recoger Present Conjugation
recoger — to pick up
Recoger has a spelling change in the 'yo' form (recojo) to keep the 'h' sound, but is otherwise regular.
recoger Present Forms
When to Use the Present
Use this for habits, like picking up the mail daily, or for actions happening right now, like cleaning up your desk.
Notes on recoger in the Present
The verb is a 'g-to-j' changer in the 'yo' form. Since 'go' sounds like 'go' (as in goat), we use 'recojo' to maintain the soft 'h' sound of the infinitive.
Example Sentences
Yo siempre recojo la mesa después de cenar.
I always clear the table after eating dinner.
yo
Ella recoge a los niños del colegio a las tres.
She picks up the kids from school at three.
él/ella/usted
Nosotros recogemos la basura los lunes.
We pick up the trash on Mondays.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Writing 'recogo' for the yo form.
Correct: recojo
Why: In Spanish, 'go' is a hard sound. To keep the 'h' sound from 'recoger', you must change the 'g' to a 'j' before an 'o'.
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Related Tenses
Preterite
yo: recogí
The preterite of recoger is regular: recogí, recogiste, recogió, recogimos, recogisteis, recogieron.
Imperfect
yo: recogía
The imperfect of recoger is regular: recogía, recogías, recogía, recogíamos, recogíais, recogían.
Future
yo: recogeré
The future of recoger is regular: recogeré, recogerás, recogerá, recogeremos, recogeréis, recogerán.
Conditional
yo: recogería
The conditional of recoger is regular: recogería, recogerías, recogería, recogeríamos, recogeríais, recogerían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: recoja
The present subjunctive of recoger uses the 'j' spelling in all forms: recoja, recojas, recoja, recojamos, recojáis, recojan.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: recogiera
The imperfect subjunctive of recoger is regular: recogiera, recogieras, recogiera, recogiéramos, recogierais, recogieran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: recoge
The imperative uses 'recoge' (tú) and 'recoja' (usted). Note the 'j' in the formal and plural forms.
Negative Imperative
yo: no recojas
The negative imperative always uses a 'j': no recojas, no recoja, no recojamos, no recojáis, no recojan.