exigir Present Conjugation
exigir — to demand
Exigir has a spelling change in the 'yo' form (exijo) to keep the 'h' sound, but is regular otherwise.
exigir Present Forms
When to Use the Present
Use the present tense to talk about current demands, workplace requirements, or things you consistently ask of others.
Notes on exigir in the Present
This is a 'g' to 'j' spelling change verb. In the 'yo' form, the 'g' becomes a 'j' (exijo) to maintain the harsh 'h' sound before the 'o'.
Example Sentences
Yo siempre exijo respeto en mis clases.
I always demand respect in my classes.
yo
Mi jefe nos exige mucho trabajo esta semana.
My boss demands a lot of work from us this week.
él/ella/usted
¿Por qué exiges tanto de tus amigos?
Why do you demand so much from your friends?
tú
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Writing 'exigo' instead of 'exijo'.
Correct: exijo
Why: In Spanish, 'go' is pronounced like 'go' in 'gold'. To keep the 'h' sound of 'exigir', you must change the 'g' to 'j' before an 'o'.
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Related Tenses
Preterite
yo: exigí
Exigir is regular in the preterite: exigí, exigiste, exigió, exigimos, exigisteis, exigieron.
Imperfect
yo: exigía
Exigir is regular in the imperfect: exigía, exigías, exigía, exigíamos, exigíais, exigían.
Future
yo: exigiré
Exigir is regular in the future: exigiré, exigirás, exigirá, exigiremos, exigiréis, exigirán.
Conditional
yo: exigiría
Exigir is regular in the conditional: exigiría, exigirías, exigiría, exigiríamos, exigiríais, exigirían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: exija
The present subjunctive of exigir uses a 'j' in all forms: exija, exijas, exija, exijamos, exijáis, exijan.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: exigiera
The imperfect subjunctive of exigir uses the stem 'exigier-': exigiera, exigieras, exigiera, exigiéramos, exigierais, exigieran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: exige
The imperative forms are: exige (tú), exija (usted), exijamos (nosotros), exigid (vosotros), exijan (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no exijas
All negative commands for exigir use 'j': no exijas, no exija, no exijamos, no exijáis, no exijan.