Present
Presente · now, habits and facts
- yo I discover
- tú you discover
- usted, él, ella he/she discovers
- nosotros we discover
- vosotros Spain you all discover
- ustedes, ellos, ellas they discover
SPANISH VERB
descubrir
to discover
- #84 most used
- Irregular -ir verb
- Gerund: descubriendo
- Past participle: descubierto
Conjugation
Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.
Past
Pretérito indefinido · finished actions
- yo I discovered
- tú you discovered
- usted, él, ella he/she discovered
- nosotros we discovered
- vosotros Spain you all discovered
- ustedes, ellos, ellas they discovered
Imperfect
Pretérito imperfecto · “used to” and “was …ing”
- yo I used to discover
- tú you used to discover
- usted, él, ella he/she used to discover
- nosotros we used to discover
- vosotros Spain you all used to discover
- ustedes, ellos, ellas they used to discover
Future
Futuro · plans and promises; in speech, “voy a hablar” is just as common
- yo I will discover
- tú you will discover
- usted, él, ella he/she will discover
- nosotros we will discover
- vosotros Spain you all will discover
- ustedes, ellos, ellas they will discover
Conditional
Condicional · “would”
- yo I would discover
- tú you would discover
- usted, él, ella he/she would discover
- nosotros we would discover
- vosotros Spain you all would discover
- ustedes, ellos, ellas they would discover
Present subjunctive
Presente de subjuntivo · wishes, doubts, “que …”
- yo (that) I discover
- tú (that) you discover
- usted, él, ella (that) he/she discover
- nosotros (that) we discover
- vosotros Spain (that) you all discover
- ustedes, ellos, ellas (that) they discover
Past subjunctive
Imperfecto de subjuntivo · “if I were”, “si …”
- yo (if) I discovered
- tú (if) you discovered
- usted, él, ella (if) he/she discovered
- nosotros (if) we discovered
- vosotros Spain (if) you all discovered
- ustedes, ellos, ellas (if) they discovered
Imperative
Imperativo · requests and orders; a negative one uses the subjunctive (no hables)
- tú discover!
- usted discover! (formal)
- nosotros discover! (let’s)
- vosotros Spain discover! (all of you)
- ustedes discover! (all of you)
How to use descubrir
One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.
-
Present
Cada semana descubro un mercado nuevo en Oaxaca.
Every week I discover a new market in Oaxaca.
-
Past
Los arqueólogos descubrieron una tumba en Monte Albán.
The archaeologists discovered a tomb at Monte Albán.
-
Imperfect
De niños descubríamos cuevas detrás de la casa.
As kids we discovered caves behind the house.
-
Future
¿Qué descubriremos en el fondo de ese cenote?
What will we discover at the bottom of that cenote?
-
Conditional
Sin el mapa, nadie descubriría ese pueblito.
Without the map, nobody would discover that little village.
-
Present subjunctive
Espero que descubras lo rico que es el tejate.
I hope you discover how tasty tejate is.
-
Past subjunctive
Si descubrieras un tesoro, ¿lo compartirías conmigo?
If you discovered a treasure, would you share it with me?
-
Imperative
¡Descubre Oaxaca a pie, es la mejor manera!
Discover Oaxaca on foot, it's the best way!
Good to know
- "Descubrir" is for finding what was hidden or unknown; something you lost, you "encuentras".
Where you hear descubrir
The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.
Spanish · Intermediate Level 2
- Todavía descubrimos cosas nuevas aquí. We still discover new things here.
- Alfonso Caso descubrió las tumbas. Alfonso Caso discovered the tombs.
- Vas a descubrir un Oaxaca nuevo. You're going to discover a new Oaxaca.
Spanish · Advanced Level 1
- Cada día descubro algo nuevo. Every day I discover something new.
- Julián ha descubierto una historia. Julian has discovered a story.
- Vas a descubrir qué pasó. You're going to find out what happened.
Verbs like this one
The same pattern, on other verbs: irregular -ir verb.