Ruborizarse Conjugation in Spanish

The Spanish verb ruborizarse means to blush, and it is a verb you will use again and again once you know it. Ruborizarse is a spelling-changing -ar (z → c before e), reflexive verb, so the tables below show you exactly how it behaves in every tense. It has a spelling change (z → c before e), which keeps the pronunciation of the stem the same when the ending changes. Ruborizarse is reflexive, so it always takes a reflexive pronoun that matches the person: me, te, se, nos, os or se. For example, me ruborizo de vergüenza means "I blush with embarrassment". Without the pronoun, the verb changes meaning or stops making sense. On this page you will find the full conjugation of ruborizarse 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. For example, in the present tense you say Yo me ruborizo de vergüenza — "I blush with embarrassment" — and in the preterite you say Yo me ruboricé al hablar en público — "I blushed when speaking in public". Work through the tables below, read the notes for each tense, and then test yourself with the examples, the common mistakes and the quiz at the end of the page.

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: ruborizarse
  • English: to blush
  • Verb type: spelling-changing -ar (z → c before e), reflexive verb
  • Ending: -ar
  • Gerund: ruborizando
  • Past participle: ruborizado
  • Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + ruborizado)
  • Reflexive pronouns: me, te, se, nos, os, se — one before every conjugated form, matching the person.

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for ruborizarse, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one. Ruborizarse is reflexive: me ruborizo, te ruborizas. Without the pronoun, ruborizar means something else — it acts on someone or something else, not on yourself.

Full conjugation tables

Every form below comes from the verified conjugation tables for ruborizarse. The imperfect subjunctive is shown in its -ra forms; the -se forms use the same stem. For reflexive verbs, the pronoun column shows the reflexive pronoun that goes before each form.

Gerund: ruborizando · Past participle: ruborizado

Present indicative

Person Pronoun Form
yo me ruborizo
tú te ruborizas
él/ella/Ud. se ruboriza
nosotros/as nos ruborizamos
vosotros/as os ruborizáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se ruborizan

Preterite

Person Pronoun Form
yo me ruboricé
tú te ruborizaste
él/ella/Ud. se ruborizó
nosotros/as nos ruborizamos
vosotros/as os ruborizasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se ruborizaron

Imperfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me ruborizaba
tú te ruborizabas
él/ella/Ud. se ruborizaba
nosotros/as nos ruborizábamos
vosotros/as os ruborizabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se ruborizaban

Future

Person Pronoun Form
yo me ruborizaré
tú te ruborizarás
él/ella/Ud. se ruborizará
nosotros/as nos ruborizaremos
vosotros/as os ruborizaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se ruborizarán

Conditional

Person Pronoun Form
yo me ruborizaría
tú te ruborizarías
él/ella/Ud. se ruborizaría
nosotros/as nos ruborizaríamos
vosotros/as os ruborizaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se ruborizarían

Present perfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me he ruborizado
tú te has ruborizado
él/ella/Ud. se ha ruborizado
nosotros/as nos hemos ruborizado
vosotros/as os habéis ruborizado
ellos/ellas/Uds. se han ruborizado

Pluperfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me había ruborizado
tú te habías ruborizado
él/ella/Ud. se había ruborizado
nosotros/as nos habíamos ruborizado
vosotros/as os habíais ruborizado
ellos/ellas/Uds. se habían ruborizado

Future perfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me habré ruborizado
tú te habrás ruborizado
él/ella/Ud. se habrá ruborizado
nosotros/as nos habremos ruborizado
vosotros/as os habréis ruborizado
ellos/ellas/Uds. se habrán ruborizado

Conditional perfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me habría ruborizado
tú te habrías ruborizado
él/ella/Ud. se habría ruborizado
nosotros/as nos habríamos ruborizado
vosotros/as os habríais ruborizado
ellos/ellas/Uds. se habrían ruborizado

Present subjunctive

Person Pronoun Form
yo me ruborice
tú te ruborices
él/ella/Ud. se ruborice
nosotros/as nos ruboricemos
vosotros/as os ruboricéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se ruboricen

Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)

Person Pronoun Form
yo me ruborizara
tú te ruborizaras
él/ella/Ud. se ruborizara
nosotros/as nos ruborizáramos
vosotros/as os ruborizarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se ruborizaran

Imperative (affirmative)

Person Pronoun Form
tú te ruboriza
él/ella/Ud. se ruborice
nosotros/as nos ruboricemos
vosotros/as os ruborizad
ellos/ellas/Uds. se ruboricen

Imperative (negative)

Person Pronoun Form
tú te ruborices
él/ella/Ud. se ruborice
nosotros/as nos ruboricemos
vosotros/as os ruboricéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se ruboricen

Gerund and past participle

Form Spanish Use
Gerund ruborizando with estar for the progressive: estoy ruborizando (or me estoy ruborizando for this reflexive verb)
Past participle ruborizado with haber for the perfect tenses: he ruborizado

