Hablar Conjugation: How To Conjugate “To Speak” In Spanish

How to conjugate the Spanish verb hablar

Hablar is one of the most important verbs in the Spanish language and often the first verb which students learn. The meaning of hablar is “to speak”. The conjugation of hablar in the present tense is: Yo hablo (I speak), tú hablas (you speak), él/ella/usted habla (he, she speaks; you speak), nosotros hablamos (we speak) vosotros habláis, ellos/ellas/ustedes hablan (they speak; you speak).

Hablar is a regular AR verb. This means that its endings are the same as all other Spanish AR verbs. This page on our site covers regular and irregular Spanish AR verbs in detail.

Further down the page we’ve provided verb conjugation charts for hablar in the following nine tenses. Keep reading as we’ve also provided example sentences for each verb tense.

• Present tense (el presente de indicativo)
• Progressive present tense (el presente progresivo)
• Near future tense (futuro proximo)
• Future tense (el futuro)
• Preterite (el préterito)
• Past indefinite (el perfect de indicativo)
• Imperfect (el imperfecto de indicativo)
• Conditional (el potencial simple)
• Present subjunctive

Hablar conjugation in a nutshell: Ten useful tenses

Meaning and usage of hablar

In Spanish, hablar mean both to speak and to talk. Here are two example sentences:

• Por qué no hablas español? Why don’t you speak Spanish.
• El niño no habla mucho. Es timido. The child doesn’t talk a lot. He’s shy.

Hablar conjugation charts

The following section contains the conjugation tables of hablar in all the major tenses with example sentences.

Present tense

In the present tense (presente de indicativo), yo hablo translates to “I speak” and “I am speaking”.

yo hablo	I speak	Yo hablo español.	I speak Spanish.
tú hablas	you speak	Tú hablas muy rápidamente.	You speak very quickly.
él/ella/usted habla	he/she speaks, you speak	Ella habla alemán.	She speaks German.
nosotros hablamos	we speak	Nosotros hablamos frecuentemente.	We speak often.
vosotros habláis	you speak	Vosotros habláis catalán.	You speak Catalan.
ellos/ellas/ustedes hablan	they speak, you speak	Ellos hablan ruso.	They speak Russian.

Progressive present

In Spanish, the progressive present is formed by combining the present tense of estar (to be) with the present participle. Hence, yo estoy hablando translates to “I am speaking”.

yo estoy hablando	I am speaking	Yo estoy hablando con tu amgio.	I'm speaking with your friend.
tú estás hablando	you are speaking	¿Por qué estas hablando en clase?	Why are you talking in class?
él/elle/usted está hablando	he/she is speaking, you are speaking	El patrón está hablando con los empleados.	The boss is speaking with the employees.
nosotros estamos hablando	we are speaking	Nosotros estamos hablando de tí.	We're talking about you.
vosotros estáis hablando	you are speaking	Vosotros estáis hablando de vuestro viaje en España.	You are talking about your trip to Spain.
ellos/ellas/ustedes están hablando	they are speaking, you are speaking	Ellos están hablando de un asunto muy serio.	They are talking about a serious issue.

Near future tense

In Spanish, the near future tense is used to express an action that’s “going to” happen. It is made by combining the present tense of ir (to go) with the infinitive followed by the preposition a. Hence, yo voy a hablar translates to “I am going to speak”.

yo voy a hablar	I'm going to speak	Yo voy a hablar con tu mamá.	I'm going to speak with your mom.
tú vas a hablar	you're going to speak	¿Vas a hablar con él?	Are you gong to speak with him?
él/ella/usted va a hablar	he/she is going to speak, you're going to speak	¿Va a hablar con el encargado?	Is he going to speak with the manager?
nosotros vamos a hablar	we're going to speak	Vamos a hablar mañana.	We're going to talk tomorrow.
vosotros vais a hablar	you're going to speak	Vosotros vais a hablar en privado.	You're going to speak in private.
ellos/ellas/ustedes van a hablar	they're going to speak, you are going to speak	Ellos van a hablar en tres días.	They're going to speak in three days.

Future tense

In Spanish yo hablaré translates to “I will speak”.

yo hablaré	I will speak	Algún día hablaré español.	Some day I'll speak Spanish.
tú hablarás	you will speak	Tú hablarás japonés en Japón.	You will speak Japanese in Japan.
él/ella/usted hablará	he/she will speak, you will speak	Ella hablará con su primo.	She will speak with her cousin.
nosotros hablaremos	we will speak	Nosotros hablaremos de este asunto pronto.	We will soon speak about this issue.
vosotros hablaréis	you will speak	¿Hablaréis de los gastos?	Will you talk about the costs?
ellos/ellas/ustedes hablarán	they will speak, you will speak	¿Hablarán con los trabajador?	Will they speak with the workers?

