Esperar Conjugation in Spanish, Translation, and Examples

Esperar Conjugation in Spanish, Translation, and Examples Esperar is a common Spanish verb that can mean to hope for, to wait, and to expect. You can figure out which meaning is intended by looking at the context, sentence structure, and whether esperar is followed by a verb in the subjunctive mood. This article explains some of the different uses of esperar in Spanish, as well as esperar conjugations in the present, past, conditional, and future indicative, the present and past subjunctive, the imperative, and other verb forms. Four Ways of Using the Verb Esperar Esperar Que  Followed by a Verb The phrase esperar que is typically followed by a verb. If that verb is in the subjunctive mood, esperar can often be understood to mean hope, while if that verb is in the indicative mood, it usually can be understood to mean expect. The use of the indicative mood suggests some degree of certainty, while the subjunctive mood indicates desire. The use of the subjunctive following esperar que is far more common. Also, the following phrases are common:  ¡Espero que sà ­! (I hope so!) ¡Espero que no! (I hope not!) To Wait or To Wait For This is one of the most common meanings of esperar, as seen in the following examples: Por favor espera aquà ­ por un momento. (Please wait here for a moment.)Bajaron al andà ©n y esperaron el tren. (They stepped down to the platform and waited for the train.)Esperamos la llegada de la policà ­a federal. (We are waiting for the arrival of the federal police.) To Expect This is another common meaning that is determined by the context: El amor llega cuando uno menos lo espera. (Love comes when you least expect it.)Para el 2028 esperamos la llegada de unos 406 mil turistas. (For 2028 we are expecting the arrival of some 406,000 tourists. Note how in some contexts hope for could be a suitable translation.) The phrase estar esperando can be used in the same way as the English to be expecting when referring to pregnancy: Carme Chacà ³n confirma que el bebà © que est esperando es un nià ±o. (Carme Chacon confirms that the baby she is expecting is a boy.) Using Esperar  Like Gustar Esperar is sometimes used in a sentence with inverted word order, like gustar and some other verbs. A better translation in such cases is await: Al dà ³lar le esperan tiempos peores. (Worse times await the dollar.)Me espera una vida nueva en algà ºn lugar del mundo.  (A new life awaits me somewhere in the world.) ¿Quà © avances tecnolà ³gicos nos esperan en el futuro? (What technological advancements await in the future? Present Indicative Esperar is conjugated in the same way as other regular -ar verbs. Yo espero Yo espero el autobà ºs por la maà ±ana. I wait for the bus in the morning. Tà º esperas Tà º esperas a tu amigo en el aeropuerto. You wait for your friend at the airport. Usted/à ©l/ella espera Ella espera triunfar en la competencia. She hopes to succeed in the competition. Nosotros esperamos Nosotros esperamos verte pronto. We hope to see you soon. Vosotros esperis Vosotros esperis al bebà © para agosto. You expect the baby in August. Ustedes/ellos/ellas esperan Ellos esperan lluvia esta tarde. They expect rain this afternoon. Preterite Indicative The preterite tense is used to talk about events that happened in the past and have been completed. Yo esperà © Yo esperà © el autobà ºs por la maà ±ana. I waited for the bus in the morning. Tà º esperaste Tà º esperaste a tu amigo en el aeropuerto. You waited for your friend at the airport. Usted/à ©l/ella esperà ³ Ella esperà ³ triunfar en la competencia. She hoped to succeed in the competition. Nosotros esperamos Nosotros esperamos verte pronto. We hoped to see you soon. Vosotros esperasteis Vosotros esperasteis al bebà © para agosto. You expected the baby in August. Ustedes/ellos/ellas esperaron Ellos esperaron lluvia esta tarde. They expected rain this afternoon. Imperfect Indicative The imperfect tense is used to talk about actions in the past that were ongoing or repeated, and it can be translated to English as was waiting or used to wait. Yo esperaba Yo esperaba el autobà ºs por la maà ±ana. I used to wait for the bus in the morning. Tà º esperabas Tà º esperabas a tu amigo en el aeropuerto. You used to wait for your friend at the airport. Usted/à ©l/ella esperaba Ella esperaba triunfar en la competencia. She was hopingto succeed in the competition. Nosotros esperbamos Nosotros esperbamos verte pronto. We were hopingto see you soon. Vosotros esperabais Vosotros esperabais al bebà © para agosto. You were expecting the baby in August. Ustedes/ellos/ellas esperaban Ellos esperaban lluvia esta tarde. They were expecting rain this afternoon. Future Indicative Yo esperarà © Yo esperarà © el autobà ºs por la maà ±ana. I will wait for the bus in the morning. Tà º esperars Tà º esperars a tu amigo en el aeropuerto. You will wait for your friend at the airport. Usted/à ©l/ella esperar Ella esperar triunfar en la competencia. She will hopeto succeed in the competition. Nosotros esperaremos Nosotros esperaremos verte pronto. We will hopeto see you soon. Vosotros esperarà ©is Vosotros esperarà ©is al bebà © para agosto. You will expect the baby in August. Ustedes/ellos/ellas esperarn Ellos esperarn lluvia esta tarde. They will expect rain this afternoon. Periphrastic  Future Indicative   The periphrastic future is sometimes called the near future and is translated to English as going to verb. Yo voy a esperar Yo voya esperar el autobà ºs por la maà ±ana. I am going to wait for the bus in the morning. Tà º vasa esperar Tà º vasa esperar a tu amigo en el aeropuerto. You aregoing to wait for your friend at the airport. Usted/à ©l/ella va a esperar Ella vaa esperar triunfar en la competencia. She isgoing to hopeto succeed in the competition. Nosotros