Introduction

regañar means “to scold”. It belongs to the group of Spanish verbs that express “to scold”, and once you can conjugate it you can say a surprising amount with a single verb. This page is the complete reference for regañar: 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. regañar is a regular -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 regaño a los niños todos los días.” — “I scold the children.”

Quick facts
Infinitive regañar
English to scold
Verb type Regular -ar verb
Gerund regañando
Past participle regañado
Auxiliary verb haber

Full conjugation tables

Gerund: regañando · Past participle: regañado

Present Indicative

Person Form
yo regaño
tú regañas
él/ella/Ud. regaña
nosotros/as regañamos
vosotros/as regañáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. regañan

The present tense describes habits, facts and what is happening now. For regañar, the yo form is regaño, as in “Yo regaño a los niños.” — “I scold the children.”

Preterite

Person Form
yo regañé
tú regañaste
él/ella/Ud. regañó
nosotros/as regañamos
vosotros/as regañasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. regañaron

The preterite describes completed actions in the past — things that started and finished. For regañar, the yo form is regañé, as in “Yo regañé a los niños.” — “I scolded the children.”

Imperfect

Person Form
yo regañaba
tú regañabas
él/ella/Ud. regañaba
nosotros/as regañábamos
vosotros/as regañabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. regañaban

The imperfect describes the past as background: habits, descriptions and actions in progress. For regañar, the yo form is regañaba, as in “Yo regañaba a los niños.” — “I used to scold the children.”

Future

Person Form
yo regañaré
tú regañarás
él/ella/Ud. regañará
nosotros/as regañaremos
vosotros/as regañaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. regañarán

The future tense states what will happen. It is also used for predictions and promises. For regañar, the yo form is regañaré, as in “Yo regañaré a los niños.” — “I will scold the children.”

Conditional

Person Form
yo regañaría
tú regañarías
él/ella/Ud. regañaría
nosotros/as regañaríamos
vosotros/as regañaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. regañarían

The conditional expresses what would happen: wishes, polite requests and hypothetical results. For regañar, the yo form is regañaría, as in “Yo regañaría a los niños.” — “I would scold the children.”

Present Perfect

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

The present perfect connects the past with the present: something that has happened, often today or recently. For regañar, the yo form is he regañado, as in “Yo he regañado a los niños.” — “I have scolded the children.”

Pluperfect

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

The pluperfect describes an event that happened before another past event. For regañar, the yo form is había regañado, as in “Yo había regañado a los niños.” — “I had scolded the children.”

Future Perfect

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

The future perfect describes something that will already be finished by a future moment. For regañar, the yo form is habré regañado, as in “Yo habré regañado a los niños.” — “I will have scolded the children.”

Conditional Perfect

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

The conditional perfect describes what would have happened under different conditions. For regañar, the yo form is habría regañado, as in “Yo habría regañado a los niños.” — “I would have scolded the children.”

Present Subjunctive

Person Form
yo regañe
tú regañes
él/ella/Ud. regañe
nosotros/as regañemos
vosotros/as regañéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. regañen

The present subjunctive is used after expressions of wish, doubt, emotion and influence. For regañar, the yo form is regañe, as in “Espero que yo regañe a los niños.” — “I hope that I scold the children.”

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra)

Person Form
yo regañara
tú regañaras
él/ella/Ud. regañara
nosotros/as regañáramos
vosotros/as regañarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. regañaran

The imperfect subjunctive is used in the past versions of subjunctive clauses, and after "si" in hypothetical sentences. For regañar, the yo form is regañara, as in “Si yo regañara a los niños, ...” — “If I scolded the children, ...”

The -se variant of this tense follows the same pattern with -se instead of -ra: regañara becomes regañase, 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 regaña
Ud. regañe
nosotros/as regañemos
vosotros/as regañad
Uds. regañen

Imperative (negative)

Person Form
tú regañes
Ud. regañe
nosotros/as regañemos
vosotros/as regañéis
Uds. regañen

The imperative is for orders, requests and advice. The affirmative tú form is regaña, as in “¡Regaña a los niños” — “Scold the children” For the negative imperative, Spanish uses the subjunctive forms: no regañes. Note that the affirmative and negative forms differ, so check the table above before you give an order with regañar.