Preterite

In Spanish, the preterite tense is used to describe past completed actions which occurred at defined times. Yo hablé translates to “I spoke”.

yo hablé	I spoke	Hablé con mi jefe ayer.	I spoke with my boss yesterday.
tú hablaste	you spoke	¿Hablaste con tus hermanos?	Did you speak with your brothers?
él/ella/usted habló	she, she, you spoke	Ella habló antes de reflexionar.	She spoke before thinking.
nosotros hablamos	we spoke	Ya hablamos de este problema.	We already spoke about this problem.
vosotros hablasteis	you spoke	¿Hablasteis de una solución?	Did you talk about a solution?
ellos/ellas/ustedes hablaron	they, you spoke	Ellos ya hablaron de los planes dos veces.	They already spoke about the plans twice.

Present perfect

In Spanish, the present perfect is used to express past actions which may continue into the present. The present perfect is formed by combing the present tense of haber (to have) with a past participle. Yo he hablado traslates to “I have spoken”.

yo he hablado	I have spoken	Yo he hablado con su mamá y todavía no tenemos una respuesta.	I have spoken with your mom and we still don't have an answer.
tú has hablado	you have spoken	¿Has hablado con la familia hoy?	Have you spoken with the family today?
él/ella/usted ha hablado	he/she has spoken, you have spoken	Él a hablado con su prima de la situación.	He's spoken with his cousin about he situation.
nosotros hemos hablado	we have spoken	Hemos hablado hablado del asunto en la mañana.	We've discussed the matter in the morning.
vosotros habéis hablado	you have spoken	Vosotros habéis hablado con el director hace tres minutes.	You spoke with the director three minutes ago.
ellos/ellas/ustedes han hablado	they have spoken	Ellos todavía no han hablado del proyecto.	They still haven't talked about the project.

Imperfect

The imperfect tense is used to talk about past events which occurred at unspecified times.

yo hablaba	I was speaking, used to speak	Yo hablaba frecuentemente con su abuelo.	I used to talk often with your grandfather.
tú hablas	you were speaking used to speak	¿Hablabas español en casa?	Did you used to speak Spanish at home?
él/ella/usted hablaba	he, she was speaking, used to speak / you were speaking, used to speak	Ella hablaba quand Pedro interrumpió.	She was speaking when Pedro interrupted.
nosotros hablábamos	we were speaking, used to speak	Nosotros hablábamos de vez en cuando.	We used to talk from time to time.
vosotros hablabais	you were speaking, used to speak	Vosotros hablabais durante el concierto.	You were talking during the concert.
ellos/ellas/ustedes hablaban	they, you were speaking, used to speak	A veces ellos hablaban por teléfono.	Sometimes they used to talk on the phone.

Conditional

In Spanish, the conditional tense is used for hypothetical or “would” situations. Yo hablaría translates to “I would speak”.

yo hablaría	I would speak	Yo hablaría español si viviera en México.	I'd speak Spanish if I lived in Mexico.
tú hablarías	you would speak	Tu hablarías chino si fuera más fácil.	You'd speak Chinese if it were easier.
él/ella/usted hablaría	he, she, you would speak	Ella hablaría conmigo pero no tiene tiempo.	She'd speak with me but she doesn't have time.
nosotros hablaríamos	we would speak	Nosotros hablaríamos un poco más pero no es posible.	We'd speak a bit more but it's not possible.
vosotros hablaríais	you would speak	Vosotros hablaríais francés si viajarais en Francia.	You would speak French if you traveled in France.
ellos/ellas/ustedes hablarían	they, you would speak	Ellos hablarían portugués si viajaran en Brasil.	They'd speak Portuguese if they traveled in Brazil.

Present subjunctive

In Spanish, the subjunctive is used to express wishes, emotions and doubts. Que yo hable translates to “that I speak”.

yo hable	I speak	Él quiere que hable con el jefe.	He wants me to talk with the boss.
tú hables	you speak	Temo que no hables bastante.	I fear you're not speaking enough.
él, ella, usted hable	he, she speaks, you speak	Yo me alegro que ella hable con su esposo.	I'm happy she's speaking with her husband.
nosotros hablemos	we speak	Es importante que hablemos ahora mismo.	It's important that we speak right away.
vosotros habléis	you speak	Yo dudo que vosotros habléis coreano.	I doubt you speak Korean.
ellos, ellas ustedes hablen	they, you speak	Necitimas que ustedes hablen con los niños.	We need you to talk to the kids.