How to use each tense

Present indicative

Use the present for routines, general facts and what is happening right now. It is the tense you will use most often in everyday conversation, for habits with words like todos los días and for statements that are true in general. For ruborizarse, the present indicative looks like this in a real sentence: Yo me ruborizo al hablar en público — "I blush when speaking in public". Learn the present indicative forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Preterite

Use the preterite for finished actions in the past — things that started and ended, often with time words like ayer, anoche or la semana pasada. The preterite moves a story forward, one completed event at a time. For ruborizarse, the preterite looks like this in a real sentence: Yo me ruboricé con el cumplido — "I blushed at the compliment". Learn the preterite forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense. Spelling change in the preterite: the yo form is ruboricé (z → c before e), so the sound of the stem stays the same.

Imperfect

Use the imperfect for background, habits and actions in progress in the past, often with words like antes, de niño or mientras. It describes how things used to be, not one finished event. For ruborizarse, the imperfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo me ruborizaba de vergüenza — "I used to blush with embarrassment". Learn the imperfect forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Future

Use the future for plans, predictions and promises, often with mañana, el año que viene or pronto. It talks about what will happen, not what is happening now. For ruborizarse, the future looks like this in a real sentence: Yo me ruborizaré al hablar en público — "I will blush when speaking in public". Learn the future forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Conditional

Use the conditional for polite requests, hypotheticals and what would happen, often in si clauses. It softens a request and describes imagined situations. For ruborizarse, the conditional looks like this in a real sentence: Yo me ruborizaría con el cumplido — "I would blush at the compliment". Learn the conditional forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Present perfect

Use the present perfect for recent actions and experiences, often with hoy, esta semana or ya. It connects the past with the present moment. For ruborizarse, the present perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo me he ruborizado de vergüenza — "I have blushed with embarrassment". Learn the present perfect forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Pluperfect

Use the pluperfect when one past action happened before another past action. It is the past of the past, and it usually appears with antes de or ya. For ruborizarse, the pluperfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo me había ruborizado al hablar en público — "I had blushed when speaking in public". Learn the pluperfect forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Future perfect

Use the future perfect for something that will already be finished by a future time, often with para mañana or para el viernes. For ruborizarse, the future perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo me habré ruborizado con el cumplido — "I will have blushed at the compliment". Learn the future perfect forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Conditional perfect

Use the conditional perfect for what would have happened under different conditions. It looks back at a past that never happened. For ruborizarse, the conditional perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo me habría ruborizado de vergüenza — "I would have blushed with embarrassment". Learn the conditional perfect forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Present subjunctive

Use the present subjunctive after expressions of wish, doubt, emotion and hope, such as espero que or quiero que. The subjunctive does not state a fact; it states an attitude towards the action. For ruborizarse, the present subjunctive looks like this in a real sentence: Espero que él se ruborice al hablar en público — "I hope he blushes when speaking in public". Learn the present subjunctive forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense. The subjunctive keeps the spelling change: ruborice, ruborices, ruborice all show z → c before e, just like the preterite yo form.

Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)

Use the imperfect subjunctive after past wishes and in si clauses about the past, and note the -ra forms shown here; the -se forms use the same stem. For ruborizarse, the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) looks like this in a real sentence: Si yo me ruborizara con el cumplido, todo cambiaría — "If I blushed at the compliment, everything would change". Learn the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Imperative (affirmative)

Use the affirmative imperative for direct commands, instructions and invitations. It tells someone to do something, and it has no yo form. For ruborizarse, the imperative (affirmative) looks like this in a real sentence: Que se ruborice de vergüenza — "Let him blush with embarrassment". Learn the imperative (affirmative) forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Imperative (negative)

Use the negative imperative, always with no, to tell someone not to do something. It uses the subjunctive forms, so it looks different from the affirmative commands. For ruborizarse, the imperative (negative) looks like this in a real sentence: No te ruborices al hablar en público — "Don't blush when speaking in public". Learn the imperative (negative) forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Example sentences

Ten natural sentences with ruborizarse, covering different tenses and persons. Each one uses a form from the tables above.

  1. Yo me ruborizo con el cumplido — "I blush at the compliment"
  2. Él se ruboriza de vergüenza — "He blushes with embarrassment"
  3. Yo me ruboricé al hablar en público — "I blushed when speaking in public"
  4. Yo me ruborizaba con el cumplido — "I used to blush at the compliment"
  5. Tú te ruborizarás de vergüenza — "You will blush with embarrassment"
  6. Yo me ruborizaría al hablar en público — "I would blush when speaking in public"
  7. Él se ha ruborizado con el cumplido — "He has blushed at the compliment"
  8. Espero que él se ruborice de vergüenza — "I hope he blushes with embarrassment"
  9. Yo me había ruborizado al hablar en público — "I had blushed when speaking in public"
  10. Ellos se ruborizaban con el cumplido — "They used to blush at the compliment"

