Estar Conjugation in Spanish: Every Tense + the Accent Rule

How do you conjugate estar in the present tense?

You already know a piece of the estar conjugation, even on day one: ¿Cómo estás? (How are you?) uses the tú form, and the answer, estoy bien, uses the yo form. The present tense of estar covers feelings, health, locations, and anything that's true right now.

Two quick reading notes. Spanish drops the pronoun most of the time, so estoy on its own already means "I am." And if you're learning Latin American Spanish, you can skip the vosotros row; ustedes están covers "you all are."

Here's a memory anchor, too. Estar comes from the Latin stare, "to stand," the same root behind English state, status, and station. Estar tells you how things stand at the moment, which is exactly why it handles moods and locations rather than identity.

Why does estar have accent marks?

Now for this page's big idea. Say the six forms out loud and listen: ehs-TOY, ehs-TAHS, ehs-TAH, ehs-TAH-mohs, ehs-TAHYS, ehs-TAHN. Your voice lands late in the word every time, on the ending, never on the est- stem. Regular -ar verbs don't do that (HA-blas, HA-bla), and Spanish spelling can't show that late stress without help. So the tilde steps in.

The working rule: in the present tense, every form of estar wears a tilde except estoy and estamos. Estoy escapes because Spanish never writes an accent over a final -oy (soy, voy, and doy keep it company). Estamos escapes because its stress already falls where Spanish expects it.

Those little marks carry real meaning, so they're not optional. Está with the tilde means "is"; esta without it means "this." One sentence can use both: Esta casa está en venta (this house is for sale). Same story with estás (you are) next to estas (these). Drop the tilde and you've written a different word, not a harmless typo.

Keep this accent radar switched on. The same end-stress melody returns in the subjunctive (esté, estés, estén), and it vanishes completely in the preterite. That contrast is up next.

Estar preterite and imperfect: the two past tenses

Spanish has two simple past tenses, and estar works overtime in both. Each one has a clear job, so learn them as a pair.

Estar preterite conjugation (estuve)

The preterite reports stays and states with edges: they started, they ended, you could count them. Estar swaps its stem for estuv-, and that changes how the whole tense sounds.

Run your accent radar over that table: not a single tilde. The irregular estuv- stem pulls the stress into the middle of the word (ehs-TOO-veh), so no ending needs rescuing. Learners who write estuvé or estuvó are copying regular verbs like hablé and habló, and it's exactly backwards: the estar preterite goes bare. If your pen starts drawing a tilde anywhere in estuve, lift it.

The estuv- move isn't a one-off, either. A small club of common verbs pulls the same trick in the preterite, and the next member you'll meet is tener, which turns into tuve. The tener conjugation follows the same road map as this page.

Estar imperfect conjugation (estaba)

Here's a gift: the estar imperfect is completely regular. It paints the background of a story, what things were like, with no end point in sight.

So when do you say estuve and when estaba? A rough rule that gets you far: estuve counts, estaba describes. Estuve en Madrid tres días measures a finished stay; estaba en Madrid cuando me llamaste sets the scene around another event. If you can attach a duration or an end point, reach for estuve. The full decision guide lives in our preterite vs imperfect lesson.

Estar conjugation chart: future, conditional, and compound tenses

From here on, estar behaves. The future and conditional keep the whole infinitive estar- as their stem and add the same endings every Spanish verb uses, so this half of the estar conjugation chart is pure pattern.

Estar future tense (estaré)

Estar conditional (estaría)

The compound tenses cost even less effort. They all pair a form of haber with one unchanging participle, estado: he estado (I have been), había estado (I had been), habré estado (I will have been). He estado muy ocupado esta semana means "I've been very busy this week," and nunca había estado en México means "I had never been to Mexico." Learn haber once and every compound tense of estar comes free; the exhaustive tables live on SpanishDict's conjugator.

Estar + gerundio: how Spanish says "right now"

Here's estar's superpower, and the reason you'll conjugate it more than almost any other verb. Spanish builds its progressive ("I'm eating," "it's raining") with estar plus the gerundio. Take any verb, swap the ending for -ando (-ar verbs) or -iendo (-er and -ir verbs), and put a conjugated estar in front.

