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SPANISH VERB

vigilar

to watch, to keep an eye on

  • Regular -ar verb
  • Gerund: vigilando
  • Past participle: vigilado

Conjugation

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

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

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

Imperfect

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

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Past subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

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

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

How to use vigilar

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

  1. Present

    Vigilo la paella mientras tú pones la mesa.

    I'll keep an eye on the paella while you set the table.

  2. Past

    Un vecino vigiló el coche mientras cambiábamos la rueda.

    A neighbour watched the car while we changed the tyre.

  3. Imperfect

    Mi madre nos vigilaba desde el balcón cuando jugábamos.

    My mother watched us from the balcony when we played.

  4. Future

    ¿Vigilarás las maletas un segundo, por favor?

    Will you watch the suitcases for a second, please?

  5. Conditional

    Yo vigilaría mejor el horno, que se quema la tarta.

    I'd keep a closer eye on the oven, the cake's burning.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Quiero que vigiles al niño en la piscina.

    I want you to keep an eye on the boy in the pool.

  7. Past subjunctive

    Nos pidieron que vigiláramos la entrada del colegio.

    They asked us to watch the school entrance.

  8. Imperative

    ¡Vigila el bolso, que hay mucha gente aquí!

    Watch your bag, there are a lot of people here!

Where you hear vigilar

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

Spanish · Advanced Level 1

  • Vigilo la entrada desde mi mesa. I watch the entrance from my desk.
  • La vigilamos toda la noche. We watched her all night.
  • Yo la voy a vigilar. I'm going to watch her.

Spanish · Fluency Level 1

  • Rosario todavía vigila a sus alumnas desde Cádiz. Rosario still keeps an eye on her students from Cadiz.
  • Anoche vigilé a la señora de la seis hasta el relevo. Last night I kept an eye on the woman in six until the handover.
  • Cuando os vayáis de viaje, yo os voy a vigilar el piso. When you go away, I'm going to keep an eye on the flat for you.
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Where Did You Study?

Advanced Level 1 · Vigiladla.

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In My Day

Fluency Level 1 · vigila a Sarah

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Verbs like this one

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