Introduction

recostarse means “to lie down”. It belongs to the group of Spanish verbs that express “to lie down”, and once you can conjugate it you can say a surprising amount with a single verb. This page is the complete reference for recostarse: every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle, with notes on usage, real example sentences, common mistakes, a quiz and frequently asked questions. recostarse is a reflexive -ar verb. If it is irregular in a tense, the note under that table says so plainly, and the forms in the table are the correct ones — copy them, do not guess them from the infinitive. A first example to fix the verb in your mind: “Yo me recuesto en la cama todos los días.” — “I lie down in bed.”

Quick facts
Infinitive recostarse
English to lie down
Verb type Reflexive -ar verb
Gerund recostando
Past participle recostado
Auxiliary verb haber
  • Reflexive: yes — always use it with the reflexive pronouns me, te, se, nos, os, se.

Full conjugation tables

Gerund: recostando · Past participle: recostado

Present Indicative

Person Form
yo recuesto
tú recuestas
él/ella/Ud. recuesta
nosotros/as recostamos
vosotros/as recostáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. recuestan

The present tense describes habits, facts and what is happening now. For recostarse, the yo form is recuesto, as in “Yo me recuesto en la cama.” — “I lie down in bed.” This is one of the tenses where recostarse does not follow the regular -ar pattern, so learn the forms in the table above rather than guessing them from the infinitive.

Preterite

Person Form
yo recosté
tú recostaste
él/ella/Ud. recostó
nosotros/as recostamos
vosotros/as recostasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. recostaron

The preterite describes completed actions in the past — things that started and finished. For recostarse, the yo form is recosté, as in “Yo me recosté en la cama.” — “I lay down in bed.” The stem change o → ue affects this tense, so the stem looks different from the infinitive in several persons.

Imperfect

Person Form
yo recostaba
tú recostabas
él/ella/Ud. recostaba
nosotros/as recostábamos
vosotros/as recostabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. recostaban

The imperfect describes the past as background: habits, descriptions and actions in progress. For recostarse, the yo form is recostaba, as in “Yo me recostaba en la cama.” — “I used to lie down in bed.”

Future

Person Form
yo recostaré
tú recostarás
él/ella/Ud. recostará
nosotros/as recostaremos
vosotros/as recostaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. recostarán

The future tense states what will happen. It is also used for predictions and promises. For recostarse, the yo form is recostaré, as in “Yo me recostaré en la cama.” — “I will lie down in bed.”

Conditional

Person Form
yo recostaría
tú recostarías
él/ella/Ud. recostaría
nosotros/as recostaríamos
vosotros/as recostaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. recostarían

The conditional expresses what would happen: wishes, polite requests and hypothetical results. For recostarse, the yo form is recostaría, as in “Yo me recostaría en la cama.” — “I would lie down in bed.”

Present Perfect

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

The present perfect connects the past with the present: something that has happened, often today or recently. For recostarse, the yo form is he recostado, as in “Yo me he recostado en la cama.” — “I have lain down in bed.”

Pluperfect

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

The pluperfect describes an event that happened before another past event. For recostarse, the yo form is había recostado, as in “Yo me había recostado en la cama.” — “I had lain down in bed.”

Future Perfect

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

The future perfect describes something that will already be finished by a future moment. For recostarse, the yo form is habré recostado, as in “Yo me habré recostado en la cama.” — “I will have lain down in bed.”

Conditional Perfect

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

The conditional perfect describes what would have happened under different conditions. For recostarse, the yo form is habría recostado, as in “Yo me habría recostado en la cama.” — “I would have lain down in bed.”

Present Subjunctive

Person Form
yo recueste
tú recuestes
él/ella/Ud. recueste
nosotros/as recostemos
vosotros/as recostéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. recuesten

The present subjunctive is used after expressions of wish, doubt, emotion and influence. For recostarse, the yo form is recueste, as in “Espero que yo me recueste en la cama.” — “I hope that I lie down in bed.” This is one of the tenses where recostarse does not follow the regular -ar pattern, so learn the forms in the table above rather than guessing them from the infinitive.

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra)

Person Form
yo recostara
tú recostaras
él/ella/Ud. recostara
nosotros/as recostáramos
vosotros/as recostarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. recostaran

The imperfect subjunctive is used in the past versions of subjunctive clauses, and after "si" in hypothetical sentences. For recostarse, the yo form is recostara, as in “Si yo me recostara en la cama, ...” — “If I lay down in bed, ...” The stem change o → ue affects this tense, so the stem looks different from the infinitive in several persons.

The -se variant of this tense follows the same pattern with -se instead of -ra: recostara becomes recostase, 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 recuesta
Ud. recueste
nosotros/as recostemos
vosotros/as recostad
Uds. recuesten

Imperative (negative)

Person Form
tú recuestes
Ud. recueste
nosotros/as recostemos
vosotros/as recostéis
Uds. recuesten

The imperative is for orders, requests and advice. The affirmative tú form is recuesta, as in “No te recuestes en la cama” — “Do not lie down in bed” For the negative imperative, Spanish uses the subjunctive forms: no recuestes. Note that the affirmative and negative forms differ, so check the table above before you give an order with recostarse. This is one of the tenses where recostarse does not follow the regular -ar pattern, so learn the forms in the table above rather than guessing them from the infinitive.

