Beber Conjugation 101: Conjugate Beber In Spanish

Beber conjugation pattern can help you understand how to conjugate regular -ER verbs. Since this is also a common verb in everyday conversations, in this guide, we’ll go through the conjugation charts of beber. Here’s what you’ll learn:

Overview of Beber

Verb CharacteristicProperty
Verb Type-ER
IrregularNo
InfinitiveBeber
Gerund (Present Participle) FormBebiendo
Past Participle FormBebido
SynonymsTomar

Indicative Conjugations of Beber

Present tense

Use the present tense conjugations of beber to ask or talk about what people usually drink. For example: Nunca bebo café antes de desayunar.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoBeboI drink
BebesYou drink
Él / Ella
Usted
BebeHe/She drinks
You (formal) drink
NosotrosBebemosWe drink
VosotrosBebéisYou drink
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
BebenThey drink
You (plural) drink

Preterite tense

In the preterite tense, beber communicates that a person drank something at a specific time in the past. For instance: ¿Qué bebieron en la fiesta de Patty? As shown in the conjugation chart below, the preterite conjugations of ‘beber’ are regular.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoBebíI drank
BebisteYou drank
Él / Ella
Usted
BebióHe/She drank
You (formal) drank
NosotrosBebimosWe drank
VosotrosBebisteisYou drank
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
BebieronThey drank
You (plural) drank

Imperfect tense

Beber conjugated to the imperfect tense is used to talk about the things you used to drink repeatedly in the past. Mi mamá siempre bebía dos tazas de café.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoBebíaI drank
I used to drink
BebíasYou drank
You used to drink
Él / Ella
Usted
BebíaHe/She drank
He/She used to drink

You (formal) drank
You (formal) used to drink
NosotrosBebíamosWe drank
We used to drink
VosotrosBebíaisYou drank
You used to drink
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
BebíanThey drank
They used to drink

You (plural) drank
You (plural) used to drink

Near future

Ir + a + infinitive (in this case, beber) is the formula to build the near future. In this tense, beber expresses that someone is going to drink something. For example: Yo no voy a beber hoy.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoVoy a beberI’m going to drink
Vas a beberYou’re going to drink
Él / Ella
Usted
Va a beberHe/She is going to drink
You (formal) are going to drink
NosotrosVamos a beberWe’re going to drink
VosotrosVais a beberYou’re going to drink
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Van a beberThey’re going to drink
You (plural) are going to drink

Future simple tense

Use the future conjugations of ‘beber’ to convey that someone will drink something at some point in the future. Yo nunca beberé sake.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoBeberéI will drink
BeberásYou will drink
Él / Ella
Usted
BeberáHe/She will drink
You (formal) will drink
NosotrosBeberemosWe will drink
VosotrosBeberéisYou (formal) will drink
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
BeberánThey will drink
You (plural) will drink

Conditional tense

Beber conditional conjugations are used to talk about the beverages someone would drink. For instance: Nosotros jamás beberíamos tanto jugo de naranja.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoBeberíaI would drink
BeberíasYou would drink
Él / Ella
Usted
BeberíaHe/She would drink
You (formal) would drink
NosotrosBeberíamosWe would drink
VosotrosBeberíaisYou would drink
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
BeberíanThey would drink
You (plural) would drink

Present perfect tense

Haber in the present tense + bebido (past participle) is the formula of the Spanish present perfect tense. These conjugations express that someone has or hasn’t drunk something. For instance: ¿Nunca has bebido sake?

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHe bebidoI have drunk
Has bebidoYou have drunk
Él / Ella
Usted
Ha bebidoHe/She has drunk
You (formal) have drunk
NosotrosHemos bebidoWe have drunk
VosotrosHabéis bebidoYou have drunk
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Han bebidoThey have drunk
You (plural) have drunk

Past perfect

In the past perfect tense, ‘beber’ communicates that someone had or hadn’t drunk something  before some other reference point in the past. A las ocho, ya se habían bebido todo el té. To form the past perfect, use the imperfect form of ‘haber’ and the past participle form of ‘beber’.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHabía bebidoI had drunk
Habías bebidoYou had drunk
Él / Ella
Usted
Había bebidoHe/She had drunk
You (formal) had drunk
NosotrosHabíamos bebidoWe had drunk
VosotrosHabíais bebidoYou had drunk
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Habían bebidoThey had drunk
You (plural) had drunk

Future perfect

The future perfect tense conjugations of ‘beber’ are used to say that someone will have drunk something by or before a certain point in the future. This tense also refers to drinks someone might have drunk. For instance: Para cuando llegues, ya habremos bebido nuestro café.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHabré bebidoI will have drunk
Habrás bebidoYou will have drunk
Él / Ella
Usted
Habrá bebidoHe/She will have drunk
You (formal) will have drunk
NosotrosHabremos bebidoWe will have drunk
VosotrosHabréis bebidoYou will have drunk
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Habrán bebidoThey will have drunk
You (plural) will have drunk

Conditional perfect

The conditional perfect conjugations of beber are used to talk about what someone would have drunk if certain conditions had been met. For instance: Habría bebido más, pero mañana tengo que trabajar.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHabría bebidoI would have drunk
Habrías bebidoYou would have drunk
Él / Ella
Usted
Habría bebidoHe/She would have drunk
You (formal) would have drunk
NosotrosHabríamos bebidoWe would have drunk
VosotrosHabríais bebidoYou would have drunk
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Habrían bebidoThey would have drunk
You (plural) would have drunk

Progressive tenses

The progressive tenses of beber convey that someone is drinking at the moment of speaking. Or, in the case of past forms (preterite and imperfect), to communicate that a past action was in progress when a person was drinking something. For example: ¿Qué están bebiendo?

