“Abrir” Conjugation: Let’s Open Some Doors!

Have you ever thought about how many things you open every day? Doors, windows, books, boxes, your laptop, your eyes… You name it! So it’s about time you learn to conjugate the verb abrir (to open) in Spanish.

We’ll start by explaining what type of verb this is and then move on to the abrir conjugation basics. We will then move on to more challenging tenses and finally review some fun idioms and phrases. Are you ready to open your mind?

What kind of verb is abrir?

Abrir is a very special irregular verb. Don’t be scared! What makes it special is that it is irregular in just one form: the participle. Piece of cake, right?

As you probably know by now, in Spanish, the infinitive form of the verb always ends either in “-ar,” “-er,” or “ir.” The first part of the verb is called a stem (the “abr” in the verb “abrir”) and always stays the same for regular verbs. Stem-changing verbs are those that change the last vowel of the stem in some conjugations. You can find more information about stem-changing verbs in this article. However, abrir only changes in the participle form and has no vowel changes.

We’ll look at this irregularity in the next section, but rest assured, the abrir conjugation is an easy one.

Verbals of abrir: infinitive, gerund and participle

We’ll start our abrir conjugation by looking at its verbals: the infinitive, the gerund and the participle. Spanish verbals work as nouns, adjectives and adverbs instead of actual verbs. We know that sounds overly complicated, but you’ll have it down in the blink of an eye. We’ll also share some examples below to show you how the abrir conjugation verbals work.

Infinitive

Abrir (to abrir)

• Hace mucho calor. Vamos a abrir la ventana. (It’s really hot. Let’s open the window.)

Gerund

Abriendo (opening)

• Estaba abriendo la puerta cuando sonó el teléfono. (I was opening the door when the phone rang.)

Participle

Abierto (opened)

This is our only irregular form in the abrir conjugation. Can you spot the difference?

• Si hubieses abierto el libro, sabrías de lo que hablo. (If you had opened the book, you’d know what I’m talking about.)

Abrir conjugation for all levels

Open a window: abrir conjugation for beginners

There are 10 tenses in the Spanish indicative mood. In this section, we’ll go over the four most common forms of the abrir conjugation: presente (present), pretérito imperfecto (imperfect preterite, a form of the past tense), pretérito perfecto (perfect preterite, another form of the past tense) and futuro (future). These are also the easiest ones!

Subject	Present	Imperfect Preterite	Perfect Preterite	Future
Yo (I)	abro	abría	abrí	abriré
Tu (You) Vos (Latin America)	abres abrís	abrías	abriste	abrirás
Usted (You, formal) El/Ella (He/She/It)	abre	abría	abrió	abrirá
Nosotros (We)	abrimos	abríamos	abrimos	abriremos
Vosotros (You, plural) Ustedes (Latin America)	abrís abren	abríais abrían	abristeis abrieron	abriréis abrirán
Ellos (Them)	abren	abrían	abrieron	abrirán

Abrir conjugation examples for beginners

• Present: ¿Abres la puerta? (Can you open the door?)
• Imperfect preterite: No abrían los lunes.. (They didn’t use to open on Mondays.)
• Perfect preterite: ¿Abrieron la maleta? (Did you open the suitcase?)
• Future: Hace tiempo que está en construcción. ¿Abrirá algún día? (It’s been under construction for a while. Will it ever open?)

Open a door: abrir conjugation for intermediate students

You’ve got the basics; it’s time to challenge yourself. In this section, we’ll focus on the compound tenses of the abrir conjugation in the indicative mood.

Mastering the haber conjugation is the key to learning these tenses. The only form of abrir that is actually used here is also the only irregular form: the participle “abierto”. Compound tenses in Spanish are formed with the correct form of the verb haber + the past participle of the verb in question (i.e., abrido), which is the one that carries the meaning.

In the table below you’ll find the pretérito perfecto (preterite perfect), pluscuamperfecto (pluperfect) and futuro compuesto (future perfect) tenses for abrir. It can also be useful to have a look at our article on the haber conjugation.

Subject	Preterite Perfect	Pluperfect	Future Perfect
Yo (I)	he abierto	había abierto	habré abierto
Tu/Vos (You)	has abierto	habías abierto	habrás abierto
Usted (You, formal) El/Ella (He/She/It)	ha abierto	había abierto	habrá abierto
Nosotros (We)	hemos abierto	habíamos abierto	habremos abierto
Vosotros (You, plural) Ustedes (Latin America)	habéis abierto han abierto	habíais abierto habían abierto	habréis abierto habrán abierto
Ellos (Them)	han abierto	habían abierto	habrán abierto

Abrir conjugation examples for intermediate level

• Preterite perfect: Hemos abierto las inscripciones. (We have opened up enrollments.)
• Pluperfect: Había abierto una brecha entre nosotros. (It had driven a wedge between us.)
• Future perfect: ¿No habrás abierto la boca, no? (You wouldn’t have spilled the beans, right?)