Example sentences

Here are ten sentences with regañar, 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 regaño a los niños cada día.” — “I scold the children.”
  2. “Él regaña a los niños todos los días.” — “He scolds the children.”
  3. “Yo regañé a los niños ayer.” — “I scolded the children.”
  4. “Él regañó a los niños ayer.” — “He scolded the children.”
  5. “Yo regañaba a los niños cuando era joven.” — “I used to scold the children.”
  6. “Nosotros regañaremos a los niños mañana.” — “We will scold the children.”
  7. “Si pudiera, yo regañaría a los niños.” — “If I could, i would scold the children.”
  8. “Yo he regañado a los niños hoy.” — “I have scolded the children.”
  9. “Espero que yo regañe a los niños.” — “I hope that I scold the children.”
  10. “estoy regañando a los niños ahora mismo.” — “I am scolding the children.”

Common mistakes

Forgetting the accent in the preterite

The yo preterite form is regañé, with an accent on the stressed vowel. Writing it without the accent — regañe — 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 regañar.

Mixing up present and preterite nosotros

For regañar, the nosotros form is the same in the present and the preterite: regañamos. 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 regañado a los niños. English speakers sometimes reach for soy because English uses to be in some passives, but soy regañado is not the present perfect of regañar — it is a passive construction with a different meaning.

Confusing regañar with regular

regañar and regular 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 regañar — scold — the sentence needs regañar; if it needs the meaning of regular, use that verb instead.

Using the indicative after "espero que"

After espero que (I hope that), Spanish needs the subjunctive: Espero que yo regañe a los niños. Using the indicative — Espero que yo regaño — is one of the most frequent learner errors with regañar. 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 regañar in the present?

  • A. regañas
  • B. regaña
  • C. regañamos
  • D. regaño

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

  • A. regañamos
  • B. regañaste
  • C. regañé
  • D. regañó

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

  • A. regañabas
  • B. regañábamos
  • C. regañabais
  • D. regañaba

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

  • A. regañará
  • B. regañaremos
  • C. regañaré
  • D. regañarás

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

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

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

  • A. regañe
  • B. regañen
  • C. regañe
  • D. regañes

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

  • A. regañaste
  • B. regañó
  • C. regañamos
  • D. regañé

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

  • A. regañábamos
  • B. regañabas
  • C. regañaba
  • D. regañaba

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

  • A. regañaré
  • B. regañarás
  • C. regañaremos
  • D. regañará

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

  • A. regañaría
  • B. regañaríamos
  • C. regañaría
  • D. regañarías

Answer key

  1. regaño — The present table gives yo = regaño.
  2. regañaste — The preterite table gives tu = regañaste.
  3. regañaba — The imperfect table gives el = regañaba.
  4. regañaremos — The future table gives nosotros = regañaremos.
  5. habéis regañado — The present perfect table gives vosotros = habéis regañado.
  6. regañen — The present subjunctive table gives ellos = regañen.
  7. regañé — The preterite table gives yo = regañé.
  8. regañabas — The imperfect table gives tu = regañabas.
  9. regañará — The future table gives el = regañará.
  10. regañaríamos — The conditional table gives nosotros = regañaríamos.

Frequently asked questions

Is regañar regular or irregular?

regañar 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 regañar?

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

What is the gerund of regañar?

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

What is the yo form of regañar in the present?

The yo form is regaño — “Yo regaño a los niños.” means “I scold the children.” That is the form you will use most often when you talk about yourself. For other persons, use the present table above: tú regañas, él regaña, nosotros regañamos, ellos regañan.

What is the difference between regañar and regular?

regañar means “to scold”, while regular means “to regulate”. They share letters and sometimes a root, but they are different verbs. If your sentence means “to scold”, use regañar; if it is about the meaning of regular, use regular instead. Checking the English meaning first prevents most mix-ups.

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