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SPANISH VERB

comprender

to understand

  • #69 most used
  • Regular -er verb
  • Gerund: comprendiendo
  • Past participle: comprendido

Conjugation

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

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

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

Imperfect

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

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Past subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

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

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

How to use comprender

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

  1. Present

    Comprendo tu enojo, pero no fue culpa mía.

    I understand your anger, but it wasn't my fault.

  2. Past

    Al final comprendí por qué se fue sin despedirse.

    In the end I understood why she left without saying goodbye.

  3. Imperfect

    De niña no comprendía por qué trabajaban tanto.

    As a girl I didn't understand why they worked so much.

  4. Future

    Algún día comprenderás lo que hice por ti.

    One day you'll understand what I did for you.

  5. Conditional

    Un médico comprendería mejor estos resultados.

    A doctor would understand these results better.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Habla despacio para que todos te comprendan.

    Speak slowly so everyone understands you.

  7. Past subjunctive

    Me explicó dos veces para que lo comprendiera bien.

    She explained twice so I'd understand it well.

  8. Imperative

    ¡Comprende, hijo, que no podemos pagar eso!

    Understand, son, that we can't pay for that!

Good to know

  • "Comprender" and "entender" mean the same; "entender" is the more everyday word.

Verbs like this one

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