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SPANISH VERB

abreviar

to shorten, to keep it short

  • Regular -ar verb
  • Gerund: abreviando
  • Past participle: abreviado

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

  1. yo I shorten
  2. tú you shorten
  3. usted, él, ella he/she shortens
  4. nosotros we shorten
  5. vosotros Spain you all shorten
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they shorten

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

  1. yo I shortened
  2. tú you shortened
  3. usted, él, ella he/she shortened
  4. nosotros we shortened
  5. vosotros Spain you all shortened
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they shortened

Imperfect

Pretérito imperfecto · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. yo I used to shorten
  2. tú you used to shorten
  3. usted, él, ella he/she used to shorten
  4. nosotros we used to shorten
  5. vosotros Spain you all used to shorten
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they used to shorten

Future

Futuro · plans and promises; in speech, “voy a hablar” is just as common

  1. yo I will shorten
  2. tú you will shorten
  3. usted, él, ella he/she will shorten
  4. nosotros we will shorten
  5. vosotros Spain you all will shorten
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they will shorten

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

  1. yo I would shorten
  2. tú you would shorten
  3. usted, él, ella he/she would shorten
  4. nosotros we would shorten
  5. vosotros Spain you all would shorten
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they would shorten

Present subjunctive

Presente de subjuntivo · wishes, doubts, “que …”

  1. yo (that) I shorten
  2. tú (that) you shorten
  3. usted, él, ella (that) he/she shorten
  4. nosotros (that) we shorten
  5. vosotros Spain (that) you all shorten
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas (that) they shorten

Past subjunctive

Imperfecto de subjuntivo · “if I were”, “si …”

  1. yo (if) I shortened
  2. tú (if) you shortened
  3. usted, él, ella (if) he/she shortened
  4. nosotros (if) we shortened
  5. vosotros Spain (if) you all shortened
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas (if) they shortened

Imperative

Imperativo · requests and orders; a negative one uses the subjunctive (no hables)

  1. tú shorten!
  2. usted shorten! (formal)
  3. nosotros shorten! (let’s)
  4. vosotros Spain shorten! (all of you)
  5. ustedes shorten! (all of you)

How to use abreviar

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Abrevio, que no tenemos mucho tiempo.

    I'll keep it short, we don't have much time.

  2. Past

    El alcalde abrevió el discurso por el calor.

    The mayor cut his speech short because of the heat.

  3. Imperfect

    Mi abuelo abreviaba los nombres de todos sus nietos.

    My grandfather shortened the names of all his grandchildren.

  4. Future

    Abreviaré la reunión para que podáis comer.

    I'll keep the meeting short so you can have lunch.

  5. Conditional

    Yo abreviaría la carta, es demasiado larga.

    I'd shorten the letter, it's too long.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Te pido que abrevies, que el tren sale ya.

    Please keep it short, the train is about to leave.

  7. Past subjunctive

    El director pidió que abreviáramos las presentaciones.

    The head asked us to shorten the presentations.

  8. Imperative

    ¡Abrevia, Manolo, que se enfría la comida!

    Get to the point, Manolo, the food's getting cold!

Good to know

  • "Abrevia" is what you say when someone's story is going on too long: get to the point.

Where you hear abreviar

The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.

Spanish · Advanced Level 2

  • Aquí abreviamos todos los nombres. Here we shorten all the names.
  • Abrevié el artículo. Tenía demasiadas páginas. I shortened the article. It had too many pages.
  • Voy a abreviar, que hay una mujer de parto. I'm going to keep it short, there's a woman in labour.
6
In Honour of a Nun

Advanced Level 2 · para abreviar

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Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: regular -ar verb.