Despertarse Conjugation 101: Conjugate Despertarse In Spanish

Despertarse has a reflexive conjugation in Spanish. Although they’re extremely common, reflexive verbs can be challenging if you’re not familiar with them. So, use this despertarse conjugation guide as a way to practice -AR reflexive verbs.

Overview of Despertarse

Verb CharacteristicProperty
Verb Type-AR
IrregularNo
InfinitiveDespertarse
Gerund (Present Participle) FormDespertando
Past Participle FormDespertado
SynonymsLevantarse.

Stem Changes: E to IE

  • Present indicative: despiert for all subject pronouns except ‘nosotros’ and ‘vosotros’.
  • Present subjunctive: despiert for all subject pronouns except ‘nosotros’ and ‘vosotros’.
  • Affirmative imperative: despiert for all subject pronouns except ‘vosotros’.
  • Negative imperative: despiert for all subject pronouns except ‘vosotros’.

Despertarse is only reflexive when communicating that someone wakes themself up. Keep the same conjugations and remove the reflexive pronouns when saying the subject wakes someone else up.

Indicative Conjugations of Despertarse

Present tense

Despertarse present tense conjugations have an E to IE stem change for all subjects except ‘nosotros’ and ‘vosotros’. Use the present tense of ‘despertar’ to talk about someone’s current habits of waking up. For instance: Yo me despierto temprano.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoMe despiertoI wake up
Te despiertasYou wake up
Él / Ella
Usted
Se despiertaHe/She wakes up
You (formal) wake up
NosotrosNos despertamosWe wake up
VosotrosOs despertáisYou wake up
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Se despiertanThey wake up 
You (plural) wake up

Preterite tense

Despertarse preterite conjugations are regular. Conjugate despertarse to the preterite tense to communicate that someone already woke up or was awake at a specific moment in the past. ¿Sabes si ya se despertó tu hermano?

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoMe despertéI woke up
Te despertasteYou woke up
Él / Ella
Usted
Se despertóHe/She woke up
You (formal) woke up
NosotrosNos despertamosWe woke up
VosotrosOs despertasteisYou woke up
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Se despertaronThey woke up
You (plural) woke up

Imperfect tense

In the past indicative imperfect tense, despertarse is a regular verb. Use this tense to talk about the time you used to wake up. For example: Yo siempre me despertaba tarde.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoMe despertabaI woke up
I used to wake up
Te despertabasYou woke up
You used to wake up
Él / Ella
Usted
Se despertabaHe/She woke up
He/She used to wake up

You (formal) woke up
You (formal) used to wake up
NosotrosNos despertábamosWe woke up
We used to wake up
VosotrosOs despertabaisYou woke up
You used to wake up
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Se despertabanThey woke up
They used to wake up

You (plural) woke up
You (plural) used to wake up

Near future

The Spanish immediate future of ‘despertarse’ communicates that someone is planning to wake up soon in the future. For example: Sandy se va a despertar a las 9. The near future is formed with ir (present tense) + a + despertarse and can be translated as “going to wake up”.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoVoy a despertarmeI’m going to wake up
Vas a despertarteYou’re going to wake up
Él / Ella
Usted
Va a despertarseHe/She is going to wake up
You (formal) are going to wake up
NosotrosVamos a despertarnosWe’re going to wake up
VosotrosVais a despertarosYou’re going to wake up
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Van a despertarseThey’re going to wake up
You (plural) are going to wake up

Take Note: You can attach the reflexive pronoun to the infinitive (despertar) or place it before the conjugated verb (ir). Regardless of which option you choose, you still need to use the corresponding reflexive pronoun for each subject.

Future simple tense

The future conjugations of despertarse are regular. In the future, you can use ‘despertarse’ to explain that someone will wake up at some point in the future. Mañana no nos despertaremos temprano.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoMe despertaréI will wake up
Te despertarásYou will wake up
Él / Ella
Usted
Se despertaráHe/She will wake up
You (formal) will wake up
NosotrosNos despertaremosWe will wake up
VosotrosOs despertaréisYou (formal) will wake up
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Se despertaránThey will wake up
You (plural) will wake up

Conditional tense

Use the conditional forms of ‘despertarse’ to express that a person would wake up if certain circumstances are met. This tense also allows you to make a hypothesis about someone waking up. ¿Por qué no se despertaría tu hermana?

