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SPANISH VERB

detenerse

to stop

  • #374 most used
  • Irregular -er verb
  • Gerund: deteniéndose
  • 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 detenerse

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

  1. Present

    El autobús se detiene delante del hospital.

    The bus stops in front of the hospital.

  2. Past

    Nos detuvimos a tomar un café en el camino.

    We stopped for a coffee on the way.

  3. Imperfect

    El tren se detenía en cada pueblo pequeño.

    The train stopped in every little town.

  4. Future

    ¿Se detendrá el taxi si le hago una señal?

    Will the taxi stop if I signal to it?

  5. Conditional

    Yo me detendría a mirar el paisaje un momento.

    I'd stop to look at the view for a moment.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Espera a que el tren se detenga por completo.

    Wait for the train to come to a complete stop.

  7. Past subjunctive

    La policía pidió que nos detuviéramos a un lado.

    The police asked us to pull over to the side.

  8. Imperative

    ¡Detente, el semáforo está en rojo!

    Stop, the light is red!

Good to know

  • "Detenerse" is a little formal; in everyday talk "parar" or "pararse" is more common.

Verbs like this one

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