Perder Conjugation 101: Conjugate Perder in Spanish

Perder is a verb with an E to IE stem change. Given that this verb can help you understand how this change is applied to -ER verbs, we’ll go over the perder conjugation patterns in this guide. Here is a summary of what you’ll learn:

• Perder Overview
• Indicative Tenses of Perder Conjugations
  • Present tense
  • Preterite tense
  • Imperfect tense
  • Near Future tense
  • Future tense
  • Conditional tense
  • Present Perfect tense
  • Past Perfect tense
  • Future Perfect tense
  • Conditional Perfect tense
  • Progressive tenses
• Subjunctive Tenses of Perder Conjugations
  • Present Subjunctive tense
  • Present Perfect Subjunctive tense
  • Imperfect Subjunctive tense
  • Past Perfect Subjunctive tense
• Imperative (Commands) of Perder Conjugations
  • Affirmative Commands
  • Negative Commands
• Uses & Examples
• Download Perder Conjugation Tables & Uses Cheat sheets
• Perder Conjugation Practice Quiz

Overview of Perder

Indicative Conjugations of Perder

Present tense

Perder conjugations in the present tense have an E to IE stem change, which doesn’t apply to ‘nosotros’ and ‘vosotros’. These conjugations of perder are used to explain that someone misses or loses something. For example: Yo siempre pierdo mis llaves.

Preterite tense

Perder conjugated to the preterite tense has no stem changes. Use perder’s preterite conjugations to refer to things people lost or missed in the past. For instance: Mi hermano perdió mi celular.

Imperfect tense

Conjugate perder to the past imperfect tense to say that someone used to lose something repeatedly in the past. For example: ¿Te acuerdas que Tim siempre perdía su dinero?

Near future

Ir (present tense) + a + perder is the formula to conjugate perder to the immediate future in Spanish. These conjugations convey that someone will lose or miss something soon in the future. Si no tienes cuidado, vas a perder tus cosas.

Future simple tense

When used in the future simple tense, this verb expresses that someone will lose or miss something in the future. For example: Este año, perderemos mucho dinero.

Conditional tense

In Spanish, the conditional forms of perder are used to say that someone would lose or miss something. If applicable to your sentences, you can include the conditions that need to be met for this to happen. No me perdería tu boda por nada del mundo.

Present perfect tense

Haber (present forms) + past participle form of ‘perder’ is the structure we must use to form the present perfect tense in Spanish. These perder conjugations convey that someone has or hasn’t lost or missed something. For example: ¿Cuántas veces has perdido tu teléfono?

Past perfect

To say that someone had or hadn’t lost something before, use perder in its past perfect forms. In Spanish, the formula for the past perfect is haber (imperfect form) + past participle. Here is an example: ¿No dijiste que habías perdido tu cartera?

Future perfect

When conjugated to the future perfect, this verb expresses that someone will have lost something by or before a specific moment in the future. These conjugations also refer to the things people might have lost. En unas horas habrán perdido el campeonato.

Conditional perfect

The conditional perfect forms of this verb are used to say that someone would have lost something if a past circumstance had happened. For example: Si hubieras usado el GPS, no nos habríamos perdido.

Progressive tenses

To form the Spanish progressive tenses, use estar conjugations + present participle (perdiendo, in this instance). With these conjugations, perder expresses that someone is losing a game at the moment of speaking. Nuestro equipo está perdiendo la final.

Perder Subjunctive Conjugations

The Spanish subjunctive mood is used to discuss a person’s desires, demands, suggestions, doubts, expectations or to express hypothetical situations. In the sections below, we’ll review perder’s subjunctive conjugation charts.

Present subjunctive

Perder’s present subjunctive conjugation has an E to IE stem change for all subject pronouns except ‘nosotros’ and ‘vosotros’. These forms are used to wish, suggest, or request that someone loses something. For instance: Esos chicos me caen mal, ojalá que pierdan.

Present perfect subjunctive

The present perfect subjunctive of ‘perder’ is formed with haber (present subjunctive) + perdido. Use these conjugations to wonder, express doubt, or wish someone already has got lost or lost something. For example: ¿Por qué no llegan? ¿Crees que se hayan perdido?

Imperfect subjunctive

The Spanish imperfect subjunctive of perder allows you to talk about past suggestions, requests, or wishes related to someone getting lost or losing something. Te advertí que no perdieras tus llaves otra vez. 

The imperfect subjunctive in Spanish has two conjugation endings:

Latin American Spanish version

Note: The pronoun vosotros is never used in Latin American Spanish. As a result, that pronoun and its conjugation have not been included in the table above.

Castilian Spanish version

Past perfect subjunctive

Use the past perfect subjunctive forms of perder to express that someone would have lost something if a past condition was met. You can also use these forms to convey regret for losing something. For example: Desearía que no hubieras perdido mi dinero.

Perder Imperative Conjugations

The imperative mood is used to give commands in Spanish. The affirmative imperative allows you to order people to perform an action, whereas the negative imperative instructs them not to perform an activity.

Affirmative commands

Perder affirmative commands have an E to IE change which is not applied to ‘vosotros’. Usually, these conjugations are used to tell people to get lost or lose something. For example: ¡Pierde, pierde!

Negative commands

The negative imperative forms of perder have an E to IE stem change for all subjects except ‘nosotros’. These commands are used to order someone not to lose something. Por favor, no pierdan de vista a su hermano.

Meanings of Perder & Examples

Now that you’ve learned how to conjugate perder in Spanish, let’s see how to use this verb. Depending on the sentence and parts of speech your using, perder means to:

• Lose (direct object pronouns)
• Get lost (reflexive pronouns)
• Miss something (reflexive pronouns)

(Pronoun in Spanish) + [perder conjugated] + (noun)

Ese equipo perderá el partido. 
That team will lose the game. 

Mis primos se perdieron en el bosque. 
My cousins got lost in the forest. 

Nunca se nos habían perdido los pasaportes. 
We had never lost our passports before. 

No encuentro mis llaves, creo que las perdí. 
I can’t find my keys, I think I lost them. 

Take Note: The pronoun se works as a reflexive pronoun when being alone. But when combined with indirect object pronouns, it’s known as accidental se. Notice that you can use Spanish direct object pronouns to replace the things you lost.

Download Perder Conjugation Charts & Uses Cheat sheet

Perder is one of the most important and commonly used Spanish -ER verbs. It’s also has a few I to IE stem changes. I’ve created a cheat sheet PDF you can download which contains all the perder conjugation charts as well as its definitions and example uses so you can study it at your own pace.

Download Conjugations PDF

Practice Quiz: Perder Conjugation

Now that you know how to conjugate this verb, the next step is to take the perder conjugation practice quiz. You can customize which tenses you can practice and master this verb’s I to IE stem changes.

Take Quiz