Ayudar Conjugation 101: Conjugate Ayudar in Spanish

Ayudar is a regular -AR used in daily-life situations. Since this verb is useful for your vocabulary and to practice Spanish -AR conjugations, in the following sections, we’ll go through all of the ayudar conjugation charts. Here is what you’ll learn:

Overview of Ayudar

Verb CharacteristicProperty
Verb Type-AR
IrregularNo
InfinitiveAyudar
Gerund (Present Participle) FormAyudando
Past Participle FormAyudado
SynonymsAsistir, auxiliar, apoyar

Indicative Conjugations of Ayudar

Present tense

The present tense conjugations of ayudar communicate that something or someone helps another person. For instance: Mis vecinos ayudan a muchas personas.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoAyudoI help
AyudasYou help
Él / Ella
Usted
AyudaHe/She helps
You (formal) help
NosotrosAyudamosWe help
VosotrosAyudáisYou help
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
AyudanThey help
You (plural) help

Preterite tense

We use ayudar’s preterite conjugations to express that someone or something helped us do something at a specific point in the past. Here is an example: Esta semana, Tom me ayudó a pintar. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoAyudéI helped
AyudasteYou helped
Él / Ella
Usted
AyudóHe/She helped
You (formal) helped
NosotrosAyudamosWe helped
VosotrosAyudasteisYou helped
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
AyudaronThey helped
You (plural) helped

Imperfect tense

The imperfect tense conjugations of ‘ayudar’ allow you to express that something or someone used to help you repeatedly or at an unspecified time in the past. Mi abuela ayudaba mucho a mi mamá.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoAyudabaI helped
I used to help
AyudabasYou helped
You used to help
Él / Ella
Usted
AyudabaHe/She helped
He/She used to help

You (formal) helped
You (formal) used to help
NosotrosAyudábamosWe helped
We used to help
VosotrosAyudabaisYou helped
You used to help
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
AyudabanThey helped
They used to help

You (plural) helped
You (plural) used to help

Near future

The Spanish near future (also known as the immediate future) communicates that someone is going to help another person soon in the future. For example: Voy a ayudar a Daniela al rato. The formula for the near future is ir (present tense) + a + ayudar.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoVoy a ayudarI’m going to help
Vas a ayudarYou’re going to help
Él / Ella
Usted
Va a ayudarHe/She is going to help
You (formal) are going to help
NosotrosVamos a ayudarWe’re going to help
VosotrosVais a ayudarYou’re going to help
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Van a ayudarThey’re going to help
You (plural) are going to help

Future simple tense

Ayudar in the future tense is used to express that someone plans to help another person at some moment in the future. Pablo me ayudará la próxima semana.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoAyudaréI will help
AyudarásYou will help
Él / Ella
Usted
AyudaráHe/She will help
You (formal) will help
NosotrosAyudaremosWe will help
VosotrosAyudaréisYou (formal) will help
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
AyudaránThey will help
You (plural) will help

Conditional tense

Use the conditional forms of ‘ayudar’ to convey that someone or something would help you do something. For example, mis vecinos me dijeron que me ayudarían con la mudanza. You can check how to conjugate ayudar to this tense in the conjugation chart below:

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoAyudaríaI would help
AyudaríasYou would help
Él / Ella
Usted
AyudaríaHe/She would help
You (formal) would help
NosotrosAyudaríamosWe would help
VosotrosAyudaríaisYou would help
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
AyudaríanThey would help
You (plural) would help

Present perfect tense

In Spanish, the present perfect tense of ‘ayudar’ is used to talk about things or people that have or haven’t helped you. For instance: Esta aplicación me ha ayudado mucho.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHe ayudadoI have helped
Has ayudadoYou have helped
Él / Ella
Usted
Ha ayudadoHe/She has helped
You (formal) have helped
NosotrosHemos ayudadoWe have helped
VosotrosHabéis ayudadoYou have helped
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Han ayudadoThey have helped
You (plural) have helped

Past perfect

The past perfect tense of ‘ayudar’ expresses that someone or something had helped a person. For example: Juan me dijo que te había ayudado.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHabía ayudadoI had helped
Habías ayudadoYou had helped
Él / Ella
Usted
Había ayudadoHe/She had helped
You (formal) had helped
NosotrosHabíamos ayudadoWe had helped
VosotrosHabíais ayudadoYou had helped
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Habían ayudadoThey had helped
You (plural) had helped

Future perfect

Use the future perfect forms of ‘ayudar’ to communicate that someone or something will have helped with something by or before a certain time in the future. For example, ¿a cuántas personas habrás ayudado para el fin de mes?

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHabré ayudadoI will have helped
Habrás ayudadoYou will have helped
Él / Ella
Usted
Habrá ayudadoHe/She will have helped
You (formal) will have helped
NosotrosHabremos ayudadoWe will have helped
VosotrosHabréis ayudadoYou will have helped
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Habrán ayudadoThey will have helped
You (plural) will have helped

Conditional perfect

‘Ayudar’ conjugated to the conditional perfect tense communicates that something or someone would have helped you if a past condition had been met. For instance: Si me hubieras dicho, yo te habría ayudado.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHabría ayudadoI would have helped
Habrías ayudadoYou would have helped
Él / Ella
Usted
Habría ayudadoHe/She would have helped
You (formal) would have helped
NosotrosHabríamos ayudadoWe would have helped
VosotrosHabríais ayudadoYou would have helped
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Habrían ayudadoThey would have helped
You (plural) would have helped

Progressive tenses

Estar (conjugated) + present participle (in this case, ayudando) is the formula to build the progressive tenses of ‘ayudar’. We use these tenses to emphasize that someone or something is helping another person at the moment of speaking. For example: ¿Quién te está ayudando con tu proyecto?