Notice the last two rows: the progressive travels through time with whichever estar you pick. Estaba durmiendo paints a mid-scene background; estuve estudiando wraps the activity up with edges, one whole bounded night of it.

One honest warning, because English speakers overuse this pattern. Spanish saves estar + gerundio for actions genuinely in progress. English happily says "I'm flying to Madrid tomorrow" about a plan; Spanish uses the plain present or the future for that (vuelo a Madrid mañana). If it isn't happening as you speak, skip the gerundio.

And a small joke the grammar plays: estar almost never takes its own medicine. You can go years without hearing estoy estando; when someone asks how you're doing, plain estoy already does the job.

Estar subjunctive and imperative conjugation

The last stretch covers wishes, doubts, and commands. At the beginner stage you mostly need to recognize these forms; they show up after triggers like quiero que (I want that), espero que (I hope that), and ojalá (hopefully).

Present subjunctive of estar (esté)

Your accent radar should be beeping. The present-tense melody is back: a tilde on every form except estemos, the same escape artist as estamos.

Imperfect subjunctive of estar (estuviera)

The estuv- stem returns for the imperfect subjunctive, which powers polite wishes and if-only sentences.

Every -ra form has an -se twin with the same meaning: estuviese, estuvieses, estuviese, estuviésemos, estuvieseis, estuviesen. The -se set leans formal and literary, so expect it in novels more often than in voice notes.

Estar imperative: telling someone how to be

About that tú row. Conjugation charts print está, and it's technically correct, but real speakers almost never use it bare. They attach te and say estate: ¡Estate quieto! (Stay still!), Estate tranquila (Relax). Wiktionary's estar entry notes that this command gets used pronominally. Watch the spelling, too: the tilde of está disappears in estate, because with te attached the stress now falls exactly where Spanish expects it. Your accent radar strikes again.

Negative commands come cheap: Spanish reuses the present subjunctive for them, which is why no estés looks familiar. Master one negative command and the pattern carries over to every verb in the language.

Which estar conjugation should you learn first?

A page with nine tables is a reference, not a study plan. If you're at the beginner (A1–A2) stage, these four earn their keep from day one:

1. Present (estoy, estás, está...). Greetings, moods, locations: ¿Cómo estás? and estoy bien may end up being your most-spoken Spanish sentences ever.
2. The progressive (estoy + -ando/-iendo). One small pattern unlocks "I'm eating," "I'm learning," "it's raining." Instant conversational range.
3. Preterite (estuve). Finished stays and states: estuve enfermo (I was sick), estuvimos allí (we were there).
4. Imperfect (estaba). The background painter: estaba en casa (I was at home).

Skip the future tense at first with a shortcut: voy a estar (I'm going to be), as in mañana voy a estar ocupado. Spanish speakers reach for it constantly, and it buys you months before estaré needs memorizing. The subjunctive starts knocking around B1, and the tables above will wait patiently.

Estar or ser? Spanish's other "to be"

Estar is one of two Spanish verbs meaning "to be," and they split the job. Estar covers how and where: moods, health, locations, temporary states, everything on this page. Ser covers what and who: identity, origin, profession, time. The pair está listo / es listo shows the stakes: the first means "he's ready," the second "he's clever." Our ser vs estar lesson teaches the decision rules properly, and the ser conjugation page gives you the other set of tables in this same format.

7 everyday Spanish expressions with estar

Native speakers hang some of their most common phrases on estar. All seven below come straight from the dictionary, so you can drop them into conversation today.

Two quick notes. Swap buen for mal and you get the opposite mood: está de mal humor (he's in a bad mood). And estar hecho polvo, literally "to be turned to dust," agrees with the speaker, so a woman says estoy hecha polvo.

That's the complete estar conjugation, from estoy to estuviesen. Chant the present six, trust the accent rule, and put estoy + gerundio to work in your very next sentence. When you're ready for more, every free lesson lives on our Spanish hub.