Verb · irregular
oír
to hear
The thing that catches people out
oír is hearing; escuchar is listening on purpose. An unstressed i between two vowels becomes y, which is why it is oyes and oye, not oíes. ¡Oye! is also how you get a friend's attention.
Present
What happens, and what is happening now.
| yo | oigo | |
| tú | oyes | |
| él, ella, usted | oye | |
| nosotros | oímos | |
| ellos, ustedes | oyen | |
| vosotros, Spain only | oís |
Preterite, the finished past
Something that happened and is over: yesterday, last year, once.
| yo | oí | |
| tú | oíste | |
| él, ella, usted | oyó | |
| nosotros | oímos | |
| ellos, ustedes | oyeron | |
| vosotros, Spain only | oísteis |
Imperfect, the background past
What used to happen, or was going on when something else happened.
| yo | oía | |
| tú | oías | |
| él, ella, usted | oía | |
| nosotros | oíamos | |
| ellos, ustedes | oían | |
| vosotros, Spain only | oíais |
Future
Will do. In conversation, ir a plus the verb is more common: voy a comer.
| yo | oiré | |
| tú | oirás | |
| él, ella, usted | oirá | |
| nosotros | oiremos | |
| ellos, ustedes | oirán | |
| vosotros, Spain only | oiréis |
Present perfect
Have done. Used far more in Spain, where it covers today; most of Latin America uses the preterite there.
| yo | he oído | |
| tú | has oído | |
| él, ella, usted | ha oído | |
| nosotros | hemos oído | |
| ellos, ustedes | han oído | |
| vosotros, Spain only | habéis oído |
Other forms
The -ing form, the form that follows he, has and ha, and how to tell someone to do it.
| -ing form | oyendo | |
| participle | oído | |
| command, to tú | oye | |
| command, to usted | oiga |
In a sentence
no te oigo bien
I cannot hear you well
¿oíste eso?
did you hear that?