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SPANISH VERB

despegar

to take off

  • #384 most used
  • Regular -ar verb
  • Gerund: despegando
  • Past participle: despegado

Conjugation

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

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

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

Imperfect

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

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Past subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

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

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

How to use despegar

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

  1. Present

    El avión a Madrid despega a las siete y media.

    The plane to Madrid takes off at half past seven.

  2. Past

    Despegamos con dos horas de retraso por la niebla.

    We took off two hours late because of the fog.

  3. Imperfect

    Los aviones despegaban justo encima de nuestra casa.

    The planes took off right above our house.

  4. Future

    Tu vuelo despegará en cuanto pase la tormenta.

    Your flight will take off as soon as the storm passes.

  5. Conditional

    Sin este viento, el avión despegaría a su hora.

    Without this wind, the plane would take off on time.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Apaga el móvil antes de que despegue el avión.

    Switch off your phone before the plane takes off.

  7. Past subjunctive

    Me dormí antes de que despegáramos.

    I fell asleep before we took off.

  8. Imperative

    Despega la etiqueta con cuidado para no romperla.

    Peel off the label carefully so you don't tear it.

Good to know

  • A plane despega (takes off) and aterriza (lands); despegar is also to peel off a sticker.

Where you hear despegar

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

Spanish · Advanced Level 3

  • El avión despega a las cuatro. The plane takes off at four.
  • Despegamos de Madrid por la tarde. We took off from Madrid in the afternoon.
  • Vamos a despegar dentro de unos minutos. We're going to take off in a few minutes.
21
Not That Bad

Advanced Level 3 · Vamos a despegar.

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Verbs like this one

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