Example sentences

Here are ten sentences with recostarse, 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 me recuesto en la cama cada día.” — “I lie down in bed.”
  2. “Él se recuesta en la cama todos los días.” — “He lies down in bed.”
  3. “Yo me recosté en la cama ayer.” — “I lay down in bed.”
  4. “Él se recostó en la cama ayer.” — “He lay down in bed.”
  5. “Yo me recostaba en la cama cuando era joven.” — “I used to lie down in bed.”
  6. “Nosotros nos recostaremos en la cama mañana.” — “We will lie down in bed.”
  7. “Si pudiera, yo me recostaría en la cama.” — “If I could, i would lie down in bed.”
  8. “Yo me he recostado en la cama hoy.” — “I have lain down in bed.”
  9. “Espero que yo me recueste en la cama.” — “I hope that I lie down in bed.”
  10. “Me estoy recostando en la cama ahora mismo.” — “I am lying down in bed.”

Common mistakes

Using the unchanged stem

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

Forgetting the accent in the preterite

The yo preterite form is recosté, with an accent on the stressed vowel. Writing it without the accent — recoste — is a spelling error, and in speech the stress lands in the wrong place. Preterite yo forms that end in a vowel carry that accent, so check it every time you write the preterite of recostarse.

Mixing up present and preterite nosotros

For recostarse, the nosotros form is the same in the present and the preterite: recostamos. Only the context tells you which tense is meant, so pay attention to the time words around it — cada día points to the present, ayer points to the preterite. Do not invent a different form for one of the tenses.

Dropping the reflexive pronoun

Because recostarse is reflexive, it always needs its pronoun: yo me recuesto en la cama, not yo recuesto en la cama. Without me, the sentence either means something else or means nothing at all. The pronouns are me, te, se, nos, os, se — learn them with the verb, not as an afterthought.

Using ser instead of haber in perfect tenses

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

Confusing recostarse with recuperar

recostarse 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 recostarse — lie down — the sentence needs recostarse; if it needs the meaning of recuperar, use that verb instead.

Quiz

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

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

  • A. recuestas
  • B. recuesta
  • C. recostamos
  • D. recuesto

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

  • A. recostamos
  • B. recostaste
  • C. recosté
  • D. recostó

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

  • A. recostabas
  • B. recostábamos
  • C. recostabais
  • D. recostaba

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

  • A. recostará
  • B. recostaremos
  • C. recostaré
  • D. recostarás

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

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

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

  • A. recueste
  • B. recuesten
  • C. recueste
  • D. recuestes

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

  • A. recostaste
  • B. recostó
  • C. recostamos
  • D. recosté

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

  • A. recostábamos
  • B. recostabas
  • C. recostaba
  • D. recostaba

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

  • A. recostaré
  • B. recostarás
  • C. recostaremos
  • D. recostará

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

  • A. recostaría
  • B. recostaríamos
  • C. recostaría
  • D. recostarías

Answer key

  1. recuesto — The present table gives yo = recuesto.
  2. recostaste — The preterite table gives tu = recostaste.
  3. recostaba — The imperfect table gives el = recostaba.
  4. recostaremos — The future table gives nosotros = recostaremos.
  5. habéis recostado — The present perfect table gives vosotros = habéis recostado.
  6. recuesten — The present subjunctive table gives ellos = recuesten.
  7. recosté — The preterite table gives yo = recosté.
  8. recostabas — The imperfect table gives tu = recostabas.
  9. recostará — The future table gives el = recostará.
  10. recostaríamos — The conditional table gives nosotros = recostaríamos.

Frequently asked questions

Is recostarse regular or irregular?

recostarse is a reflexive -ar verb. It changes its stem (o → ue) in several tenses, so the stem in the table is not always the infinitive stem. It is irregular in these tenses: present, present-subjunctive, 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 recostarse?

The past participle of recostarse is recostado. You use it with haber in the perfect tenses — he recostado, había recostado, habré recostado — and after estar in passive-style descriptions. It is the regular participle for its verb class. Learn it together with the gerund recostando and you have the two non-finite forms covered.

What is the gerund of recostarse?

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

What is the yo form of recostarse in the present?

The yo form is recuesto — “Yo me recuesto en la cama.” means “I lie down in bed.” That is the form you will use most often when you talk about yourself. For other persons, use the present table above: tú recuestas, él recuesta, nosotros recostamos, ellos recuestan.

What is the difference between recostarse and recuperar?

recostarse means “to lie down”, 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 lie down”, use recostarse; if it is about the meaning of recuperar, use recuperar instead. Checking the English meaning first prevents most mix-ups.

Do I always need the pronoun with recostarse?

Yes. recostarse is reflexive, so the pronoun is part of the verb: me, te, se, nos, os, se. You say yo me recuesto, tú te recuestas, él se recuesta. Leaving the pronoun out changes the meaning or makes the sentence wrong, so learn the pronoun together with each form.

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