Necesitar Conjugation 101: Conjugate Necesitar In Spanish

Given that it’s a regular -AR verb, learning necesitar conjugation patterns can help you practice and get familiar with how to conjugate -AR verbs in Spanish. So, in this guide, we’ll go over the following topics:

Overview of Necesitar

Verb CharacteristicProperty
Verb Type-AR
IrregularNo
InfinitiveNecesitar
Gerund (Present Participle) FormNecesitando
Past Participle FormNecesitado
SynonymsPrecisar, requerir.

Indicative Conjugations of Necesitar

Present tense

Necesitar present tense conjugation is formed by adding regular -AR endings to the stem necesit. When conjugated to the present indicative form, this verb conveys that a person needs something at this point. For example: Necesitamos más leche. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoNecesitoI need
NecesitasYou need
Él / Ella
Usted
NecesitaHe/She needs
You (formal) need
NosotrosNecesitamosWe need
VosotrosNecesitáisYou need
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
NecesitanThey need
You (plural) need

Preterite tense

Necesitar past preterite conjugations are used to mention what a person needed. Include time markers if you need to specify when that action occurred. Here is an example: Gracias, siempre no lo necesité. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoNecesitéI needed
NecesitasteYou needed
Él / Ella
Usted
NecesitóHe/She needed
You (formal) needed
NosotrosNecesitamosWe needed
VosotrosNecesitasteisYou needed
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
NecesitaronThey needed
You (plural) needed

Imperfect tense

The imperfect indicative conjugations of necesitar are also regular. In Spanish, we use these forms to explain that a person needed something for an extended period of time or to ask a client politely what they need. For example: Buenas tardes, ¿qué necesitaba?

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoNecesitabaI needed
I used to need
NecesitabasYou needed
You used to need
Él / Ella
Usted
NecesitabaHe/She needed
He/She used to need

You (formal) needed
You (formal) used to need
NosotrosNecesitábamosWe needed
We used to need
VosotrosNecesitabaisYou needed
You used to need
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
NecesitabanThey needed
They used to need

You (plural) needed
You (plural) used to need

Near future

Present forms of ir + a + necesitar is how we conjugate to the immediate or near future in Spanish. With this tense, necesitar is used to explain that someone will need something soon in the future. Oigan, ¿van a necesitar el carro hoy?

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoVoy a necesitarI’m going to need
Vas a necesitarYou’re going to need
Él / Ella
Usted
Va a necesitarHe/She is going to need
You (formal) are going to need
NosotrosVamos a necesitarWe’re going to need
VosotrosVais a necesitarYou’re going to need
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Van a necesitarThey’re going to need
You (plural) are going to need

Future simple tense

When conjugated to the future simple tense, necesitar conveys that a person will need something at some moment in the future. For instance: ¿Qué necesitarás para terminar este proyecto?

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoNecesitaréI will need
NecesitarásYou will need
Él / Ella
Usted
NecesitaráHe/She will need
You (formal) will need
NosotrosNecesitaremosWe will need
VosotrosNecesitaréisYou (formal) will need
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
NecesitaránThey will need
You (plural) will need

Conditional tense

Necesitar conjugated to the conditional tense in Spanish conveys that someone would need something. If applicable to your sentence, you can add the conditions that need to be fulfilled for a person to need something. ¿Cuánto tiempo necesitarían?

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoNecesitaríaI would need
NecesitaríasYou would need
Él / Ella
Usted
NecesitaríaHe/She would need
You (formal) would need
NosotrosNecesitaríamosWe would need
VosotrosNecesitaríaisYou would need
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
NecesitaríanThey would
You (plural) would need

Present perfect tense

The present perfect conjugations of necesitar are built by using haber (present tense) + necesitado (verb in Spanish past participle form). In this tense, this verb communicates that someone has or hasn’t needed something. For example: Por ahora, no he necesitado ayuda. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHe necesitadoI have needed
Has necesitadoYou have needed
Él / Ella
Usted
Ha necesitadoHe/She has needed
You (formal) have needed
NosotrosHemos necesitadoWe have needed
VosotrosHabéis necesitadoYou have needed
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Han necesitadoThey have needed
You (plural) have needed

Past perfect

Haber (imperfect tense) + past participle of ‘necesitar’ is the structure you must use for forming the past perfect tense in Spanish. Use these conjugations to say that a person had or hadn’t needed something before another past reference point. Hasta este momento, los chicos no habían necesitado nada. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHabía necesitadoI had needed
Habías necesitadoYou had needed
Él / Ella
Usted
Había necesitadoHe/She had needed
You (formal) had needed
NosotrosHabíamos necesitadoWe had needed
VosotrosHabíais necesitadoYou had needed
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Habían necesitadoThey had needed
You (plural) had needed

Future perfect

Conjugate this verb to the future perfect tense when you want to say that someone will have needed something by or before some point in the future. No habrás necesitado nada. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHabré necesitadoI will have needed
Habrás necesitadoYou will have needed
Él / Ella
Usted
Habrá necesitadoHe/She will have needed
You (formal) will have needed
NosotrosHabremos necesitadoWe will have needed
VosotrosHabréis necesitadoYou will have needed
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Habrán necesitadoThey will have needed
You (plural) will have needed

Conditional perfect

When conjugated to the conditional perfect tense, this verb communicates that someone would have needed to do something or if a past action condition had taken place. For instance: Habríamos necesitado más tiempo para completar ese proyecto. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHabría necesitadoI would have needed
Habrías necesitadoYou would have needed
Él / Ella
Usted
Habría necesitadoHe/She would have needed
You (formal) would have needed
NosotrosHabríamos necesitadoWe would have needed
VosotrosHabríais necesitadoYou would have needed
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Habrían necesitadoThey would have needed
You (plural) would have needed

Progressive tenses

The progressive tenses of this verb emphasize that someone needs something at the moment of speaking. Use estar’s conjugations + present participle form of ‘necesitar’ to form these conjugations. For example: Por ahora, no estamos necesitando más empleados. 

