“Entender” Conjugation in Spanish: Do You Read Me?

Understanding is key to your Spanish-language learning. So it was about time we covered the verb entender (to understand)!

In this article, we’ll explain what type of verb entender is and look into some synonyms. We will then delve into some basic entender conjugations and explore some more challenging tenses. We will wrap things up by discussing some idioms and phrases. We hope you can catch our drift.

What kind of verb is entender?

Entender is a stem-changing verb. We’ve had plenty of those before, so we know you’ll have this conjugation down in no time!

In Spanish, the infinitive form of the verb always ends in “-ar,” “-er,” or “ir.” The first part of the verb is called a stem (the “entend” in “entender”) and always remains the same for regular verbs.

Stem-changing verbs are those that change the last vowel of the stem in some conjugations. For entender, the second “e” changes to “ie” in some cases, as we’ll see below. If you need a more detailed refresher, however, here is an article on stem-changing verbs.

Entender synonyms

Before we dive into the entender conjugation, we would like to expand your vocabulary. There are several words in Spanish with a similar meaning to entender. We will cover five of these below and include an example for each.

Comprender

This verb is the equivalent of “to comprehend,” but is used more commonly in Spanish than its English counterpart.

For example:

• No comprendo ni una palabra de este documento. (I don’t understand a single word in this document.)

Captar

Captar is closer to “get” or “grasp” in the context of knowledge or meaning. Its usage can be formal or informal depending on the context. In a different context, the verb can also mean “to capture” or “to gain.”

For example:

• Nadie captó el chiste. (No one got the joke.)

But also:

• Esta novela captó mi atención. (This novel gained/got my attention.)

Descifrar

As you might expect, this verb translates as “decipher.”

For example:

• No pudimos descifrarlo. (We couldn’t decipher it.)

Asimilar

Just like descifrar, we bet you know what asimilar means. It is the equivalent of “to assimilate.”

For example:

• Asimilamos muy bien el concepto. (We incorporated the concept very well.)

Pescar

Pescar is a very informal version of entender, equivalent to “to catch” or “to get.” The verb can also mean “to fish” or “to catch an illness” in different contexts.

For example:

• ¿Estás seguro de que no pescaron nada? (Are you sure they didn’t get anything?)

But also:

• Pesqué terrible resfrío. (I caught quite a cold.)

Or:

• ¡Vamos a pescar! (Let’s go fishing!)

Verbals of entender: infinitive, gerund and participle

We’ll start on the entender conjugation by looking at its verbals. These are the infinitive, the gerund and the participle. Spanish verbals function as nouns, adjectives and adverbs instead of actual verbs. That might sound a bit complex, but the examples below will clear things up. Also, none of these are irregular, so that should make things easier.

Infinitive

Entender (to understand)

• ¿Puedes entender lo que digo? (Can you understand what I’m saying?)

Gerund

Entendiendo (understanding)

• No te estoy entendiendo. (I’m not understanding you/following.)

Participle

Entendido (understood)

• Le pregunté si me había entendido. (I asked if she/he had understood me.)

Entender conjugation for all levels

Getting the gist: entender conjugation for beginners

The Spanish indicative mood, containing ten tenses, is the most commonly used. In this section, we’ll go over the four most common forms of the entender conjugation in 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). These also happen to be the easiest ones!

Subject	Present	Imperfect Preterite	Perfect Preterite	Future
Yo (I)	entiendo	entendía	entendí	entenderé
Tu (You) Vos (Latin America)	entiendes entendés	entendías	entendiste	entenderás
Usted (You, formal) El/Ella (He/She/It)	entiende	entendía	entendió	entenderá
Nosotros (We)	entendemos	entendíamos	entendimos	entenderemos
Vosotros (You, plural) Ustedes (Latin America)	entendéis entienden	entendíais entendían	entendisteis entendieron	entenderéis
Ellos (Them)	entienden	entendían	entendieron	entenderán

Entender conjugation examples for beginners

• Present: ¿Me entiendes? (Do you understand me?)
• Imperfect preterite: Nunca entendía la tarea. (He/She never understood the homework.)
• Perfect preterite: ¿Entendieron el ejemplo? (Did you understand the example?)
• Future: ¿Entenderemos algún día lo que pasó? (Will we ever understand what happened?)

Reading between the lines: entender conjugation for intermediate students

You’ve got the basics; it is now time to up your comprehension level. In this section, we will focus on the compound tenses of the entender conjugation in the indicative mood.