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoMe despertaríaI would wake up
Te despertaríasYou would wake up
Él / Ella
Usted
Se despertaríaHe/She would wake up
You (formal) would wake up
NosotrosNos despertaríamosWe would wake up
VosotrosOs despertaríaisYou would wake up
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Se despertaríanThey would wake up
You (plural) would wake up

Present perfect tense

Reflexive pronoun + haber in the present tense + despertado (past participle) is the formula of the Spanish present perfect tense. This tense is used to express that someone has or hasn’t woken up. For instance: ¿Por qué no se han despertado?

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoMe he despertadoI have woken up
Te has despertadoYou have woken up
Él / Ella
Usted
Se ha despertadoHe/She has woken up
You (formal) have woken up
NosotrosNos hemos despertadoWe have woken up
VosotrosOs habéis despertadoYou have woken up
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Se han despertadoThey have woken up
You (plural) have woken up

Take Note: With perfect tenses, Spanish reflexive pronouns must always be placed before haber.

Past perfect

The past perfect conjugations of ‘despertarse’ express that someone had or hadn’t woken up before some other reference point in the past. Eran las 8 y Juan no se había despertado. To form the past perfect, use the imperfect form of ‘haber’ and the past participle form of ‘despertarse’.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoMe había despertadoI had woken up
Te habías despertadoYou had woken up
Él / Ella
Usted
Se había despertadoHe/She had woken up
You (formal) had woken up
NosotrosNos habíamos despertadoWe had woken up
VosotrosOs habíais despertadoYou had woken up
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Se habían despertadoThey had woken up
You (plural) had woken up

Future perfect

The future perfect conjugations of despertarse convey that someone will have or won’t have woken up by or before a certain time in the future. These forms are also used to express that something might have woken up. For instance: A las 9, mi mamá ya se habrá despertado.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoMe habré despertadoI will have woken up
Te habrás despertadoYou will have woken up
Él / Ella
Usted
Se habrá despertadoHe/She will have woken up
You (formal) will have woken up
NosotrosNos habremos despertadoWe will have woken up
VosotrosOs habréis despertadoYou will have woken up
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Se habrán despertadoThey will have woken up
You (plural) will have woken up

Conditional perfect

The conditional perfect conjugations of despertarse are used to say that someone would have woken up as long as a past condition had been met. For instance: Me habría despertado temprano de haber tenido algo importante que hacer.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoMe habría despertadoI would have woken up
Te habrías despertadoYou would have woken up
Él / Ella
Usted
Se habría despertadoHe/She would have woken up
You (formal) would have woken up
NosotrosNos habríamos despertadoWe would have woken up
VosotrosOs habríais despertadoYou would have woken up
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Se habrían despertadoThey would have woken up
You (plural) would have woken up

Progressive tenses

Use the progressive tenses of despertarse to express someone is waking up at the moment of speaking. Or, in the case of past forms, to communicate that a past action was in progress when you woke up. For example: Cuando llegaste, apenas me estaba despertando.

Progressive TenseFormulaTranslation Example
Present(Reflexive pronoun) + estar (present) + despertandoI am waking up
Preterite(Reflexive pronoun) + estar (preterite) + despertandoYou were waking up
Imperfect(Reflexive pronoun) + estar (imperfect) + despertandoShe was waking up
Future(Reflexive pronoun) + estar (future) + despertandoWe will be waking up
Conditional(Reflexive pronoun) + estar (conditional) + despertandoThey would be waking up

Take Note: Reflexive pronouns can be attached to present participle verbs or can also be placed before the conjugated verb, which in this case would be estar.

Despertarse 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 despertarse.

Present subjunctive

Despertarse subjunctive conjugations have an E to IE stem change except for ‘nosotros’ and ‘vosotros’. The present subjunctive form of ‘despertarse’ can be used to wish or request someone to wake up. For instance: Espero que mañana se despierten temprano.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoMe despierteI wake up
Te despiertesYou wake up
Él / Ella
Usted
Se despierteHe/She wakes up
You (formal) wake up
NosotrosNos despertemosWe wake up
VosotrosOs despertéisYou wake up
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Se despiertenThey wake up

