Verb · regular -ar
esperar
to wait, to hope
The thing that catches people out
One verb for waiting and hoping, which is less strange than it sounds: both are about what has not happened yet. No word for for: espero el autobús, I am waiting for the bus.
Present
What happens, and what is happening now.
| yo | espero | |
| tú | esperas | |
| él, ella, usted | espera | |
| nosotros | esperamos | |
| ellos, ustedes | esperan | |
| vosotros, Spain only | esperáis |
Preterite, the finished past
Something that happened and is over: yesterday, last year, once.
| yo | esperé | |
| tú | esperaste | |
| él, ella, usted | esperó | |
| nosotros | esperamos | |
| ellos, ustedes | esperaron | |
| vosotros, Spain only | esperasteis |
Imperfect, the background past
What used to happen, or was going on when something else happened.
| yo | esperaba | |
| tú | esperabas | |
| él, ella, usted | esperaba | |
| nosotros | esperábamos | |
| ellos, ustedes | esperaban | |
| vosotros, Spain only | esperabais |
Future
Will do. In conversation, ir a plus the verb is more common: voy a comer.
| yo | esperaré | |
| tú | esperarás | |
| él, ella, usted | esperará | |
| nosotros | esperaremos | |
| ellos, ustedes | esperarán | |
| vosotros, Spain only | esperaréis |
Present perfect
Have done. Used far more in Spain, where it covers today; most of Latin America uses the preterite there.
| yo | he esperado | |
| tú | has esperado | |
| él, ella, usted | ha esperado | |
| nosotros | hemos esperado | |
| ellos, ustedes | han esperado | |
| vosotros, Spain only | habéis esperado |
Other forms
The -ing form, the form that follows he, has and ha, and how to tell someone to do it.
| -ing form | esperando | |
| participle | esperado | |
| command, to tú | espera | |
| command, to usted | espere |
In a sentence
espera un momento
wait a moment
espero que sí
I hope so