Progressive TenseFormulaTranslation Example
PresentEstar (present) + ayudandoI am helping
PreteriteEstar (preterite) + ayudandoYou were helping
ImperfectEstar (imperfect) + ayudandoHe was helping
FutureEstar (future) + ayudandoWe will be helping
ConditionalEstar (conditional) + ayudandoThey would be helping

Ayudar Subjunctive Conjugations

In Spanish, the subjunctive is used to talk about wishes, hypothetical situations or express uncertainty. The conjugation charts below show the subjunctive forms of ayudar.

Present subjunctive

The subjunctive conjugations of ayudar allow you to request help for you or others. As shown, in the conjugation chart below, ‘ayudar’ is a regular verb in the subjunctive tense. For instance: ¡Que alguien me ayude, por favor!

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoAyudeI help
AyudesYou help
Él / Ella
Usted
AyudeHe/She helps
You (formal) help
NosotrosAyudemosWe help
VosotrosAyudéisYou help
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
AyudenThey help
You (plural) help

Present perfect subjunctive

Haber in the present subjunctive + ayudado is the structure you should use to build the present perfect subjunctive form of ‘ayudar’. With this tense, ayudar can be used to express expectations or uncertainty about the things or people being helped. ¿Crees que Tim haya ayudado a Susan?

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHaya ayudadoI have helped
Hayas ayudadoYou have helped
Él / Ella
Usted
Haya ayudadoHe/She has helped
You (formal) have helped
NosotrosHayamos ayudadoWe have helped
VosotrosHayáis ayudadoYou have helped
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Hayan ayudadoThey have helped
You (plural) have helped

Imperfect subjunctive

We use the imperfect subjunctive of ‘ayudar’ to build the reported speech and communicate that someone asked us to help another person. For example: Mi mamá me dijo que te ayudara. 

The imperfect subjunctive has two conjugation models (Latin American and Castilian) depending on which type of Spanish you’re using.

Latin American Spanish version

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoAyudaraI helped
AyudarasYou helped
Él / Ella
Usted
AyudaraHe/She helped
You (formal) helped
NosotrosAyudáramosWe helped
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
AyudaranThey helped
You (plural) helped

Note: The table above doesn’t include ayudar’s conjugation for vosotros since this pronoun is not used in Latin American Spanish.

Castilian Spanish version

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoAyudaseI helped
AyudasesYou helped
Él / Ella
Usted
AyudaseHe/She helped
You (formal) helped
NosotrosAyudásemosWe helped
VosotrosAyudaseisYou helped
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
AyudasenThey helped
You (plural) helped

Past perfect subjunctive

In the past perfect subjunctive, ayudar communicates that someone or something would have helped a person if a past circumstance was met. In this tense, ‘ayudar’ can also be used to make hypotheses about what would happen if someone had helped you. For example: Si ustedes me hubieran ayudado, habría terminado más rápido.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHubiera ayudadoI had helped
Hubieras ayudadoYou had helped
Él / Ella
Usted
Hubiera ayudadoHe/She had helped
You (formal) had helped
NosotrosHubiéramos ayudadoWe had helped
VosotrosHubierais ayudadoYou had helped
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Hubieran ayudadoThey had helped
You (plural) had helped

Ayudar Imperative Conjugations

The imperative mood in Spanish is used to order someone to do something (affirmative commands) or not do something (negative commands).

Affirmative commands

The affirmative imperative forms of ‘ayudar’ are used to order someone to help another person. For example: Oigan, ayúdenme con estas cajas.

PersonConjugationTranslation
AyudaHelp
UstedAyudeHelp
VosotrosAyudadHelp
UstedesAyudenHelp

Negative commands

‘Ayudar’ conjugated to the negative imperative allows you to command someone to not help another person. For instance: ¡No ayuden a su hermana con su tarea!

PersonConjugationTranslation
No ayudesDon’t help
UstedNo ayudeDon’t help
VosotrosNo ayudéisDon’t help
UstedesNo ayudenDon’t help

Meanings of Ayudar & Examples

Now that you’ve learned how to conjugate ayudar, you should check these examples and structures so you can also learn how to use this verb correctly. 

Ayudar is the direct translation of ‘to help’. Therefore, this verb is used to talk about helping others do something.

Combine ‘ayudar’ with a verb in infinitive form to express that something or someone helps you accomplish an activity. 

[DOP] + [Ayudar conjugated] + a + [infinitive verb]

Mi novio me ayudó a aprender español. 
My boyfriend helped me learn Spanish. 

Sus amigos la van a ayudar a mudarse. 
Her friends are going to help her move. 

You must use the preposition con if ‘ayudar’ is followed by a noun: 

Disculpen, ¿nos ayudarían con esta encuesta?
Sorry, would you guys help us with this survey?

Take Note: Ayudar is a transitive verb. As a result, it works with a direct object pronoun (DOP) when a person is helping someone else or with a reciprocal pronoun if people are helping each other. 

Download Ayudar Conjugation Tables & Uses Cheat sheets

You can download a copy of the ‘ayudar’ conjugation PDF which contains all the charts needed to conjugate this verb to all the tenses, meanings, and uses.

Practice Quiz: Ayudar Conjugation

If you’re ready to test your skills or practice conjugating this verb, then take the ayudar conjugation quiz!

Daniela Sanchez

¡Hola! Soy Daniela Sanchez, I've been studying Spanish professionally as well as teaching it in Mexico and online for over 10 years. I’ve taught Spanish to a wide array of foreigners from many backgrounds. Over the years, I've made it my mission to work hard on refining many challenging to understand grammar topics to make my students' learning experiences easier, faster and more enjoyable. Read More About Me

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