vaciar Present Conjugation
vaciar — to empty
Vaciar is irregular in the present tense, adding an accent to the 'í' in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
vaciar Present Forms
When to Use the Present
Use the present tense to talk about current habits, like emptying the trash every night, or actions happening right now, like draining a pool.
Notes on vaciar in the Present
This is a 'boot verb' variant where the 'i' becomes 'í' (stressed) in the singular forms and the third-person plural. Nosotros and vosotros stay regular.
Example Sentences
Yo vacío la papelera todas las mañanas.
I empty the wastebasket every morning.
yo
Él vacía el lavaplatos mientras yo cocino.
He empties the dishwasher while I cook.
él/ella/usted
Nosotros vaciamos el armario para pintar la habitación.
We empty the closet to paint the room.
nosotros
¿Por qué no vacían ustedes las maletas?
Why don't you all empty your suitcases?
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: vacio (without accent)
Correct: vacío
Why: Without the accent, it would be pronounced 'BA-thyo'. The accent is needed to break the diphthong and stress the 'i'.
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Related Tenses
Preterite
yo: vacié
Vaciar is regular in the preterite: vacié, vaciaste, vació, vaciamos, vaciasteis, vaciaron.
Imperfect
yo: vaciaba
Vaciar is regular in the imperfect: vaciaba, vaciabas, vaciaba, vaciábamos, vaciabais, vaciaban.
Future
yo: vaciaré
Vaciar is regular in the future: vaciaré, vaciarás, vaciará, vaciaremos, vaciaréis, vaciarán.
Conditional
yo: vaciaría
Vaciar is regular in the conditional: vaciaría, vaciarías, vaciaría, vaciaríamos, vaciaríais, vaciarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: vacíe
The present subjunctive of vaciar follows the same irregular accent pattern as the present indicative: vacíe, vacíes, vacíe, vaciemos, vaciéis, vacíen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: vaciara
The imperfect subjunctive of vaciar is regular: vaciara, vaciaras, vaciara, vaciáramos, vaciarais, vaciaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: vacía
The imperative for vaciar uses accented 'í' for most commands: vacía, vacíe, vaciemos, vaciad, vacíen.
Negative Imperative
yo: no vacíes
The negative imperative uses the present subjunctive forms: no vacíes, no vacíe, no vaciemos, no vaciéis, no vacíen.