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SPANISH VERB

manejar

to drive

  • #213 most used
  • Regular -ar verb
  • Gerund: manejando
  • Past participle: manejado

Conjugation

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

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

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

Imperfect

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

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Past subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

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

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

How to use manejar

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

  1. Present

    Manejo una hora diaria para ir al trabajo.

    I drive an hour a day to get to work.

  2. Past

    Manejamos toda la noche hasta llegar a Guadalajara.

    We drove all night until we reached Guadalajara.

  3. Imperfect

    Mi abuela manejaba una camioneta roja enorme.

    My grandmother used to drive a huge red pickup.

  4. Future

    ¿Quién manejará de regreso después de la fiesta?

    Who will drive back after the party?

  5. Conditional

    Yo manejaría, pero no traigo mi licencia.

    I'd drive, but I don't have my license with me.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Prefiero que manejes tú, yo estoy muy cansada.

    I'd rather you drive, I'm really tired.

  7. Past subjunctive

    Si manejaras más despacio, gastarías menos gasolina.

    If you drove slower, you'd use less gas.

  8. Imperative

    Maneje con cuidado, la carretera está mojada.

    Drive carefully, the road is wet.

Good to know

  • Mexico says "manejar" where Spain says "conducir".

Where you hear manejar

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

Spanish · Beginner Level 3

  • Manejo todos los días. I drive every day.
  • Yo manejé primero. I drove first.
  • Mañana voy a manejar yo. Tomorrow I'm going to drive.

Spanish · Intermediate Level 1

  • Manejo despacio cuando llueve. I drive slowly when it rains.
  • Ayer manejé hasta el pueblo. Yesterday I drove to the village.
  • Mañana voy a manejar yo. Tomorrow I'm going to drive.
3
What Will You Do?

Beginner Level 3 · maneja una camioneta para turistas

Needs a subscription 11
Renting a Car

Beginner Level 3 · manejar · manejo · manejamos · manejaré

Needs a subscription 18
Camila's Story

Beginner Level 3 · manejé

Needs a subscription 19
Friends?

Beginner Level 3 · manejas

Needs a subscription 24
If I Were You

Intermediate Level 1 · manejaría

Needs a subscription 6
You Have to Be Clever

Intermediate Level 3 · manejo

Needs a subscription

Verbs like this one

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