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Yo ruborizo de vergüenza — Right: Yo me ruborizo de vergüenza — Ruborizarse is reflexive, so the pronoun me is required: without it the verb means something else, or nothing at all.
  2. Wrong: Ayer, yo me ruborizo — Right: Ayer, yo me ruboricé — The present tense cannot describe a finished action yesterday. Ayer forces the preterite, so the form must change to ruboricé, with the spelling change z → c before e.
  3. Wrong: De niño, yo me ruboricé todos los días. — Right: Todos los días, yo me ruborizaba — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (ruborizaba), not the preterite. The preterite (ruboricé) is for one finished action.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy ruborizado al hablar en público. — Right: Yo me he ruborizado al hablar en público. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he ruborizado, has ruborizado, ha ruborizado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: Treating ruborizarse and sonrojarse as identical in every context. — Right: Ruborizarse means to blush, while sonrojarse means to blush. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: ruborizarse fits sentences such as Yo me ruborizo de vergüenza, while sonrojarse belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on ruborizarse. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.

  1. Complete the sentence: Yo me ___ de vergüenza. (present tense) A. ruborizabais B. ruborizábamos C. ruborizo D. ruborizaréis

  2. Complete the sentence: Él se ___ de vergüenza. (preterite) A. habrían ruborizado B. ruborizó C. ruborizasteis D. habías ruborizado

  3. Complete the sentence: Nosotros nos ___ de vergüenza. (imperfect) A. ruborice B. ruborizamos C. ruborizo D. ruborizábamos

  4. Complete the sentence: Tú te ___ de vergüenza. (future) A. ruborizáis B. habíamos ruborizado C. ruborizarás D. ruborizabas

  5. Complete the sentence: Yo me ___ de vergüenza. (conditional) A. ruborizaría B. ruborizó C. ruborizamos D. ruborizaran

  6. Complete the sentence: Espero que él se ___ de vergüenza. (present subjunctive) A. ruborice B. habrás ruborizado C. habría ruborizado D. ruborizaríamos

  7. Complete the sentence: Si yo me ___ de vergüenza, todo cambiaría. (imperfect subjunctive, -ra form) A. ruborizaríais B. ruborizara C. ruborizas D. habréis ruborizado

  8. Complete the sentence: Nosotros nos ___ de vergüenza. (present perfect) A. hemos ruborizado B. ruborizaba C. ruboricé D. he ruborizado

  9. Complete the command: No te ___ de vergüenza. (negative imperative, tú) A. ruboricemos B. ruborices C. ruborice D. ruboricéis

  10. Which is the gerund of ruborizarse, used with estar for the progressive? A. ruboricé B. ruborizando C. ruborizaré D. ruborizado

Answer key

  1. me ruborizo — The yo present tense of ruborizarse is me ruborizo.
  2. se ruborizó — The él/ella/Ud. preterite of ruborizarse is se ruborizó.
  3. nos ruborizábamos — The nosotros/as imperfect of ruborizarse is nos ruborizábamos.
  4. te ruborizarás — The tú future of ruborizarse is te ruborizarás.
  5. me ruborizaría — The yo conditional of ruborizarse is me ruborizaría.
  6. se ruborice — The él/ella/Ud. present subjunctive of ruborizarse is se ruborice.
  7. me ruborizara — The yo imperfect subjunctive, -ra form of ruborizarse is me ruborizara.
  8. nos hemos ruborizado — The nosotros/as present perfect of ruborizarse is nos hemos ruborizado.
  9. te ruborices — The negative tú imperative uses the present subjunctive form with no before it: te ruborices.
  10. ruborizando — The gerund of ruborizarse is ruborizando: estoy ruborizando. The participle ruborizado is used with haber instead.

Frequently asked questions

What does ruborizarse mean in English?

Ruborizarse means to blush. It is used in everyday situations such as Yo me ruborizo de vergüenza. The exact English wording depends on the context, but the core meaning stays the same across the tenses.

Is ruborizarse a reflexive verb?

Yes. Ruborizarse is reflexive, so it always takes a reflexive pronoun that matches the person: me, te, se, nos, os or se. For example, Yo me ruborizo de vergüenza and Él se ruboriza al hablar en público. If you leave the pronoun out, the verb changes meaning or stops making sense.

What is the difference between ruborizarse and sonrojarse?

Ruborizarse means to blush, while sonrojarse means to blush. They are easy to confuse because they appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use ruborizarse when you mean to blush, as in Yo me ruborizo de vergüenza, and use sonrojarse for to blush. When in doubt, check the object of the sentence — it usually shows which verb fits.

How do I say “I blush” in the past?

It depends on the kind of past. For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo me ruboricé al hablar en público. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo me ruborizaba con el cumplido. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo me he ruborizado de vergüenza.

How do I practise ruborizarse?

Start with the present tense table, then drill the preterite and the imperfect, since those two past tenses cause the most mistakes. Try the ruborizarse examples and quiz page for more sentences, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure.

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