Progressive TenseFormulaTranslation Example
PresentEstar (present) + necesitandoI am needing
PreteriteEstar (preterite) + necesitandoYou were needing
ImperfectEstar (imperfect) + necesitandoHe was needing
FutureEstar (future) + necesitandoWe will be needing
ConditionalEstar (conditional) + necesitandoThey would be needing

Necesitar Subjunctive Conjugations

Use the Spanish subjunctive mood to express hopes, advice, demands, desires, doubts or hypothetical situations. In the sections below, you’ll find the necesitar conjugation charts for the most important subjunctive tenses. 

Present subjunctive

The present subjunctive conjugation of necesitar is used to suggest or wish that someone needs something. For example: Espero que no necesitemos más azúcar. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoNecesiteI need
NecesitesYou need
Él / Ella
Usted
NecesiteHe/She needs
You (formal) need
NosotrosNecesitemosWe need
VosotrosNecesitéisYou need
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
NecesitenThey need
You (plural) need

Present perfect subjunctive

Haber (present subjunctive) + necesitado is the formula you must use to conjugate the present perfect subjunctive in Spanish. When using these conjugations, necesitar expresses doubt or hopes about whether a person has already needed something. 

For instance: ¿Crees que los chicos hayan necesitado ayuda con su tarea?

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHaya necesitadoI have needed
Hayas necesitadoYou have needed
Él / Ella
Usted
Haya necesitadoHe/She has needed
You (formal) have needed
NosotrosHayamos necesitadoWe have needed
VosotrosHayáis necesitadoYou have needed
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Hayan necesitadoThey have needed
You (plural) have needed

Imperfect subjunctive

Conjugate necesitar to the imperfect subjunctive to talk about your past suggestions, wishes, or demands about someone needing something. For instance: Me gustaría que me necesitaras más. 

The imperfect subjunctive tense uses two different endings depending on the type of Spanish use:

Latin American Spanish version

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoNecesitaraI needed
NecesitarasYou needed
Él / Ella
Usted
NecesitaraHe/She needed
You (formal) needed
NosotrosNecesitáramosWe needed
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
NecesitaranThey needed
You (plural) needed

Note: Remember that vosotros is exclusively used in Castilian Spanish. As a result, the necesitar conjugation for vosotros has been omitted in the Latin American Spanish conjugation chart.  

Castilian Spanish version

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoNecesitaseI needed
NecesitasesYou needed
Él / Ella
Usted
NecesitaseHe/She needed
You (formal) needed
NosotrosNecesitásemosWe needed
VosotrosNecesitaseisYou needed
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
NecesitasenThey needed
You (plural) needed

Past perfect subjunctive

The past perfect subjunctive conjugations of necesitar express that someone would have needed something if a past circumstance had been fulfilled. These forms also convey regret for needing or not needing something. Si el proyecto hubiera sido más largo, hubiera necesitado más ayuda. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHubiera necesitadoI had needed
Hubieras necesitadoYou had needed
Él / Ella
Usted
Hubiera necesitadoHe/She had needed
You (formal) had needed
NosotrosHubiéramos necesitadoWe had needed
VosotrosHubierais necesitadoYou had needed
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Hubieran necesitadoThey had needed
You (plural) had needed

Necesitar Imperative Conjugations

In Spanish, we use the imperative mood to instruct or command people.

Affirmative commands

Necesitar affirmative imperative conjugations are used to strongly suggest to people what they need. For example: Señora, necesita descansar.

PersonConjugationTranslation
NecesitasNeed
UstedNecesitaNeed
VosotrosNecesitadNeed
UstedesNecesitanNeed

Negative commands

On the other hand, you can use the negative commands of this verb to tell people they don’t need something. Tranquilo, no los necesitas. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
No necesitasDon’t need
UstedNo necesitaDon’t need
VosotrosNo necesitáisDon’t need
UstedesNo necesitanDon’t need

Meanings of Necesitar & Examples

In the sections above, we’ve learned how to conjugate necesitar in Spanish. So, now we’ll review some structures and simple rules to use this verb correctly. 

Necesitar is a Spanish transitive verb, meaning we must mention or imply what someone needs. If you’re referring to an activity (example #2), use an infinitive verb. But, use nouns or Spanish direct object pronouns when referring to people or things (examples #1 and #3).

[Necesitar conjugated] + [complement]

Te necesito
I need you. 

En unos días, necesitaré ir al dentista. 
I will need to go to the dentist in a few days.

¿Para qué necesitaban mi teléfono?
Why did you guys need my phone?

Take Note: In Spanish, necesitar is a verb that triggers the subjunctive when used to say that we need someone to do something. Necesito que me ayudes

Download Necesitar Conjugation Tables & Uses Cheat sheets

Necesitar is a common verb that can help you practice the -AR conjugation model. Here is a cheat sheets PDF which contains all the necesitar conjugation charts. It also contains the short definitions and uses section where you’ll find example sentences for using this verb in real-world daily conversations.

Practice Quiz: Necesitar Conjugation

Now that you’ve learned how to conjugate necesitar in Spanish, you should practice your knowledge by taking this necesitar 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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