The most important element of compound tenses is the verb haber. The only form of entender that you will need here is the participle “entendido.” Compound tenses in Spanish are formed with the correct form of the verb haber + the past participle of the verb in question (i.e., entendido), which is the one that holds the meaning.

The table below shows the pretérito perfecto (preterite perfect), pluscuamperfecto (pluperfect) and futuro compuesto (future perfect) tenses for entender. However, you might also want to review our article on the haber conjugation.

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

Entender conjugation examples for intermediate level

• Preterite perfect: He entendido las instrucciones. (I have understood the instructions.)
• Pluperfect: No habían entendido absolutamente nada. (They had understood nothing at all.)
• Future perfect: ¿No habréis entendido mal? (You wouldn’t have misunderstood?)

Drawing a blank: entender conjugation for advanced learners

We can see the knowledge dawning on you! In this section, we’ll go over the subjunctive mood. The moodiest of the Spanish moods, the subjunctive is used to express doubts, emotions, desires, and the unknown. We will go over the presente (present), imperfecto (imperfect) and futuro (future) tenses for the entender conjugation next.

Subject	Present	Imperfect	Future
Yo (I)	entienda	entendiera or entendiese	entendiere
Tu (You) Vos (Latin America)	entiendas	entendieras or entendieses	entendieres
Usted (You, formal) El/Ella (He/She/It)	entienda	entendiera or entendiese	entendiere
Nosotros (We)	entendamos	entendiéramos or entendiésemos	entendiéremos
Vosotros (You, plural) Ustedes (Latin America)	entendáis entiendan	entendierais or entendieseis entendieran or entendiesen	entendiereis entendieren
Ellos (Them)	entiendan	entendieran or entendiesen	entendieren

• Present: Quiero que me entiendas. (I want you to understand me.)
• Imperfect: Si entendieran el problema, lo podrían solucionar. (If they understood the problem, they would be able to solve it.)
• Future: Quienes entendieren, sabrán qué hacer. (Those who will understand, will know what to do.)

We don’t think you’ll hear the subjunctive future in conversation nowadays, but it is always good to see an example. This tense has been mostly exiled to literature or legal contexts.

Extra entender conjugation: conditional tenses and imperative

If you want a break from the subjunctive, this section is for you. It’s time for the conditional tenses and the imperative! We will look at the condicional simple (simple conditional), the condicional compuesto (conditional perfect), and the imperativo (imperative).

Subject	Simple Conditional	Conditional Perfect	Imperative
Yo (I)	entendería	habría entendido
Tu (You) Vos (Latin America)	entenderías	habrías entendido	¡entiende! ¡entendé!
Usted (You, formal) El/Ella (He/She/It)	entendería	habría entendido	¡entienda!
Nosotros (We)	entenderíamos	habríamos entendido	¡entendamos!
Vosotros (You, plural) Ustedes (Latin America)	entenderíais entenderían	habríais entendido habrían entendido	¡entended! ¡entiendan!
Ellos (Them)	entenderían	habrían entendido	¡entiendan!

Entender conjugation examples in the conditional tenses

• Simple conditional: Si supieran toda la verdad, entenderían. (If they knew the whole truth, they would understand.)
• Conditional perfect: Si me lo hubieses dicho, habría entendido. (If you had told me, I would have understood.)
• Imperative: ¡Entiéndeme, por favor! (Please understand me!)

If you want more information on conditional tenses, this article will come in handy.

Bonus track: idioms and phrases with entender

Now that we are proficient in the entender conjugation, it’s time to have some fun with idioms and phrases. We will broaden the scope of entender below to include other words related to comprehension and knowledge.

A buen entendedor, pocas palabras bastan

Entendedor is the noun equivalent of entender. Therefore, this phrase means that if you are good at understanding, so to speak, you don’t need too many words. It is the equivalent of “A word to the wise is enough.”

Más sabe el diablo por viejo que por diablo

This idiom translates to “The devil knows more for being old, than for being the devil.” A slightly more exciting version of “With age comes wisdom” or “Experience is the best teacher.”

Nadie nace enseñao

This quite factual phrase states that nobody is born knowing or educated, just like the saying from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.

We hope this guide on the entender conjugation has brought you some more understanding of tense irregularities. If you are still hungry for knowledge, you can read our article on saber vs. conocer or the one with grammar tips.