Indicative Tenses in Spanish Grammar

What is the indicative mood in Spanish?

The indicative mood (el indicativo) is used to talk about true actions, events and states as well as facts.

You can think of the indicative as the standard or default mood.

In addition to the indicative, Spanish has two other moods: the subjunctive and the imperative.

Read on to learn how to conjugate the indicative tenses in Spanish grammar.

Present

We use the present tense, also simple present, (presente) to speak about the present and the future.

Example:
hablo
aprendo
vivo

Progressive (estar + gerundio)

The progressive tense with estar + gerundio describes an action that is already in progress at the moment of speaking, or is only taking place temporarily.

Example:
estoy hablando
estoy aprendiendo
estoy viviendo

Perfect

The perfect tense (pretérito perfecto) is used for completed actions that still have an influence on or a connection to the present.

Example:
he hablado
he aprendido
he vivido

Imperfect

The imperfect tense (pretérito imperfecto) expresses a past action with no defined start or end as well as the habitual repetition of an event in the past.

Example:
hablaba
aprendía
vivía

Preterite

The preterite tense (pretérito indefinido) or simple past is used for one-off completed past actions or actions that interrupt another past action.

Example:
hablé
aprendí
viví

Past Perfect

The past perfect (pretérito plusquamperfecto) is used to describe an action that took place before a certain point in the past.

Example:
había hablado
había aprendido
había vivido

Preterite Perfect

The preterite perfect tense (pretérito anterior) is hardly used these days. Although, it can still be found in some literary texts. It expresses something that happened shortly before another action.

Example:
hube hablado
hube aprendido
hube vivido

Future (ir + a)

The future with ir + a (futuro próximo) is often used in instead of the future simple in spoken Spanish.

Example:
voy a hablar
voy a aprender
voy a vivir

Future

The future tense (futuro simple) is generally used to express an intention regarding the future or a supposition about the present or future.

Example:
hablaré
aprenderé
viviré

Future Perfect

The future perfect (futuro compuesto) expresses the supposition or assumption that an action will have been completed by the present moment or by a point in the future.

Example:
habré hablado
habré aprendido
habré vivido

Conditional

The conditional mood (condicional simple) is used for actions that could possibly take place, as well as for polite requests and to express wishes.

Example:
hablaría
aprendería
viviría

Conditional Perfect

The conditional perfect (condicional compuesto) is used similarly to the conditional, with the difference that the actions described have already been completed.

Example:
habría hablado
habría aprendido
habría vivido