Introduction

recuperarse means “to recover”, and it is one of the verbs you will use every day in Spanish. It is the verb for expressing “to recover” in everyday Spanish — in conversation, at work, and at home. This page shows recuperarse 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 me recupero de la enfermedad por la mañana.” — “I recover from the illness.”

recuperarse in real example sentences

The twelve sentences below are grouped by how recuperarse 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 me recupero de la enfermedad cada día.” — “I recover from the illness.”
  2. “Tú te recuperas de la enfermedad cada día.” — “you recover from the illness.”
  3. “Él se recupera de la enfermedad siempre.” — “He recovers from the illness.”
  4. “Nosotros nos recuperamos de la enfermedad todos los días.” — “We recover from the illness.”

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 me recuperé de la enfermedad ayer.” — “I recovered from the illness.” (preterite) 6. “Él se recuperó de la enfermedad ayer.” — “He recovered from the illness.” (preterite) 7. “Yo me recuperaba de la enfermedad cuando era joven.” — “I used to recover from the illness.” (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 nos recuperaremos de la enfermedad mañana.” — “We will recover from the illness.” (future) 9. “Tú te has recuperado de la enfermedad hoy.” — “you have recovered from the illness.” (present-perfect) 10. “Espero que yo me recupere de la enfermedad.” — “I hope that I recover from the illness.” (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 os recuperáis de la enfermedad cada semana.” — “You recover from the illness.” 12. “Ellos se recuperan de la enfermedad normalmente.” — “They recover from the illness.”

recuperarse 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 recuperarse appears naturally, without anyone stopping to think about conjugation.

Dialogue on the phone

Lucía: “¿Tú te recuperas de la enfermedad?” — Do you recover from the illness?

Pedro: “Sí, yo me recupero de la enfermedad cada día. Es parte de mi rutina.” — Yes, I recover from the illness every day. It is part of my routine.

Lucía: “¿Y ayer? ¿También te recuperas de la enfermedad?” — And yesterday? Did you recover from the illness too?

Pedro: “Sí, ayer yo me recuperé de la enfermedad. Mañana nosotros recuperaremos de la enfermedad otra vez.” — Yes, yesterday I recovered from the illness. Tomorrow we will recover from the illness again.

A short paragraph

Él se recupera de la enfermedad cada día — that one sentence already tells you a lot about how recuperarse 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 recupero de la enfermedad — 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 recuperarse yours: use it in a story, not only in a table.

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 recuperarse.

Mixing up present and preterite nosotros

For recuperarse, 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.

Dropping the reflexive pronoun

Because recuperarse is reflexive, it always needs its pronoun: yo me recupero de la enfermedad, not yo recupero de la enfermedad. 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 recuperado de la enfermedad. English speakers sometimes reach for soy because English uses to be in some passives, but soy recuperado is not the present perfect of recuperarse — it is a passive construction with a different meaning.

Confusing recuperarse with recuperar

recuperarse 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 recuperarse — recover — the sentence needs recuperarse; 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 recuperarse in the present?

  • A. recuperas
  • B. recupera
  • C. recuperamos
  • D. recupero

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

  • A. recuperamos
  • B. recuperaste
  • C. recuperé
  • D. recuperó

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

  • A. recuperabas
  • B. recuperábamos
  • C. recuperabais
  • D. recuperaba

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

  • A. recuperará
  • B. recuperaremos
  • C. recuperaré
  • D. recuperarás

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

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

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

  • A. recupere
  • B. recuperen
  • C. recupere
  • D. recuperes

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

  • A. recuperaste
  • B. recuperó
  • C. recuperamos
  • D. recuperé

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

  • A. recuperábamos
  • B. recuperabas
  • C. recuperaba
  • D. recuperaba

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

  • A. recuperaré
  • B. recuperarás
  • C. recuperaremos
  • D. recuperará

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

  • A. recuperaría
  • B. recuperaríamos
  • C. recuperaría
  • D. recuperarías

Answer key

  1. recupero — The present table gives yo = recupero.
  2. recuperaste — The preterite table gives tu = recuperaste.
  3. recuperaba — The imperfect table gives el = recuperaba.
  4. recuperaremos — The future table gives nosotros = recuperaremos.
  5. habéis recuperado — The present perfect table gives vosotros = habéis recuperado.
  6. recuperen — The present subjunctive table gives ellos = recuperen.
  7. recuperé — The preterite table gives yo = recuperé.
  8. recuperabas — The imperfect table gives tu = recuperabas.
  9. recuperará — The future table gives el = recuperará.
  10. recuperaríamos — The conditional table gives nosotros = recuperaríamos.

Frequently asked questions

How do I use recuperarse in a sentence?

Put the subject first, then the conjugated form, then the rest: “Yo me recupero de la enfermedad.” — “I recover from the illness.” Do not forget the reflexive pronoun: it goes before the verb. Change the form for the person and the tense, but keep the sentence pattern the same.

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

Learn the present yo form recupero first, then the preterite yo form recuperé and the participle recuperado. With those three you can talk about the present, the past and the perfect tenses. Add the gerund recuperando next, and you can describe actions in progress too.

Is recuperarse reflexive?

Yes — recuperarse is reflexive, so it always takes me, te, se, nos, os or se. You say yo me recupero, never just yo recupero. The pronoun goes before the conjugated verb, or attached to the infinitive and gerund.

Where can I see the full conjugation of recuperarse?

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

Related links