As the song goes, you may not always get what you want, but you’ll get what you need. And today, what you need is to go over the conseguir (to get/accomplish) conjugation in Spanish!
In this article, we’ll dive into the conseguir conjugation. We’ll start by looking at its meaning and its verbals. We’ll then cover the conseguir conjugation basics and move on to more advanced tenses. We’ll finish off with a quote from one of the most famous Latin American authors that contains this verb. Let’s get into it!
What kind of verb is conseguir?
Conseguir can have three similar meanings depending on the context: to get, to accomplish or to manage. Let’s explain these with some examples:
- Quiero conseguir unas botas verdes. (I want to get some green boots.)
- Conseguimos cumplir los objetivos. (We accomplished all of our goals.)
- Es difícil, pero lo conseguiremos. (It’s hard, but we’ll manage.)
We should also point out that one of the forms of the verb conseguir shares spelling with the pronoun consigo, but these words have quite different meanings. The personal pronoun means “with oneself” or “with one”.
Here’s an example of each of these words so you can see the difference:
- Consigo pronoun:
- Estaba enojada consigo misma. (She was mad at herself.)
- Consigo verb:
- No consigo entenderlo. (I can’t manage to understand.)
Now that we know exactly what this verb means, let’s discuss what kind of verb it actually is.
Well, conseguir is an irregular verb. More specifically, it is a stem-changing verb, which means it doesn’t follow the standard conjugation for verbs ending in “-ir.” But don’t worry! We promise you’ll get the hang of it easily enough.
As you probably know by now, verbs in Spanish end either in “-ar,” “-er,” or “ir.” The other part of the verb is called a stem. Stem-changing verbs change the last vowel of the stem in some conjugations. Conseguir (like repetir and vestir) changes the “e” for an “i” in some cases, as we’ll see below.
If you need clarification about stem-changing verbs, you can find more information in this article.
Verbals of conseguir: infinitive, gerund and participle
We’ll start our work with the conseguir conjugation by looking at its verbals: the infinitive, the gerund and the participle. Verbals function as nouns, adjectives and adverbs instead of actual verbs. Does it sound confusing? We promise it’s pretty straightforward, as you’ll see with the examples below.
Infinitive
Conseguir (get/accomplish)
- ¿Qué quieres conseguir? (What do you want to accomplish?)
- ¿Estás pronto para conseguir lo que quieres? (Are you ready to get what you want?)
Gerund
Consiguiendo (getting)
- Estoy consiguiendo mucho trabajo. (I’m getting a lot of work.)
- ¿Están consiguiendo entradas? (Are you managing to get tickets?)
Participle
Conseguido (gotten/managed)
- He conseguido cumplir todos mis sueños. (I’ve managed to make all my dreams come true.)
- ¿Has conseguido los libros? (Have you gotten the books?)
Conseguir conjugation for all levels
Achievement unlocked: conseguir conjugation for beginners
As you probably know by now, the Spanish indicative mood has ten tenses. We’ll first go over the most common and simplest forms of the conseguir conjugation of the indicative mood: 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).
| Subject | Present | Imperfect Preterite | Perfect Preterite | Future |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yo (I) | consigo | conseguía | conseguí | conseguiré |
| Tu (You) Vos (Latin America) | consiguesconseguís | conseguías | conseguiste | conseguirás |
| Usted (You, formal)El/Ella (He/She/It) | consigue | conseguía | consiguió | conseguirá |
| Nosotros (We) | conseguimos | conseguíamos | conseguimos | conseguiremos |
| Vosotros (You, plural) Ustedes (Latin America) | conseguísconsiguen | conseguíaisconseguían | conseguisteisconsiguieron | conseguiréisconseguirán |
| Ellos (Them) | consiguen | conseguían | consiguieron | conseguirán |
Conseguir conjugation examples for beginners
- Present: Quiero conseguir el nuevo iPhone. (I want to get the new iPhone.)
- Imperfect preterite: Intentaba, pero no lo conseguía. (He/She tried but couldn’t manage.)
- Perfect preterite: ¿Conseguiste cerrar la puerta? (Did you manage to close the door?)
- Future: ¡Sé que lo conseguiremos! (I know we will manage!)
Getting to the next level: conseguir conjugation for intermediate students
Well done! You’ve got the basics down. In this section, we’ll go a bit deeper and focus on the compound tenses of the conseguir conjugation in the indicative mood.
