Introduction
Learning to conjugate recuperar — “to recover, to get back” — opens up a whole set of sentences you will use in real Spanish. Whether you are talking about what you do every day, what happened yesterday, or what you plan to do tomorrow, recuperar is one of the verbs that carries those sentences, especially when the topic is the lost money. On this page you will find the full conjugation of recuperar in all thirteen tenses, notes on when to use each one, example sentences, the mistakes learners make most often, a ten-question quiz and answers to the questions students ask about this verb. recuperar is a regular -ar verb; the gerund is recuperando and the past participle is recuperado, and both appear in the tables and examples below. For example: “Yo recupero el dinero perdido todos los días.” — “I recover the lost money.” Read the tables first, then the notes, and finish with the quiz to check what you have learned.
Quick facts
| Infinitive | recuperar |
| English | to recover, to get back |
| Verb type | Regular -ar verb |
| Gerund | recuperando |
| Past participle | recuperado |
| Auxiliary verb | haber |
Full conjugation tables
Gerund: recuperando · Past participle: recuperado
Present Indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | recupero |
| tú | recuperas |
| él/ella/Ud. | recupera |
| nosotros/as | recuperamos |
| vosotros/as | recuperáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | recuperan |
The present tense describes habits, facts and what is happening now. For recuperar, the yo form is recupero, as in “Yo recupero el dinero perdido.” — “I recover the lost money.”
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | recuperé |
| tú | recuperaste |
| él/ella/Ud. | recuperó |
| nosotros/as | recuperamos |
| vosotros/as | recuperasteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | recuperaron |
The preterite describes completed actions in the past — things that started and finished. For recuperar, the yo form is recuperé, as in “Yo recuperé el dinero perdido.” — “I recovered the lost money.”
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | recuperaba |
| tú | recuperabas |
| él/ella/Ud. | recuperaba |
| nosotros/as | recuperábamos |
| vosotros/as | recuperabais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | recuperaban |
The imperfect describes the past as background: habits, descriptions and actions in progress. For recuperar, the yo form is recuperaba, as in “Yo recuperaba el dinero perdido.” — “I used to recover the lost money.”
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | recuperaré |
| tú | recuperarás |
| él/ella/Ud. | recuperará |
| nosotros/as | recuperaremos |
| vosotros/as | recuperaréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | recuperarán |
The future tense states what will happen. It is also used for predictions and promises. For recuperar, the yo form is recuperaré, as in “Yo recuperaré el dinero perdido.” — “I will recover the lost money.”
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | recuperaría |
| tú | recuperarías |
| él/ella/Ud. | recuperaría |
| nosotros/as | recuperaríamos |
| vosotros/as | recuperaríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | recuperarían |
The conditional expresses what would happen: wishes, polite requests and hypothetical results. For recuperar, the yo form is recuperaría, as in “Yo recuperaría el dinero perdido.” — “I would recover the lost money.”
Present Perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he recuperado |
| tú | has recuperado |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha recuperado |
| nosotros/as | hemos recuperado |
| vosotros/as | habéis recuperado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han recuperado |
The present perfect connects the past with the present: something that has happened, often today or recently. For recuperar, the yo form is he recuperado, as in “Yo he recuperado el dinero perdido.” — “I have recovered the lost money.”
Pluperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había recuperado |
| tú | habías recuperado |
| él/ella/Ud. | había recuperado |
| nosotros/as | habíamos recuperado |
| vosotros/as | habíais recuperado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían recuperado |
The pluperfect describes an event that happened before another past event. For recuperar, the yo form is había recuperado, as in “Yo había recuperado el dinero perdido.” — “I had recovered the lost money.”
Future Perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré recuperado |
| tú | habrás recuperado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá recuperado |
| nosotros/as | habremos recuperado |
| vosotros/as | habréis recuperado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán recuperado |
The future perfect describes something that will already be finished by a future moment. For recuperar, the yo form is habré recuperado, as in “Yo habré recuperado el dinero perdido.” — “I will have recovered the lost money.”
