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SPANISH VERB

dejar de

to stop (doing something)

  • Regular -ar verb
  • Gerund: dejando de
  • Past participle: dejado de

Conjugation

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

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

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

Imperfect

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

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Past subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

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

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

How to use dejar de

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

  1. Present

    Nunca dejo de pensar en el examen.

    I never stop thinking about the exam.

  2. Past

    Dejé de fumar el día que nació mi hija.

    I stopped smoking the day my daughter was born.

  3. Imperfect

    El niño no dejaba de llorar en toda la noche.

    The baby didn't stop crying all night.

  4. Future

    Mañana dejaré de hablar tan rápido, lo prometo.

    Tomorrow I'll stop talking so fast, I promise.

  5. Conditional

    Yo dejaría de preocuparme tanto por los demás.

    I'd stop worrying so much about other people.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Cuando deje de llover, salimos a dar una vuelta.

    When it stops raining, we'll go out for a walk.

  7. Past subjunctive

    El médico me dijo que dejara de tomar café.

    The doctor told me to stop drinking coffee.

  8. Imperative

    Deja de mirar el móvil y escúchame.

    Stop looking at your phone and listen to me.

Good to know

  • "Dejar de" with a verb is to stop doing it: dejé de fumar. "No dejes de llamar" is "be sure to call".

Where you hear dejar de

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

Spanish · Intermediate Level 3

  • Andrés nunca deja de comer pan dulce. Andres never stops eating sweet bread.
  • Dejé de fumar hace diez años. I stopped smoking ten years ago.
  • Voy a dejar de comer tanta azúcar. I'm going to stop eating so much sugar.

Spanish · Fluency Level 3

  • Yo nunca dejo de hablar. Pregúntale a Paco. I never stop talking. Ask Paco.
  • Un día dejé de traducir, y empecé a hablar. One day I stopped translating, and started talking.
  • Mañana voy a dejar de hablar tan rápido. Lo intento. Tomorrow I'm going to stop talking so fast. I'll try.
5
May You Be Very Happy

Intermediate Level 3 · Y el mío: que nunca dejen de bailar.

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I Wish I Could Help You

Intermediate Level 3 · Voy a dejar de comer tanta azúcar.

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Busy Hands

Intermediate Level 3 · No puede dejar de revisarlo.

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Let Me Try in Spanish

Fluency Level 3 · Y un día, dejé de traducir.

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Verbs like this one

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