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SPANISH VERB

entender

to understand

  • #45 most used
  • Irregular -er verb
  • Gerund: entendiendo
  • Past participle: entendido

Conjugation

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

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

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

Imperfect

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

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Past subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

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

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

How to use entender

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

  1. Present

    Perdón, no entiendo la pregunta.

    Sorry, I don't understand the question.

  2. Past

    ¿Entendiste lo que dijo el doctor?

    Did you understand what the doctor said?

  3. Imperfect

    Al principio no entendía nada de español.

    At first I didn't understand any Spanish.

  4. Future

    Con el tiempo, entenderás a tu papá.

    In time, you will understand your dad.

  5. Conditional

    Nadie entendería esa broma sin contexto.

    Nobody would get that joke without context.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Es importante que entiendan las reglas.

    It's important that you all understand the rules.

  7. Past subjunctive

    Si entendiera japonés, vería la serie sin subtítulos.

    If I understood Japanese, I would watch the show without subtitles.

  8. Imperative

    Entiende una cosa: no vamos a vender la casa.

    Understand one thing: we are not selling the house.

Where you hear entender

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

Spanish · Beginner Level 1

  • Ahora entiendo un poco más. Now I understand a little more.
  • No entendí la pregunta. I didn't understand the question.
  • Vas a entender todo. You're going to understand everything.

Spanish · Beginner Level 2

  • Mi hermana entiende un poco de español. My sister understands a little Spanish.
  • Entendí la pregunta. I understood the question.
  • Voy a entender más mañana. I'm going to understand more tomorrow.
2
Where Are You From?

Beginner Level 1 · entiendo · No entiendo.

Free 10
How Was Your Day?

Beginner Level 1 · entiendes · Entiendes mucho. · Entiendo un poco más.

Needs a subscription 24
This Is My Sister

Beginner Level 2 · entiende · No entiende.

Needs a subscription 2
You Have to Lie Diagonally

Beginner Level 3 · Entendido.

Free 29
Whatever Happens

Intermediate Level 1 · que lo entienda

Needs a subscription 12
How Much Longer?

Advanced Level 1 · la has entendido · la entendiste

Needs a subscription 19
Had I Known

Advanced Level 1 · luego entendí

Needs a subscription 16
Both Things

Advanced Level 3 · un poco, lo entiendo

Needs a subscription 5
On the Tip of My Tongue

Fluency Level 2 · Yo le entiendo. · ¿Me entiende?

Needs a subscription

Verbs like this one

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