Volver Conjugation in Spanish
volver means “return” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Spanish learners meet — it sits at number 29 in VerbFlow’s frequency list. You use it for returning home, for coming back to a place, and for returning late. 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 volver — 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 vuelvo a casa todos los días.” — “I return home every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: volver
- English: to return
- Verb type: Irregular — stem-changing (o → ue)
- Irregular in: past-participle, present-perfect, pluperfect, future-perfect, conditional-perfect
- Gerund: volviendo
- Past participle: vuelto
- 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 volver. 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 | vuelvo |
| tú | vuelves |
| él/ella/Ud. | vuelve |
| nosotros/as | volvemos |
| vosotros/as | volvéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | vuelven |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | volví |
| tú | volviste |
| él/ella/Ud. | volvió |
| nosotros/as | volvimos |
| vosotros/as | volvisteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | volvieron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | volvía |
| tú | volvías |
| él/ella/Ud. | volvía |
| nosotros/as | volvíamos |
| vosotros/as | volvíais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | volvían |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | volveré |
| tú | volverás |
| él/ella/Ud. | volverá |
| nosotros/as | volveremos |
| vosotros/as | volveréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | volverán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | volvería |
| tú | volverías |
| él/ella/Ud. | volvería |
| nosotros/as | volveríamos |
| vosotros/as | volveríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | volverían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he vuelto |
| tú | has vuelto |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha vuelto |
| nosotros/as | hemos vuelto |
| vosotros/as | habéis vuelto |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han vuelto |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había vuelto |
| tú | habías vuelto |
| él/ella/Ud. | había vuelto |
| nosotros/as | habíamos vuelto |
| vosotros/as | habíais vuelto |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían vuelto |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré vuelto |
| tú | habrás vuelto |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá vuelto |
| nosotros/as | habremos vuelto |
| vosotros/as | habréis vuelto |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán vuelto |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría vuelto |
| tú | habrías vuelto |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría vuelto |
| nosotros/as | habríamos vuelto |
| vosotros/as | habríais vuelto |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían vuelto |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | vuelva |
| tú | vuelvas |
| él/ella/Ud. | vuelva |
| nosotros/as | volvamos |
| vosotros/as | volváis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | vuelvan |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | volviera |
| tú | volvieras |
| él/ella/Ud. | volviera |
| nosotros/as | volviéramos |
| vosotros/as | volvierais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | volvieran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | vuelve |
| él/ella/Ud. | vuelva |
| nosotros/as | volvamos |
| vosotros/as | volved |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | vuelvan |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | vuelvas |
| él/ella/Ud. | vuelva |
| nosotros/as | volvamos |
| vosotros/as | volváis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | vuelvan |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Gerund | volviendo |
| Past participle | vuelto |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Yo vuelvo a casa todos los días.” — “I return home every day.”
Preterite
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past. For example: “Tú volviste a Madrid ayer.” — “You returned to Madrid yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Él volvía tarde del trabajo antes.” — “He used to return late from work before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and probability. For example: “Yo volveré a casa mañana.” — “I will return home tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Tú volverías a Madrid algún día.” — “You would return to Madrid someday.”
Present perfect
The present perfect is used for recent past actions and life experience, formed with haber + the past participle. With volver 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: “Él ha vuelto tarde del trabajo esta semana.” — “He has returned late from work this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. With volver 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 había vuelto a casa antes de la fiesta.” — “I had returned home before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. With volver 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 habrás vuelto a Madrid para mañana.” — “You will have returned to Madrid by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. With volver 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: “Él habría vuelto tarde del trabajo ayer.” — “He would have returned late from work yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Es importante que yo vuelva a casa.” — “It is important that i return home.”
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. For example: “Ojalá tú volvieras a Madrid.” — “I wish you returned to Madrid.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. The imperative of volver gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “¡Vuelve tarde del trabajo!” — “Return late from work!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. The imperative of volver gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “No vuelvas a casa.” — “Do not return home.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with volver, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Spanish and try to produce it from the English.
- “Yo vuelvo a casa todos los días.” — “I return home every day.”
- “Tú volviste a Madrid ayer.” — “You returned to Madrid yesterday.”
- “Él volvía tarde del trabajo antes.” — “He used to return late from work before.”
- “Yo volveré a Madrid mañana.” — “I will return to Madrid tomorrow.”
- “Tú volverías a casa algún día.” — “You would return home someday.”
- “Él ha vuelto tarde del trabajo esta semana.” — “He has returned late from work this week.”
