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SPANISH VERB

explicar

to explain

  • #71 most used
  • Regular -ar verb
  • Gerund: explicando
  • Past participle: explicado

Conjugation

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

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

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

Imperfect

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

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Past subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

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

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

How to use explicar

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

  1. Present

    La profesora explica muy bien los verbos.

    The teacher explains the verbs very well.

  2. Past

    Le expliqué al taxista cómo llegar al hotel.

    I explained to the taxi driver how to get to the hotel.

  3. Imperfect

    Mi abuelo me explicaba las reglas del dominó.

    My grandfather used to explain the domino rules to me.

  4. Future

    Mañana te explicaré todo con calma, ¿sí?

    Tomorrow I'll explain everything calmly, okay?

  5. Conditional

    ¿Me explicaría otra vez cómo funciona la máquina?

    Would you explain to me again how the machine works?

  6. Present subjunctive

    Quiero que me expliques por qué llegaste tan tarde.

    I want you to explain why you got here so late.

  7. Past subjunctive

    Le pedí al mesero que me explicara el menú.

    I asked the waiter to explain the menu to me.

  8. Imperative

    ¡Explícame eso otra vez, pero más despacio!

    Explain that to me again, but slower!

Good to know

  • "¿Me lo explicas?" is "can you explain it to me?": the person goes with "le" or "me", the thing with "lo".

Verbs like this one

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