Spanish progressive tenses are conjugated by using the formula estar conjugated + present participle of beber.

Progressive TenseFormulaTranslation Example
PresentEstar (present) + bebiendoI am drinking
PreteriteEstar (preterite) + bebiendoYou were drinking
ImperfectEstar (imperfect) + bebiendoHe was drinking
FutureEstar (future) + bebiendoWe will be drinking
ConditionalEstar (conditional) + bebiendoThey would be drinking

Beber Subjunctive Conjugations

The Spanish subjunctive mood is used to describe wishes, discuss hypothetical situations or express uncertainty. The beber conjugation charts below show how to conjugate this verb to the subjunctive tenses.

Present subjunctive

The present subjunctive conjugations of beber are used to recommend, request or wish that someone drinks something. For example: Te sugiero que no bebas más café.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoBebaI drink
BebasYou drink
Él / Ella
Usted
BebaHe/She drinks
You (formal) drink
NosotrosBebamosWe drink
VosotrosBebáisYou drink
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
BebanThey drink
You (plural) drink

Present perfect subjunctive

Haber in the present subjunctive + bebido is the formula to build the present perfect subjunctive of ‘beber’. We use these conjugations to express doubt or expectations about someone having drunk something. Espero que se hayan bebido su jugo.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHaya bebidoI have drunk
Hayas bebidoYou have drunk
Él / Ella
Usted
Haya bebidoHe/She has drunk
You (formal) have drunk
NosotrosHayamos bebidoWe have drunk
VosotrosHayáis bebidoYou have drunk
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Hayan bebidoThey have drunk
You (plural) have drunk

Imperfect subjunctive

Use the imperfect subjunctive conjugations of ‘beber’ to talk about past suggestions or expectations you had about someone drinking something. The wishes or expectations expressed by this tense are usually difficult to accomplish. Ojalá no bebieran tanto café. 

The imperfect subjunctive has two models for conjugating ‘beber’ depending on which type of Spanish you’re using.

Latin American Spanish version

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoBebieraI drank
BebierasYou drank
Él / Ella
Usted
BebieraHe/She drank
You (formal) drank
NosotrosBebiéramosWe drank
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
BebieranThey drank
You (plural) drank

Note: The conjugation chart above doesn’t include the form vosotros as this pronoun is not used in Latin American Spanish.

Castilian Spanish version

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoBebieseI drank
BebiesesYou drank
Él / Ella
Usted
BebieseHe/She drank
You (formal) drank
NosotrosBebiésemosWe drank
VosotrosBebieseisYou drank
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
BebiesenThey drank
You (plural) drank

Past perfect subjunctive

In the past perfect subjunctive, beber conveys that someone would have drunk something if a past circumstance was met. You can also use these conjugations to express regrets or hypothetical results if someone had drunk something.

For example: Ojalá no hubiéramos bebido tanto.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHubiera bebidoI had drunk
Hubieras bebidoYou had drunk
Él / Ella
Usted
Hubiera bebidoHe/She had drunk
You (formal) had drunk
NosotrosHubiéramos bebidoWe had drunk
VosotrosHubierais bebidoYou had drunk
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Hubieran bebidoThey had drunk
You (plural) had drunk

Beber Imperative Conjugations

The Spanish imperative is used to order people to do (affirmative commands) or not do something (negative commands)

Affirmative commands

We use the affirmative imperative of ‘beber’ to order someone to drink something. For instance: Por favor, beba más agua. These conjugations are regular.

PersonConjugationTranslation
BebeDrink
UstedBebaDrink
VosotrosBebedDrink
UstedesBebanDrink

Negative commands

Use the negative imperative to demand someone to not drink something. For example: No beban agua de la llave.

PersonConjugationTranslation
No bebasDon’t drink
UstedNo bebaDon’t drink
VosotrosNo bebáisDon’t drink
UstedesNo bebanDon’t drink

Meanings of Beber & Examples

Now that you’ve learned how to conjugate beber in Spanish, we’ll go over a few examples so you see how to apply this verb correctly. 

[Beber conjugated] + beverage) 

¿Cuántas cervezas han bebido?
How many beers have you guys drunk?

Matt siempre bebe su café sin azúcar. 
Matt always drinks his coffee without sugar. 

In Spanish, we use reflexive pronouns to emphasize the action of drinking. We do this when we want to highlight that someone drinks something or to stress the amount of beverages they have had. 

[Reflexive pronoun] + [beber conjugated] + (beverage) 

¿Quién se bebió mi coca? 
Who drank my coke?

Tony y yo nos bebimos todo el vino. 
Tony and I drank all the wine. 

Take Note: In Latin American Spanish, tomar is more commonly used instead of ‘beber’ to say ‘to drink’.

Download Beber Conjugation Tables & Uses Cheat sheets

Download a copy of the ‘beber’ conjugation cheat sheets PDF with all the tense charts, meanings & uses.

Practice Quiz: Beber Conjugation

Take the beber conjugation practice quiz to test your knowledge of conjugating this -ER verb that is used in daily Spanish conversations.

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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