vamosa esperar Nosotros vamosa esperar verte pronto. We aregoing to hopeto see you soon. Vosotros vaisa esperar Vosotros vaisa esperaral bebà © para agosto. You aregoing to expect the baby for August. Ustedes/ellos/ellas vana esperar Ellos vana esperar lluvia esta tarde. They aregoing to expect rain this afternoon. Present Progressive/Gerund Form The verb form that ends in -ing in English is called the gerund or present participle in Spanish. It is often used to form progressive tenses like the present progressive. Present Progressive ofEsperar est esperando Ella est esperando triunfar en la competencia. She is expecting to succeed in the competition. Past Participle In Spanish, the past participle usually ends in -ado or -ido, and is used to form perfect tenses like the present perfect. Present Perfect of Esperar ha esperado Ella ha esperado triunfar en la competencia. She has expected to succeed in the competition. Esperar Conditional Indicative The conditional tense is used to talk about possibilities, and is usually translated to English as would verb. Yo esperarà ­a Yo esperarà ­a el autobà ºs por la maà ±ana si me despertara temprano. I would wait for the bus in the morning if I were to wake up early . Tà º esperarà ­as Tà º esperarà ­as a tu amigo en el aeropuerto si te viniera a visitar. You would wait for your friend at the airport if he came to visit you. Usted/à ©l/ella esperarà ­a Ella esperarà ­a triunfar en la competencia, pero no es optimista. She would hopeto succeed in the competition, but she is not optimistic. Nosotros esperarà ­amos Nosotros esperarà ­amos verte pronto, pero sabemos que es complicado. We would hopeto see you soon, but we know it is complicated. Vosotros esperarà ­ais Vosotros esperarà ­ais al bebà © para agosto si lo dijera el doctor. You would expect the baby in August if the doctor said so. Ustedes/ellos/ellas esperarà ­an Ellos esperarà ­an lluvia esta tarde si el pronà ³stico lo indicara. They would expect rain this afternoon if the forecast were to indicate it. Esperar Present Subjunctive Que yo espere Mi madre sugiere que yo espere el autobà ºs por la maà ±ana. My mother suggests that I wait for the bus in the morning. Que tà º esperes Marta pide que tà º esperes a tu amigo en el aeropuerto. Marta asks that you wait for your friend at the airport. Que usted/à ©l/ella espere El entrenador recomienda que ella espere triunfar en la competencia. The coach recommends that she hope to succeed in the competition. Que nosotros esperemos Erica desea que nosotros esperemos verte pronto. Erica wishes that we hope to see you soon. Que vosotros esperà ©is El mà ©dico recomienda que vosotros esperà ©is al bebà © para agosto. The doctor recommends that you expect the baby in August. Que ustedes/ellos/ellas esperen El meteorà ³logo sugiere que ellos esperen lluvia esta tarde. The meteorologist suggests that they expect rain this afternoon. Esperar Imperfect Subjunctive There are two different ways for conjugating the imperfect subjunctive. The first option below is more common. Option 1 Que yo esperara Mi madre sugerà ­a que yo esperara el autobà ºs por la maà ±ana. My mother suggested that I wait for the bus in the morning. Que tà º esperaras Marta pidià ³ que tà º esperaras a tu amigo en el aeropuerto. Marta asked that you wait for your friend at the airport. Que usted/à ©l/ella esperara El entrenador recomendaba que ella esperara triunfar en la competencia. The coach recommended that she hope to succeed in the competition. Que nosotros esperramos Erica deseaba que nosotros esperramos verte pronto. Erica wished that we hope to see you soon. Que vosotros esperarais El mà ©dico recomendà ³ que vosotros esperarais al bebà © para agosto. The doctor recommended that you expect the baby in August. Que ustedes/ellos/ellas esperaran El meteorà ³logo sugirià ³ que ellos esperaran lluvia esta tarde. The meteorologist suggested that they expect rain this afternoon. Option 2 Que yo esperase Mi madre sugerà ­a que yo esperase el autobà ºs por la maà ±ana. My mother suggested that I wait for the bus in the morning. Que tà º esperases Marta pidià ³ que tà º esperases a tu amigo en el aeropuerto. Marta asked that you wait for your friend at the airport. Que usted/à ©l/ella esperase El entrenador recomendaba que ella esperase triunfar en la competencia. The coach recommended that she hope to succeed in the competition. Que nosotros espersemos Erica deseaba que nosotros espersemos verte pronto. Erica wished that we hope to see you soon. Que vosotros esperaseis El mà ©dico recomendà ³ que vosotros esperaseis al bebà © para agosto. The doctor recommended that you expect the baby in August. Que ustedes/ellos/ellas esperasen El meteorà ³logo sugirià ³ que ellos esperasen lluvia esta tarde. The meteorologist suggested that they expect rain this afternoon. Esperar Imperative The imperative mood is used to give commands, and it has both positive and negative forms. Positive Commands Tà º espera  ¡Espera a tu amigo en el aeropuerto! Wait for your friend at the airport! Usted espere  ¡Espere triunfar en la competencia! Hope to succeed in the competition! Nosotros esperemos  ¡Esperemos verte pronto! Let's hope to see you soon! Vosotros esperad  ¡Esperad al bebà © para agosto! Expect the baby in August! Ustedes esperen  ¡Esperen lluvia esta tarde! Expect rain this afternoon! Negative Commands Tà º no esperes  ¡No esperes a tu amigo en el aeropuerto! Don't wait for your friend at the airport! Usted no espere  ¡No espere triunfar en la competencia! Don't hope to succeed in the competition! Nosotros no esperemos  ¡No esperemos verte pronto! Let's not hope to see you soon! Vosotros no esperà ©is  ¡No esperà ©is al bebà © para agosto! Don't expect the baby in August! Ustedes no esperen  ¡No esperen lluvia esta tarde! Don't expect rain this afternoon!