All Tenses Hack — ESTAR & IR

The most powerful shortcut in Spanish: Learn estar and ir across all 13 tenses and you can express ANY verb in ANY tense. You don't need to conjugate every verb — you just need to know which form of estar or ir to use.

Why This Works

ESTAR + ando/iendo = any progressive

estaba trabajando = I was working | estaré trabajando = I will be working

IR + a + infinitive = any intention

iba a trabajar = I was going to work | iré a trabajar = I will go to work

The key insight: The tense lives in ESTAR or IR — not in the main verb. Change estaba to estaré and the whole sentence shifts from past to future. The main verb stays exactly the same.

The 13 Tenses — Overview

Simple Present · Preterite · Imperfect · Future · Conditional

Compound Present Perfect · Past Perfect · Future Perfect · Conditional Perfect

Subjunctive Pres. Subj. · Imp. Subj. · Pres. Perf. Subj. · Past Perf. Subj.

For B1-B2, focus on the 5 Simple tenses and the Present Perfect first. The rest will come naturally once those are solid.

All 13 tenses of estar. Simple forms conjugate estar directly. Compound forms use haber + estado. Subjunctive forms use the subjunctive of estar or haber.

Category	Tense	ESTAR form	English meaning
Simple	Present	estoy	I am
Simple	Preterite	estuve	I was
Simple	Imperfect	estaba	I was / used to be
Simple	Future	estaré	I will be
Simple	Conditional	estaría	I would be
Compound	Present Perfect	he estado	I have been
Compound	Past Perfect	había estado	I had been
Compound	Future Perfect	habré estado	I will have been
Compound	Cond. Perfect	habría estado	I would have been
Subjunctive	Pres. Subj.	esté	...that I be
Subjunctive	Imp. Subj.	estuviera	...that I were
Subjunctive	Pres. Perf. Subj.	haya estado	...that I have been
Subjunctive	Past Perf. Subj.	hubiera estado	...that I had been

Start here: Drill estoy, estuve, estaba, estaré, estaría, and he estado until they're instant. Those 6 cover 90% of real conversations.

The progressive unlock: Take any ESTAR form + the gerund (-ando/-iendo) of any verb and you have a progressive sentence in that tense. The gerund never changes — only estar changes.

How to Form the Gerund

-AR verbs

→ -ANDO

bailar → bailando
trabajar → trabajando

-ER / -IR verbs

→ -IENDO

beber → bebiendo
vivir → viviendo

ESTAR + bailando / bebiendo

ESTAR form	+ bailando	English	+ bebiendo	English
estoy	estoy bailando	I'm dancing	estoy bebiendo	I'm drinking
estuve	estuve bailando	I was dancing	estuve bebiendo	I was drinking
estaba	estaba bailando	I was dancing (habit)	estaba bebiendo	I was drinking
estaré	estaré bailando	I'll be dancing	estaré bebiendo	I'll be drinking
estaría	estaría bailando	I'd be dancing	estaría bebiendo	I'd be drinking
he estado	he estado bailando	I've been dancing	he estado bebiendo	I've been drinking
había estado	había estado bail.	I had been dancing	había estado beb.	I had been drinking

⭐ Replace bailando with ANY gerund — trabajando, comiendo, durmiendo, estudiando, hablando — and the entire table shifts automatically. The ESTAR form never changes.

All 13 tenses of ir. Note that several ir forms look identical to ser forms in the preterite (fui, fuiste, fue...) — context tells you which one it is.

Category	Tense	IR form	English meaning
Simple	Present	voy	I go / I'm going
Simple	Preterite	fui	I went
Simple	Imperfect	iba	I used to go / was going
Simple	Future	iré	I will go
Simple	Conditional	iría	I would go
Compound	Present Perfect	he ido	I have gone
Compound	Past Perfect	había ido	I had gone
Compound	Future Perfect	habré ido	I will have gone
Compound	Cond. Perfect	habría ido	I would have gone
Subjunctive	Pres. Subj.	vaya	...that I go
Subjunctive	Imp. Subj.	fuera	...that I went / were to go
Subjunctive	Pres. Perf. Subj.	haya ido	...that I have gone
Subjunctive	Past Perf. Subj.	hubiera ido	...that I had gone

fui vs era: ir and ser share preterite forms (fui = I went / I was). fuera is imperfect subjunctive of both ir and ser. Context always makes it clear.

The ultimate hack: IR + a + infinitive lets you express any verb in any tense using a structure you already know. The infinitive never changes — only the IR form changes.

IR + a + leer / trabajar

IR form	Meaning	+ a leer	+ a trabajar
voy	I go / am going	voy a leer	voy a trabajar
fui	I went	fui a leer	fui a trabajar
iba	I was going	iba a leer	iba a trabajar
iré	I will go	iré a leer	iré a trabajar
iría	I would go	iría a leer	iría a trabajar
he ido	I have gone	he ido a leer	he ido a trabajar
había ido	I had gone	había ido a leer	había ido a trabajar
habré ido	I will have gone	habré ido a leer	habré ido a trabajar

⭐ Swap leer / trabajar with ANY infinitive — comer, dormir, estudiar, nadar, bailar, hablar — and you instantly have that verb in every tense. This is how to sound fluent before you've memorized all the conjugations.

Most useful in real life: iba a + infinitive = I was going to... This is how Mexicans explain plans that changed. Iba a llamarte pero se me olvidó. = I was going to call you but I forgot.

From the Nomad Spanish homework: practice applying the full 13-tense system to these three power verbs. Study the examples, then go to the Drill tab to test yourself.

ser

to be (identity, permanent)

Soy profesor. — I am a teacher. (present)

Fui estudiante. — I was a student. (preterite)

Era muy flaco. — I used to be very thin. (imperfect)

Seré mejor. — I will be better. (future)

Sería imposible. — It would be impossible. (conditional)

He sido muy afortunado. — I have been very lucky. (pres. perfect)

Había sido un error. — It had been a mistake. (past perfect)

hacer

to do / to make

Hago ejercicio. — I exercise. (present)

Hice la tarea. — I did the homework. (preterite)

Hacía deporte. — I used to play sports. (imperfect)

Haré todo. — I will do everything. (future)

Haría lo mismo. — I would do the same. (conditional)

He hecho lo mejor que pude. — I've done the best I could. (pres. perfect)

¿Qué hiciste? — What did you do? (preterite question)

tener

to have

Tengo clase. — I have class. (present)

Tuve que leer. — I had to read. (preterite)

Tenía trabajo. — I had work / used to have a job. (imperfect)

Tendré tiempo. — I will have time. (future)

Tendría que irme. — I would have to leave. (conditional)

He tenido suerte. — I've been lucky. (pres. perfect)

Tengo que / Tuve que / Tendré que + infinitive = have to / had to / will have to

Pick a verb, then translate each sentence. After each answer you'll be prompted to say it out loud before moving on.

Choose a verb to drill

estar

to be

to go

ser

to be (identity)

hacer

to do/make

tener

to have

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