- “Yo había vuelto a casa antes de la fiesta.” — “I had returned home before the party.”
- “Tú habrás vuelto a Madrid para mañana.” — “You will have returned to Madrid by tomorrow.”
- “Es importante que él vuelva tarde del trabajo.” — “It is important that he return late from work.”
- “¡Vuelve a casa!” — “Return home!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Yo volver a casa.”
✓ Right: “Yo vuelvo a casa.”
The infinitive volver never takes a subject. After yo you need the conjugated present form vuelvo.
2. Confusing volver with ir
✗ Wrong: “Yo voy a casa.”
✓ Right: “Yo vuelvo a casa.”
Volver is to return; ir is simply to go.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary in perfect tenses
✗ Wrong: “Yo soy vuelto a casa.”
✓ Right: “Yo he vuelto a casa.”
Spanish perfect tenses are always built with haber, never with ser. The correct form is he + the participle vuelto.
4. Dropping the written accent
✗ Wrong: “volvi”
✓ Right: “volví”
The accent on volví 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 o → ue stem change
✗ Wrong: “Yo volvo a casa.”
✓ Right: “Yo vuelvo a casa.”
volver changes its stem vowel in the present tense (o → ue), so the yo form is vuelvo, not the unchanged stem.
6. Using the preterite for a habitual past action
✗ Wrong: “Yo volví a casa antes.” (said of a repeated habit)
✓ Right: “Yo volvía a casa antes.”
The preterite volví describes one finished action. For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect volvía.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on volver. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the yo form of volver in the Present indicative?
- A) vuelves
- B) vuelve
- C) volvemos
- D) vuelvo
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of volver in the Preterite?
- A) volviste
- B) volvimos
- C) volvió
- D) volví
What is the nosotros/as form of volver in the Imperfect?
- A) volvíais
- B) volvíamos
- C) volvía
- D) volvías
What is the tú form of volver in the Future?
- A) volverás
- B) volveré
- C) volverá
- D) volveremos
What is the yo form of volver in the Conditional?
- A) volverías
- B) volveríamos
- C) volveríais
- D) volvería
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of volver in the Present subjunctive?
- A) volvamos
- B) volváis
- C) vuelva
- D) vuelvas
What is the yo form of volver in the Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)?
- A) volvierais
- B) volviera
- C) volvieras
- D) volviéramos
What is the gerund of volver?
- A) volviendo
- B) saliendo
- C) tomando
- D) conociendo
What is the past participle of volver?
- A) salido
- B) tomado
- C) conocido
- D) vuelto
What does volver mean in English?
- A) to take
- B) to know
- C) to return
- D) to go out
Answer key
- D) vuelvo — the yo form of volver in the present indicative is vuelvo. The other options (vuelves, vuelve, volvemos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) volvió — the él/ella/Ud. form of volver in the preterite is volvió. The other options (volví, volviste, volvimos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) volvíamos — the nosotros/as form of volver in the imperfect is volvíamos. The other options (volvía, volvías, volvía) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) volverás — the tú form of volver in the future is volverás. The other options (volveré, volverá, volveremos) are the same tense for different persons.
- D) volvería — the yo form of volver in the conditional is volvería. The other options (volverías, volvería, volveríamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) vuelva — the él/ella/Ud. form of volver in the present subjunctive is vuelva. The other options (vuelva, vuelvas, volvamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) volviera — the yo form of volver in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is volviera. The other options (volvieras, volviera, volviéramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) volviendo — the gerund of volver is volviendo; it is used with estar for the progressive. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) vuelto — the past participle of volver is vuelto; perfect tenses use haber + vuelto. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to return — volver means “to return” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does volver mean in English?
volver means “to return”. You use it for returning home, for coming back to a place, and for returning late. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is volver regular or irregular?
volver is irregular — stem-changing (o → ue), and it is irregular in these tenses: past-participle, present-perfect, pluperfect, future-perfect, conditional-perfect. The gerund is volviendo and the past participle is vuelto.
What are the gerund and past participle of volver?
The gerund is volviendo — use it with estar for actions in progress. The past participle is vuelto — use it with haber for the perfect tenses, as in he vuelto (I have returned).
What is the difference between volver and ir?
Volver is to return; ir is simply to go. If you are unsure, check the full table for ir and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I return” in Spanish?
Say “Yo vuelvo a casa.” — “I return home every day.” The yo form of the present is vuelvo, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- volver in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in its most practised tense.
- volver 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.
- Salir conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Tomar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Conocer 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 volver with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise volver with the interactive tool.