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SPANISH VERB

responder

to answer

  • #99 most used
  • Regular -er verb
  • Gerund: respondiendo
  • Past participle: respondido

Conjugation

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

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

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

Imperfect

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

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Past subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

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

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

How to use responder

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

  1. Present

    Mi hermano nunca responde los mensajes del grupo.

    My brother never answers the group messages.

  2. Past

    Respondí el correo del banco en cuanto lo vi.

    I answered the bank's email as soon as I saw it.

  3. Imperfect

    Antes respondía las llamadas aunque no conociera el número.

    I used to answer calls even if I didn't know the number.

  4. Future

    El doctor responderá sus preguntas después de la consulta.

    The doctor will answer your questions after the appointment.

  5. Conditional

    Yo no respondería ese mensaje tan tarde.

    I wouldn't answer that message so late.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Esperemos a que responda la agencia antes de pagar.

    Let's wait for the agency to reply before paying.

  7. Past subjunctive

    El examen pedía que respondiéramos en español.

    The exam asked us to answer in Spanish.

  8. Imperative

    ¡Responde el teléfono, puede ser tu madre!

    Answer the phone, it could be your mother!

Good to know

  • "Responder" and "contestar" are both to answer; "responder a una pregunta" takes "a".

Verbs like this one

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