Seguir Conjugation in Spanish
seguir means “follow” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Spanish learners meet — it sits at number 23 in VerbFlow’s frequency list. You use it for following instructions or a path, for continuing an action, and for keeping on doing something. Because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of seguir — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Yo sigo las instrucciones del médico todos los días.” — “I follow the doctor's instructions every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: seguir
- English: to follow
- Verb type: Irregular — stem-changing (e → i)
- Irregular in: present, present-subjunctive, preterite, imperfect-subjunctive, gerund, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative
- Gerund: siguiendo
- Past participle: seguido
- Auxiliary: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + the past participle)
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for seguir. Learn the present tense first, then the preterite and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | sigo |
| tú | sigues |
| él/ella/Ud. | sigue |
| nosotros/as | seguimos |
| vosotros/as | seguís |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | siguen |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | seguí |
| tú | seguiste |
| él/ella/Ud. | siguió |
| nosotros/as | seguimos |
| vosotros/as | seguisteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | siguieron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | seguía |
| tú | seguías |
| él/ella/Ud. | seguía |
| nosotros/as | seguíamos |
| vosotros/as | seguíais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | seguían |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | seguiré |
| tú | seguirás |
| él/ella/Ud. | seguirá |
| nosotros/as | seguiremos |
| vosotros/as | seguiréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | seguirán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | seguiría |
| tú | seguirías |
| él/ella/Ud. | seguiría |
| nosotros/as | seguiríamos |
| vosotros/as | seguiríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | seguirían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he seguido |
| tú | has seguido |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha seguido |
| nosotros/as | hemos seguido |
| vosotros/as | habéis seguido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han seguido |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había seguido |
| tú | habías seguido |
| él/ella/Ud. | había seguido |
| nosotros/as | habíamos seguido |
| vosotros/as | habíais seguido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían seguido |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré seguido |
| tú | habrás seguido |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá seguido |
| nosotros/as | habremos seguido |
| vosotros/as | habréis seguido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán seguido |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría seguido |
| tú | habrías seguido |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría seguido |
| nosotros/as | habríamos seguido |
| vosotros/as | habríais seguido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían seguido |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | siga |
| tú | sigas |
| él/ella/Ud. | siga |
| nosotros/as | sigamos |
| vosotros/as | siguáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | sigan |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | siguiera |
| tú | siguieras |
| él/ella/Ud. | siguiera |
| nosotros/as | siguiéramos |
| vosotros/as | siguierais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | siguieran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | sigue |
| él/ella/Ud. | siga |
| nosotros/as | sigamos |
| vosotros/as | seguid |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | sigan |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | sigas |
| él/ella/Ud. | siga |
| nosotros/as | sigamos |
| vosotros/as | siguáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | sigan |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Gerund | siguiendo |
| Past participle | seguido |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With seguir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Yo sigo las instrucciones del médico todos los días.” — “I follow the doctor's instructions every day.”
Preterite
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past. With seguir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Tú seguiste estudiando ayer.” — “You followed studying yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Él seguía el camino hasta el río antes.” — “He used to follow the path to the river before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and probability. For example: “Yo seguiré las instrucciones del médico mañana.” — “I will follow the doctor's instructions tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Tú seguirías estudiando algún día.” — “You would follow studying someday.”
Present perfect
The present perfect is used for recent past actions and life experience, formed with haber + the past participle. For example: “Él ha seguido el camino hasta el río esta semana.” — “He has followed the path to the river this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Yo había seguido las instrucciones del médico antes de la fiesta.” — “I had followed the doctor's instructions before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tú habrás seguido estudiando para mañana.” — “You will have followed studying by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Él habría seguido el camino hasta el río ayer.” — “He would have followed the path to the river yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. With seguir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Es importante que yo siga las instrucciones del médico.” — “It is important that i follow the doctor's instructions.”
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
The imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, and clauses after a past-tense trigger. With seguir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Ojalá tú siguieras estudiando.” — “I wish you followed studying.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. With seguir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “¡Sigue el camino hasta el río!” — “Follow the path to the river!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. With seguir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “No sigas las instrucciones del médico.” — “Do not follow the doctor's instructions.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with seguir, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Spanish and try to produce it from the English.
- “Yo sigo las instrucciones del médico todos los días.” — “I follow the doctor's instructions every day.”
- “Tú seguiste estudiando ayer.” — “You followed studying yesterday.”
- “Él seguía el camino hasta el río antes.” — “He used to follow the path to the river before.”
- “Yo seguiré estudiando mañana.” — “I will follow studying tomorrow.”
- “Tú seguirías las instrucciones del médico algún día.” — “You would follow the doctor's instructions someday.”
- “Él ha seguido el camino hasta el río esta semana.” — “He has followed the path to the river this week.”
- “Yo había seguido las instrucciones del médico antes de la fiesta.” — “I had followed the doctor's instructions before the party.”
- “Tú habrás seguido estudiando para mañana.” — “You will have followed studying by tomorrow.”
- “Es importante que él siga el camino hasta el río.” — “It is important that he follow the path to the river.”
