despertar Present Conjugation
despertar — to wake (someone) up
Despertar has an e→ie stem change in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
despertar Present Forms
When to Use the Present
Use the present tense for daily routines or to describe the act of waking someone up right now.
Notes on despertar in the Present
This is a 'boot verb'. The 'e' in the stem changes to 'ie' in the singular forms and the third-person plural.
Example Sentences
Siempre despierto a mi hermano para ir a clase.
I always wake my brother up to go to class.
yo
Ella despierta al bebé con mucho cuidado.
She wakes the baby up very carefully.
él/ella/usted
Nosotros despertamos a los abuelos para desayunar.
We wake the grandparents up for breakfast.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Saying 'nosotros despiertamos'.
Correct: despertamos
Why: The stem change (e to ie) never applies to the nosotros or vosotros forms.
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Related Tenses
Preterite
yo: desperté
Despertar is regular in the preterite: desperté, despertaste, despertó, despertamos, despertasteis, despertaron.
Imperfect
yo: despertaba
Despertar is regular in the imperfect: despertaba, despertabas, despertaba, despertábamos, despertabais, despertaban.
Future
yo: despertaré
The future of despertar is regular: despertaré, despertarás, despertará, despertaremos, despertaréis, despertarán.
Conditional
yo: despertaría
The conditional of despertar is regular: despertaría, despertarías, despertaría, despertaríamos, despertaríais, despertarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: despierte
The present subjunctive follows the e→ie stem change: despierte, despiertes, despierte, despertemos, despertéis, despierten.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: despertara
The imperfect subjunctive of despertar is regular: despertara, despertaras, despertara, despertáramos, despertarais, despertaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: despierta
Give commands using despierta (tú), despierte (usted), or despertad (vosotros).
Negative Imperative
yo: no despiertes
Negative commands use the present subjunctive: no despiertes (tú), no despierte (usted).