
él/ella/Ud. habría recompuesto
nosotros/as habríamos recompuesto
vosotros/as habríais recompuesto
ellos/ellas/Uds. habrían recompuesto

The conditional perfect describes what would have happened under different conditions. For recomponer, the yo form is habría recompuesto, as in “Yo habría recompuesto la silla rota.” — “I would have repaired the broken chair.” Watch out: the past participle of recomponer is irregular — recompuesto, not the regular form — and that irregular participle appears in every perfect tense.

Present Subjunctive

Person Form
yo recomponga
tú recompongas
él/ella/Ud. recomponga
nosotros/as recompongamos
vosotros/as recompongáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. recompongan

The present subjunctive is used after expressions of wish, doubt, emotion and influence. For recomponer, the yo form is recomponga, as in “Espero que yo recomponga la silla rota.” — “I hope that I repair the broken chair.” This is one of the tenses where recomponer does not follow the regular -er pattern, so learn the forms in the table above rather than guessing them from the infinitive.

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra)

Person Form
yo recompusiera
tú recompusieras
él/ella/Ud. recompusiera
nosotros/as recompusiéramos
vosotros/as recompusierais
ellos/ellas/Uds. recompusieran

The imperfect subjunctive is used in the past versions of subjunctive clauses, and after "si" in hypothetical sentences. For recomponer, the yo form is recompusiera, as in “Si yo recompusiera la silla rota, ...” — “If I repaired the broken chair, ...” Watch out: the past participle of recomponer is irregular — recompuesto, not the regular form — and that irregular participle appears in every perfect tense.

The -se variant of this tense follows the same pattern with -se instead of -ra: recompusiera becomes recompusiese, and the same change applies to every person. Both variants mean the same thing; -ra is more common in everyday speech.

Imperative (affirmative)

Person Form
tú recompón
Ud. recomponga
nosotros/as recompongamos
vosotros/as recomponed
Uds. recompongan

Imperative (negative)

Person Form
tú recompongas
Ud. recomponga
nosotros/as recompongamos
vosotros/as recompongáis
Uds. recompongan

The imperative is for orders, requests and advice. The affirmative tú form is recompón, as in “¡Recompón la silla rota” — “Repair the broken chair” For the negative imperative, Spanish uses the subjunctive forms: no recompongas. Note that the affirmative and negative forms differ, so check the table above before you give an order with recomponer. This is one of the tenses where recomponer does not follow the regular -er pattern, so learn the forms in the table above rather than guessing them from the infinitive.

Example sentences

Here are ten sentences with recomponer, covering different tenses and persons. Read each one out loud, then read the translation, and notice how the verb form changes while the meaning stays the same.

  1. “Yo recompongo la silla rota cada día.” — “I repair the broken chair.”
  2. “Él recompone la silla rota todos los días.” — “He repairs the broken chair.”
  3. “Yo recompuse la silla rota ayer.” — “I repaired the broken chair.”
  4. “Él recompuso la silla rota ayer.” — “He repaired the broken chair.”
  5. “Yo recomponía la silla rota cuando era joven.” — “I used to repair the broken chair.”
  6. “Nosotros recompondremos la silla rota mañana.” — “We will repair the broken chair.”
  7. “Si pudiera, yo recompondría la silla rota.” — “If I could, i would repair the broken chair.”
  8. “Yo he recompuesto la silla rota hoy.” — “I have repaired the broken chair.”
  9. “Espero que yo recomponga la silla rota.” — “I hope that I repair the broken chair.”
  10. “estoy recomponiendo la silla rota ahora mismo.” — “I am repairing the broken chair.”

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

Is recomponer regular or irregular?

recomponer is a irregular -er verb. It is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, future, conditional, present-subjunctive, imperfect-subjunctive, past-participle, present-perfect, pluperfect, future-perfect, conditional-perfect, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The tables on this page show the correct form for every person, so use them rather than guessing.

What is the past participle of recomponer?

The past participle of recomponer is recompuesto. You use it with haber in the perfect tenses — he recompuesto, había recompuesto, habré recompuesto — and after estar in passive-style descriptions. Note that it is irregular: do not write the regular form. Learn it together with the gerund recomponiendo and you have the two non-finite forms covered.

What is the gerund of recomponer?

The gerund of recomponer is recomponiendo. You use it with estar to describe an action in progress, as in estoy recomponiendo, and after verbs such as seguir and ir. Keep it distinct from the past participle recompuesto, which belongs with haber, not with estar.

What is the yo form of recomponer in the present?

The yo form is recompongo — “Yo recompongo la silla rota.” means “I repair the broken chair.” That is the form you will use most often when you talk about yourself. For other persons, use the present table above: tú recompones, él recompone, nosotros recomponemos, ellos recomponen.

What is the difference between recomponer and recuperar?

recomponer means “to repair, to put together again”, while recuperar means “to recover, to get back”. They share letters and sometimes a root, but they are different verbs. If your sentence means “to repair, to put together again”, use recomponer; if it is about the meaning of recuperar, use recuperar instead. Checking the English meaning first prevents most mix-ups.

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