The trick to learning compound tenses is mastering the haber conjugation. The only form of conseguir that is actually used in these is the participle conseguido. This is because the compound tenses in Spanish are formed with the correct form of the verb haber + the past participle of the verb in question (i.e., conseguido), 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 conseguir. If you want some extra help, you should look at our article on the haber conjugation.
| Subject | Preterite Perfect | Pluperfect | Future Perfect |
| Yo (I) | he conseguido | había conseguido | habré conseguido |
| Tu/Vos (You) | has conseguido | habías conseguido | habrás conseguido |
| Usted (You, formal)El/Ella (He/She/It) | ha conseguido | había conseguido | habrá conseguido |
| Nosotros (We) | hemos conseguido | habíamos conseguido | habremos conseguido |
| Vosotros (You, plural)Ustedes (Latin America) | habéis conseguidohan conseguido | habíais conseguidohabían conseguido | habréis conseguidohabrán conseguido |
| Ellos (Them) | han conseguido | habían conseguido | habrán conseguido |
Conseguir conjugation examples for intermediate level
- Preterite perfect: Laura ha conseguido terminar la carrera. (Laura has managed to finish the race.)
- Pluperfect: Habían conseguido un baterista muy bueno. (They had managed to get a great drummer.)
- Future perfect: ¿Habrán conseguido reservar mesa? (Would they have managed to book a table?)
More than managing: conseguir conjugation for advanced learners
Are you ready to reach your language goals? In this section, we’ll cover the subjunctive mood for conseguir. This Spanish mood is indeed quite, well, moody. It is used to express doubts, emotions, desires, and the unknown. In this section, we’ll cover the presente (present), imperfecto (imperfect) and futuro (future) tenses for the conseguir conjugation.
| Subject | Present | Imperfect | Future |
| Yo (I) | consiga | consiguiera o consiguiese | consiguiere |
| Tu (You)Vos (Latin America) | consigas | consiguieras o consiguieses | consiguieres |
| Usted (You, formal)El/Ella (He/She/It) | consiga | consiguiera o consiguiese | consiguiere |
| Nosotros (We) | consigamos | consiguiéramos o consiguiésemos | consiguiéremos |
| Vosotros (You, plural)Ustedes (Latin America) | consigáisconsigan | consiguierais o consiguieseisconsiguieran o consiguiesen | consiguiereisconsiguieren |
| Ellos (Them) | consigan | consiguieran o consiguiesen | consiguieren |
Conseguir conjugation examples for advanced learners
- Present: ¡Ojalá consigan todo lo que quieran! (I hope you accomplish everything you want!)
- Imperfect: Si consiguiera entradas, iría al concierto. (If I were to get tickets, I’d go to the concert.)
The subjunctive future is not often heard in conversation nowadays as it has been relegated mainly to literature or legal contexts. That is why we haven’t added a conjugation example for the conseguir subjunctive future here. However, we still think you should know what it looks like.
The secret level: conditional tenses and imperative
We’ve covered a lot of ground for the conseguir conjugation already. But, if you’re up for it, we’ll push you just a bit harder. In this section, we’ll cover three more tenses: the condicional simple (simple conditional), the condicional compuesto (conditional perfect), and the imperative.
| Subject | Simple Conditional | Conditional Perfect | Imperative |
| Yo (I) | conseguiría | habría conseguido | |
| Tu (You)Vos (Latin America) | conseguirías | habrías conseguido | ¡consigue!¡conseguí! |
| Usted (You, formal)El/Ella (He/She/It) | conseguiría | habría conseguido | ¡consiga! |
| Nosotros (We) | conseguiríamos | habríamos conseguido | ¡consigamos! |
| Vosotros (You, plural)Ustedes (Latin America) | conseguiríaisconseguirían | habríais conseguidohabrían conseguido | ¡conseguid! |
| Ellos (Them) | conseguirían | habrían conseguido | ¡consigan! |
Conseguir conjugation examples in the conditional and imperative tenses
- Simple conditional: Yo sabía que lo conseguirían. (I knew they would make it.)
- Conditional perfect: Si Pedro hubiese conseguido despertar a Marta, no hubiese faltado a clase. (If Pedro had managed to wake Marta up, she wouldn’t have missed class.)
- Imperative: ¡Consíguelo! (Get it!)
The imperative form of conseguir sounds a bit off when you think about it, but you can technically use this conjugation in some cases.
If you want a more detailed overview of conditional tenses, you should read this article.
Quotes with the verb conseguir
You’ve mastered the conseguir conjugation and that’s quite an accomplishment. We thought we’d celebrate by sharing a lovely quote from Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano.
Galeano wrote over fourty novels and was also a renowned journalist. We highly recommend you read his books Las venas abiertas de América Latina (Open Veins of Latin America) and El libro de los abrazos (The Book of Embraces).
Eduardo Galeano – La noche (The Night)
“No consigo dormir. Tengo una mujer atravesada entre los párpados. Si pudiera, le diría que se vaya; pero tengo una mujer atravesada en la garganta.”
“I can’t sleep. There is a woman stuck between my eyelids. I would tell her to get out if I could. But there is a woman stuck in my throat.”
We hope this guide to the conseguir conjugation has answered your question regarding this verb. If you want more information on Spanish conjugations, feel free to check out our overview of Spanish tenses.
Challenge yourself with Clozemaster
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