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SPANISH VERB

destruir

to destroy

  • Regular -ir verb
  • Gerund: destruyendo
  • Past participle: destruido

Conjugation

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

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

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

Imperfect

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

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Past subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

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

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

How to use destruir

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

  1. Present

    La humedad destruye los libros poco a poco.

    Damp destroys books little by little.

  2. Past

    El incendio destruyó media sierra el verano pasado.

    The fire destroyed half the mountain range last summer.

  3. Imperfect

    El perro destruía todos los cojines cuando era cachorro.

    The dog used to destroy all the cushions when he was a puppy.

  4. Future

    Si sigue lloviendo así, el agua destruirá la cosecha.

    If it keeps raining like this, the water will destroy the harvest.

  5. Conditional

    Una autopista aquí destruiría el paisaje del pueblo.

    A motorway here would destroy the village's landscape.

  6. Present subjunctive

    No quiero que los niños destruyan el jardín con el balón.

    I don't want the kids wrecking the garden with the ball.

  7. Past subjunctive

    Guardé las fotos para que nadie las destruyera.

    I put the photos away so nobody would destroy them.

  8. Imperative

    Destruye esos documentos antes de tirarlos, llevan tu dirección.

    Destroy those documents before throwing them away, they have your address.

Where you hear destruir

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

Spanish · Advanced Level 1

  • El fuego destruye muchos edificios. Fire destroys many buildings.
  • No destruyeron la puerta antigua. They didn't destroy the old door.
  • No voy a destruir estos documentos. I'm not going to destroy these documents.
25
Built Inside the Mosque

Advanced Level 1 · no la destruyeron por completo

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Verbs like this one

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