Conditional Perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría recuperado |
| tú | habrías recuperado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría recuperado |
| nosotros/as | habríamos recuperado |
| vosotros/as | habríais recuperado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían recuperado |
The conditional perfect describes what would have happened under different conditions. For recuperar, the yo form is habría recuperado, as in “Yo habría recuperado el dinero perdido.” — “I would have recovered the lost money.”
Present Subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | recupere |
| tú | recuperes |
| él/ella/Ud. | recupere |
| nosotros/as | recuperemos |
| vosotros/as | recuperéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | recuperen |
The present subjunctive is used after expressions of wish, doubt, emotion and influence. For recuperar, the yo form is recupere, as in “Espero que yo recupere el dinero perdido.” — “I hope that I recover the lost money.”
Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | recuperara |
| tú | recuperaras |
| él/ella/Ud. | recuperara |
| nosotros/as | recuperáramos |
| vosotros/as | recuperarais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | recuperaran |
The imperfect subjunctive is used in the past versions of subjunctive clauses, and after "si" in hypothetical sentences. For recuperar, the yo form is recuperara, as in “Si yo recuperara el dinero perdido, ...” — “If I recovered the lost money, ...”
The -se variant of this tense follows the same pattern with -se instead of -ra: recuperara becomes recuperase, 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 | recupera |
| Ud. | recupere |
| nosotros/as | recuperemos |
| vosotros/as | recuperad |
| Uds. | recuperen |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | recuperes |
| Ud. | recupere |
| nosotros/as | recuperemos |
| vosotros/as | recuperéis |
| Uds. | recuperen |
The imperative is for orders, requests and advice. The affirmative tú form is recupera, as in “¡Recupera el dinero perdido” — “Recover the lost money” For the negative imperative, Spanish uses the subjunctive forms: no recuperes. Note that the affirmative and negative forms differ, so check the table above before you give an order with recuperar.
Example sentences
Here are ten sentences with recuperar, 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.
- “Yo recupero el dinero perdido cada día.” — “I recover the lost money.”
- “Él recupera el dinero perdido todos los días.” — “He recovers the lost money.”
- “Yo recuperé el dinero perdido ayer.” — “I recovered the lost money.”
- “Él recuperó el dinero perdido ayer.” — “He recovered the lost money.”
- “Yo recuperaba el dinero perdido cuando era joven.” — “I used to recover the lost money.”
- “Nosotros recuperaremos el dinero perdido mañana.” — “We will recover the lost money.”
- “Si pudiera, yo recuperaría el dinero perdido.” — “If I could, i would recover the lost money.”
- “Yo he recuperado el dinero perdido hoy.” — “I have recovered the lost money.”
- “Espero que yo recupere el dinero perdido.” — “I hope that I recover the lost money.”
- “estoy recuperando el dinero perdido ahora mismo.” — “I am recovering the lost money.”
Common mistakes
Forgetting the accent in the preterite
The yo preterite form is recuperé, with an accent on the stressed vowel. Writing it without the accent — recupere — 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 recuperar.
Mixing up present and preterite nosotros
For recuperar, the nosotros form is the same in the present and the preterite: recuperamos. 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.
Using ser instead of haber in perfect tenses
Spanish perfect tenses always use haber, never ser: yo he recuperado el dinero perdido. English speakers sometimes reach for soy because English uses to be in some passives, but soy recuperado is not the present perfect of recuperar — it is a passive construction with a different meaning.
Confusing recuperar with reconstruir
recuperar and reconstruir 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 recuperar — recover — the sentence needs recuperar; if it needs the meaning of reconstruir, use that verb instead.
Using the indicative after "espero que"
After espero que (I hope that), Spanish needs the subjunctive: Espero que yo recupere el dinero perdido. Using the indicative — Espero que yo recupero — is one of the most frequent learner errors with recuperar. 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 recuperar in the present?