Present perfect subjunctive

Reflexive pronoun + haber (in the present subjunctive) + despertado is the formula to build the present perfect subjunctive of ‘despertarse’. When using this tense, ‘despertarse’ can be used to express doubt or ask if someone has woken up. Dudo que Jared ya se haya despertado.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoMe haya despertadoI have woken up
Te hayas despertadoYou have woken up
Él / Ella
Usted
Se haya despertadoHe/She has woken up
You (formal) have woken up
NosotrosNos hayamos despertadoWe have woken up
VosotrosOs hayáis despertadoYou have woken up
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Se hayan despertadoThey have woken up
You (plural) have woken up

Imperfect subjunctive

Use the imperfect subjunctive conjugations of ‘despertarse’ to refer to past suggestions, requests, wishes or expectations you had about someone waking up. Te pedí que te despertaras temprano. 

The imperfect subjunctive has two conjugation models depending on which type of Spanish you’re using:

Latin American Spanish version

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoMe despertaraI woke up
Te despertarasYou woke up
Él / Ella
Usted
Se despertaraHe/She woke up
You (formal) woke up
NosotrosNos despertáramosWe woke up
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Se despertaranThey woke up
You (plural) woke up

Note: The table above doesn’t include despertarse’s conjugation for vosotros because it’s not used in Latin American Spanish.

Castilian Spanish version

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoMe despertaseI woke up
Te despertasesYou woke up
Él / Ella
Usted
Se despertaseHe/She woke up
You (formal) woke up
NosotrosNos despertásemosWe woke up
VosotrosOs despertaseisYou woke up
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Se despertasenThey woke up
You (plural) woke up

Past perfect subjunctive

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

For example: Si se hubieran despertado, habríamos llegado a tiempo.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoMe hubiera despertadoI had woken up
Te hubieras despertadoYou had woken up
Él / Ella
Usted
Se hubiera despertadoHe/She had woken up
You (formal) had woken up
NosotrosNos hubiéramos despertadoWe had woken up
VosotrosOs hubierais despertadoYou had woken up
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Se hubieran despertadoThey had woken up
You (plural) had woken up

Despertarse Imperative Conjugations

To give commands in Spanish, we use the imperative mood. Put it another way, it’s used to tell people what to do (affirmative imperative) and what not to do (negative imperative). 

Affirmative commands

The affirmative imperative of ‘despertarse’ is used to command or instruct someone to wake up. For example: ¡Juan, despiértate! In the affirmative imperative, despertarse has E to IE changes except for ‘vosotros’.

PersonConjugationTranslation
DespiértateWake up
UstedDespiérteseWake up
VosotrosDespertaosWake up
UstedesDespiértenseWake up

Take Note: Reflexive and object pronouns must always be attached to affirmative commands.

Negative commands

Use the negative imperative to order someone to not wake up. For example: No se despierten temprano. Notice that ‘vosotros’ is the only pronoun that doesn’t have an E to IE stem change

PersonConjugationTranslation
No te despiertesDon’t wake up
UstedNo se despierteDon’t wake up
VosotrosNo os despertéisDon’t wake up
UstedesNo se despiertenDon’t wake up

Take Note: With the negative imperative, reflexive pronouns must always be placed before the verb.

Meanings of Despertarse & Examples

Since you already learned how to conjugate despertarse, you should check the following examples so you know how to use this verb correctly.

In Spanish, we use the reflexive conjugations of despertarse to express that a person wakes up on their own. To keep this meaning, you must use reflexive pronouns

Despiértense, por favor. 
Wake up guys, please. 

Todavía no me voy a despertar
I’m not going to wake up just yet. 

Siempre nos hemos despertado muy temprano. 
We have always woken up very early. 

You can use the non-reflexive form, despertar to express that someone is waking another person up. In this case, you must remove the reflexive pronoun from the conjugation: 

Tim, despierta a tu hermana. 
Tim, wake your sister up

¿Quién despertó al bebé?
Who woke the baby up?

Take Note: With this meaning, you can use a Spanish direct object pronoun to replace the person that you or someone else wakes up –yo la desperté (I woke her up).

Download Despertarse Conjugation Tables & Uses Cheat sheets

Click the button below to download the cheat sheets PDF I’ve assembled with all of the despertarse conjugation charts, meanings, and uses so you can study them at your own pace.

Practice Quiz: Despertarse Conjugation

Now that you’ve learned how to conjugate despertarse in Spanish, you can practice your skills conjugating a reflexive, stem-changing verb with the despertarse conjugation practice 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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