competir Present Conjugation
competir — to compete
Competir is an e > i stem-changer in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
competir Present Forms
When to Use the Present
Use the present tense to talk about your current level of competition, recurring tournaments, or general rivalry.
Notes on competir in the Present
The 'e' in the stem changes to 'i' in the 'boot' forms (yo, tú, él, ellos). The nosotros and vosotros forms remain regular.
Example Sentences
Yo compito en torneos de ajedrez los fines de semana.
I compete in chess tournaments on weekends.
yo
¿Tú compites por el primer premio?
Do you compete for the first prize?
tú
Nosotros competimos con honestidad.
We compete with honesty.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: yo competo
Correct: yo compito
Why: Competir is an e > i stem-changing verb, so the 'e' must change to 'i' in the 'yo' form.
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Related Tenses
Preterite
yo: competí
Competir has a third-person stem change (e > i) in the preterite: compitió and compitieron.
Imperfect
yo: competía
Competir is regular in the imperfect: competía, competías, competía, competíamos, competíais, competían.
Future
yo: competiré
Competir is regular in the future tense: competir + endings (é, ás, á, emos, éis, án).
Conditional
yo: competiría
Competir is regular in the conditional: competiría, competirías, competiría...
Present Subjunctive
yo: compita
Competir changes e > i in all forms of the present subjunctive (compita, compitamos).
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: compitiera
Based on the preterite 'compitieron', the stem is 'compitiera' for all forms.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: compite
Use 'compite' (tú) or 'compita' (usted) to command someone to compete.
Negative Imperative
yo: no compitas
Negative commands use the present subjunctive forms: no compitas, no compita.