Open up the world: abrir conjugation for advanced learners

Your mind is expanding! In this section, we’ll go over the subjunctive mood. This Spanish mood is indeed quite moody; it is used to express doubts, emotions, desires, and the unknown. Below, we’ll look at its presente (present), imperfecto (imperfect) and futuro (future) tenses for the abrir conjugation.

Subject	Present	Imperfect	Future
Yo (I)	abra	abriera or abriese	abriere
Tu (You) Vos (Latin America)	abras	abrieras or abrieses	abrieres
Usted (You, formal) El/Ella (He/She/It)	abra	abriera or abriese	abriere
Nosotros (We)	abramos	abriéramos or abriésemos	abriéremos
Vosotros (You, plural) Ustedes (Latin America)	abráis abran	abrierais or abrieseis abrieran or abriesen	abriereis abrieren
Ellos (Them)	abran	abrieran or abriesen	abrieren

Abrir conjugation examples for advanced learners

• Present: ¡Qué abran las puertas! (Let them open the gates!)
• Imperfect: Si abrieran más temprano, podríamos ir. (If they would open earlier, we would be able to go.)

You are unlikely to hear the subjunctive future in conversation nowadays. This tense has been relegated to literature or legal contexts so we haven’t added a conjugation example for the abrir subjunctive future here. However, we still think it’s important to know it exists and what it looks like.

Extra abrir conjugation: conditional tenses and imperative

Are you open-minded? Well, we have some interesting conjugations for you. This section will cover three more abrir conjugation tenses: the condicional simple (simple conditional), the condicional compuesto (conditional perfect), and the imperative.

Subject	Simple Conditional	Conditional Perfect	Imperative
Yo (I)	abriría	habría abierto
Tu (You) Vos (Latin America)	abrirías	habrías abierto	¡abre! ¡abrí!
Usted (You, formal) El/Ella (He/She/It)	abriría	habría abierto	¡abra!
Nosotros (We)	abriríamos	habríamos abierto	¡abramos!
Vosotros (You, plural) Ustedes (Latin America)	abriríais abrirían	habríais abierto habrían abierto	¡abrid! ¡abran!
Ellos (Them)	abrirían	habrían abierto	¡abran!

Abrir conjugation examples in the conditional tenses

• Simple conditional: Si tuviese calor, abriría la ventana. (If I were hot, I would open the window.)
• Conditional perfect: ¿Si hubieses sabido que la carta no era para ti, habrías abierto el sobre? (Would you have opened the envelope if you had know the letter was not addressed to you?)
• Imperative: ¡Abre la boca! (Open your mouth!)

If you want more information on conditional tenses, you should read this article.

Open up your eyes: idioms and phrases with abrir

Now that we are proficient in the abrir conjugation, it’s time to have some fun with idioms and phrases.

Cuando una puerta se cierra, otra se abre

This phrase probably sounds familiar to you. It’s the equivalent of the classic “When one door closes, another opens.”

Abrir camino

This phrase translates as “to open the way.” It means to clear the way or cut a path, and it can be used both literally and metaphorically.

De que tocan a llover, no hay más que abrir el paraguas

This Mexican idiom roughly translates to “When it rains, you have to open the umbrella.” It means that, when something unavoidable happens, you can only prepare and accept the situation.

Abrir una brecha

As seen in one of the examples, this means “to drive a wedge.” It can also be used to say you have changed someone’s mind or when literally creating a gap, particularly in a military context.

En un abrir y cerrar de ojos

We’ll admit “in an opening and closing of the eyes” does not sound as smooth as “in the blink of an eye” in English, but we promise it slips off the tongue in Spanish!

Abrir la boca

In addition to literally opening your mouth, this phrase also means to say something you shouldn’t or spill the beans about something.

En boca cerrada, no entran moscas

This idiom does not technically include abrir, but it is related to the previous phrase and was too good to pass up. It translates as, “no flies go inside a closed mouth,” and it means that sometimes it is best to hold your tongue instead of risking saying too much.

And, since we’re at it, here is the conjugation for the verb cerrar (to close).

We hope this guide on the abrir conjugation has shown you that not all irregularities are made equal. And some are really easy to learn!. If you want some more information on Spanish conjugations, feel free to take a peek at our overview of Spanish tenses and the full -IR verb conjugation.