- A. recuperas
- B. recupera
- C. recuperamos
- D. recupero
2. What is the tu form of recuperar in the preterite?
- A. recuperamos
- B. recuperaste
- C. recuperé
- D. recuperó
3. What is the el form of recuperar in the imperfect?
- A. recuperabas
- B. recuperábamos
- C. recuperabais
- D. recuperaba
4. What is the nosotros form of recuperar in the future?
- A. recuperará
- B. recuperaremos
- C. recuperaré
- D. recuperarás
5. What is the vosotros form of recuperar in the present perfect?
- A. he recuperado
- B. has recuperado
- C. ha recuperado
- D. habéis recuperado
6. What is the ellos form of recuperar in the present subjunctive?
- A. recupere
- B. recuperen
- C. recupere
- D. recuperes
7. What is the yo form of recuperar in the preterite?
- A. recuperaste
- B. recuperó
- C. recuperamos
- D. recuperé
8. What is the tu form of recuperar in the imperfect?
- A. recuperábamos
- B. recuperabas
- C. recuperaba
- D. recuperaba
9. What is the el form of recuperar in the future?
- A. recuperaré
- B. recuperarás
- C. recuperaremos
- D. recuperará
10. What is the nosotros form of recuperar in the conditional?
- A. recuperaría
- B. recuperaríamos
- C. recuperaría
- D. recuperarías
Answer key
- recupero — The present table gives yo = recupero.
- recuperaste — The preterite table gives tu = recuperaste.
- recuperaba — The imperfect table gives el = recuperaba.
- recuperaremos — The future table gives nosotros = recuperaremos.
- habéis recuperado — The present perfect table gives vosotros = habéis recuperado.
- recuperen — The present subjunctive table gives ellos = recuperen.
- recuperé — The preterite table gives yo = recuperé.
- recuperabas — The imperfect table gives tu = recuperabas.
- recuperará — The future table gives el = recuperará.
- recuperaríamos — The conditional table gives nosotros = recuperaríamos.
Frequently asked questions
Is recuperar regular or irregular?
recuperar is a regular -ar verb. It follows the regular patterns for its ending in every tense. The tables on this page show the correct form for every person, so use them rather than guessing.
What is the past participle of recuperar?
The past participle of recuperar is recuperado. You use it with haber in the perfect tenses — he recuperado, había recuperado, habré recuperado — and after estar in passive-style descriptions. It is the regular participle for its verb class. Learn it together with the gerund recuperando and you have the two non-finite forms covered.
What is the gerund of recuperar?
The gerund of recuperar is recuperando. You use it with estar to describe an action in progress, as in estoy recuperando, and after verbs such as seguir and ir. Keep it distinct from the past participle recuperado, which belongs with haber, not with estar.
What is the yo form of recuperar in the present?
The yo form is recupero — “Yo recupero el dinero perdido.” means “I recover the lost money.” That is the form you will use most often when you talk about yourself. For other persons, use the present table above: tú recuperas, él recupera, nosotros recuperamos, ellos recuperan.
What is the difference between recuperar and reconstruir?
recuperar means “to recover, to get back”, while reconstruir means “to rebuild”. They share letters and sometimes a root, but they are different verbs. If your sentence means “to recover, to get back”, use recuperar; if it is about the meaning of reconstruir, use reconstruir instead. Checking the English meaning first prevents most mix-ups.
Related links
- recuperar in the present tense — the full present-tense page for this verb.
- recuperar examples and quiz — more sentences, dialogues and a second quiz.
- Spanish verbs — the Spanish hub with every verb on VerbFlow.
- reconstruir conjugation — another verb in the same family.
- recitar conjugation — another verb in the same family.
- reclamar conjugation — another verb in the same family.
- Verb conjugator — conjugate any Spanish verb instantly.
- Verb quiz — practise conjugations with timed questions.