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fluentbyear

SPANISH VERB

arder

to burn

  • Regular -er verb
  • Gerund: ardiendo
  • Past participle: ardido

Conjugation

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

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

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

Imperfect

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

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Past subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

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

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

How to use arder

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

  1. Present

    En San Juan las hogueras arden hasta la madrugada.

    On Saint John's night the bonfires burn until the small hours.

  2. Past

    El verano pasado ardieron mil hectáreas de pinar.

    Last summer a thousand hectares of pine forest burned.

  3. Imperfect

    Me ardían los ojos del humo de la barbacoa.

    My eyes were stinging from the barbecue smoke.

  4. Future

    Con este calor, el campo arderá a la primera chispa.

    In this heat the countryside will burn at the first spark.

  5. Conditional

    Esa leña verde no ardería ni con gasolina.

    That green wood wouldn't burn even with petrol.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Aparta la sartén antes de que arda el aceite.

    Move the pan before the oil catches fire.

  7. Past subjunctive

    Si ardiera la cocina, ¿sabrías dónde está el extintor?

    If the kitchen caught fire, would you know where the extinguisher is?

  8. Imperative

    ¡Arde, fuego, que esta noche quemamos las penas!

    Burn, fire, tonight we burn our sorrows away!

Good to know

  • "Arder" is what the fire, or the thing on fire, does; you "quemas" something. "La cosa está que arde" means things are heating up.

Where you hear arder

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

Spanish · Fluency Level 1

  • En San Juan, la leña seca arde en un minuto. On Saint John's night, dry wood burns in a minute.
  • Anoche la hoguera ardió hasta las tres de la mañana. Last night the bonfire burned until three in the morning.
  • El año que viene, la hoguera de la playa va a arder toda la noche. Next year, the bonfire on the beach is going to burn all night.

Verbs like this one

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