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SPANISH VERB

detener

to stop, to arrest

  • #136 most used
  • Irregular -er verb
  • Gerund: deteniendo
  • Past participle: detenido

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 detener

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

  1. Present

    La policía detiene a los coches en la frontera.

    The police stop cars at the border.

  2. Past

    El tren se detuvo en medio del túnel.

    The train stopped in the middle of the tunnel.

  3. Imperfect

    El autobús se detenía en cada esquina.

    The bus used to stop at every corner.

  4. Future

    Nada detendrá a mi hija cuando quiere algo.

    Nothing will stop my daughter when she wants something.

  5. Conditional

    Yo me detendría a comer algo antes de seguir.

    I'd stop to eat something before going on.

  6. Present subjunctive

    No dejes que te detenga el miedo.

    Don't let fear stop you.

  7. Past subjunctive

    Le pedí al taxista que se detuviera aquí.

    I asked the taxi driver to stop here.

  8. Imperative

    ¡Detén el coche, hay un perro en la calle!

    Stop the car, there's a dog in the street!

Good to know

  • "Detenerse" is to come to a halt: "el tren se detuvo". In everyday speech "parar" is more common.

Verbs like this one

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