- “¡Sigue las instrucciones del médico!” — “Follow the doctor's instructions!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Yo seguir las instrucciones del médico.”
✓ Right: “Yo sigo las instrucciones del médico.”
The infinitive seguir never takes a subject. After yo you need the conjugated present form sigo.
2. Confusing seguir with continuar
✗ Wrong: “Yo continúo las instrucciones del médico.”
✓ Right: “Yo sigo las instrucciones del médico.”
Seguir means to follow or continue; the gerund follows it directly, as in seguir estudiando.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary in perfect tenses
✗ Wrong: “Yo soy seguido las instrucciones del médico.”
✓ Right: “Yo he seguido las instrucciones del médico.”
Spanish perfect tenses are always built with haber, never with ser. The correct form is he + the participle seguido.
4. Dropping the written accent
✗ Wrong: “segui”
✓ Right: “seguí”
The accent on seguí is part of the spelling in the preterite. Without it the form looks like a different word, so always write the accent.
5. Forgetting the e → i stem change
✗ Wrong: “Yo sego las instrucciones del médico.”
✓ Right: “Yo sigo las instrucciones del médico.”
seguir changes its stem vowel in the present tense (e → i), so the yo form is sigo, not the unchanged stem.
6. Using the preterite for a habitual past action
✗ Wrong: “Yo seguí las instrucciones del médico antes.” (said of a repeated habit)
✓ Right: “Yo seguía las instrucciones del médico antes.”
The preterite seguí describes one finished action. For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect seguía.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on seguir. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the yo form of seguir in the Present indicative?
- A) sigues
- B) sigue
- C) seguimos
- D) sigo
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of seguir in the Preterite?
- A) seguiste
- B) seguimos
- C) siguió
- D) seguí
What is the nosotros/as form of seguir in the Imperfect?
- A) seguíais
- B) seguíamos
- C) seguía
- D) seguías
What is the tú form of seguir in the Future?
- A) seguirás
- B) seguiré
- C) seguirá
- D) seguiremos
What is the yo form of seguir in the Conditional?
- A) seguirías
- B) seguiríamos
- C) seguiríais
- D) seguiría
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of seguir in the Present subjunctive?
- A) sigamos
- B) siguáis
- C) siga
- D) sigas
What is the yo form of seguir in the Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)?
- A) siguierais
- B) siguiera
- C) siguieras
- D) siguiéramos
What is the gerund of seguir?
- A) siguiendo
- B) dejando
- C) encontrando
- D) llamando
What is the past participle of seguir?
- A) dejado
- B) encontrado
- C) llamado
- D) seguido
What does seguir mean in English?
- A) to find
- B) to call
- C) to follow
- D) to leave
Answer key
- D) sigo — the yo form of seguir in the present indicative is sigo. The other options (sigues, sigue, seguimos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) siguió — the él/ella/Ud. form of seguir in the preterite is siguió. The other options (seguí, seguiste, seguimos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) seguíamos — the nosotros/as form of seguir in the imperfect is seguíamos. The other options (seguía, seguías, seguía) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) seguirás — the tú form of seguir in the future is seguirás. The other options (seguiré, seguirá, seguiremos) are the same tense for different persons.
- D) seguiría — the yo form of seguir in the conditional is seguiría. The other options (seguirías, seguiría, seguiríamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) siga — the él/ella/Ud. form of seguir in the present subjunctive is siga. The other options (siga, sigas, sigamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) siguiera — the yo form of seguir in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is siguiera. The other options (siguieras, siguiera, siguiéramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) siguiendo — the gerund of seguir is siguiendo; it is used with estar for the progressive. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) seguido — the past participle of seguir is seguido; perfect tenses use haber + seguido. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to follow — seguir means “to follow” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does seguir mean in English?
seguir means “to follow”. You use it for following instructions or a path, for continuing an action, and for keeping on doing something. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is seguir regular or irregular?
seguir is irregular — stem-changing (e → i), and it is irregular in these tenses: present, present-subjunctive, preterite, imperfect-subjunctive, gerund, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is siguiendo and the past participle is seguido.
What are the gerund and past participle of seguir?
The gerund is siguiendo — use it with estar for actions in progress. The past participle is seguido — use it with haber for the perfect tenses, as in he seguido (I have followed).
What is the difference between seguir and continuar?
Seguir means to follow or continue; the gerund follows it directly, as in seguir estudiando. If you are unsure, check the full table for continuar and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I follow” in Spanish?
Say “Yo sigo las instrucciones del médico.” — “I follow the doctor's instructions every day.” The yo form of the present is sigo, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- seguir in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in its most practised tense.
- seguir examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Spanish irregular verbs — every common irregular Spanish verb, grouped by pattern.
- Dejar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Encontrar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Llamar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Present tense guide — how the present tense works for regular verbs.
- Preterite tense guide — how the preterite works, and when to choose it over the imperfect.
- Verb Conjugator — practise seguir with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise seguir with the interactive tool.
- Subjunctive Helper — practise seguir with the interactive tool.