Comprar Conjugation | How to Conjugate Comprar in Spanish

Comprar means “to buy.” You will learn its fully regular -AR conjugation and the ordinary patterns used to talk about purchasing things, shopping in a place, and specifying what someone buys or pays for.

Comprar conjugation at a glance

Verb type: Regular AR. Linguistically, comprar is a fully regular -AR verb with the stable stem compr-. Its gerund comprando — “buying” — and participle comprado — “bought” — are regular, and the simple finite forms use standard -AR endings.

Comprar gerund, past participle, and infinitive

The infinitive names the verb, the gerund is used in progressive constructions, and the past participle combines with haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — in compound forms. In compound tenses with haber, the participle remains invariant.

Form	Spanish	Natural English guide
Infinitive	comprar	to buy
Gerund	comprando	buying
Past participle	comprado	bought

Comprar meaning and essential uses

Comprar — “to buy” — is commonly transitive: Compro pan. — “I buy bread.” The object names what is purchased.

It can also be used without an expressed object when shopping is the activity in focus: Compramos en tiendas del barrio. — “We shop in neighborhood stores.”

Comprar regular conjugation pattern

Comprar is fully regular. The stem compr- remains unchanged in the core simple paradigms, standard -AR endings form its indicative and subjunctive systems, and the future and conditional use the complete infinitive comprar — “to buy.”

Comprar indicative and periphrastic conjugations

Comprar present tense conjugation

Present indicative (el presente de indicativo) — Use it for current actions, habits, scheduled events, and general statements. The stem compr- remains stable and the verb uses the standard -AR present endings.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	compro	I buy
Tú — you, singular informal	compras	you buy
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	compra	he / she buys; you buy (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	compramos	we buy
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	compráis	you buy (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	compran	they buy; you buy (plural)

• Compro café en esta tienda. — I buy coffee at this store.

Comprar preterite conjugation

Preterite (el pretérito perfecto simple / pretérito indefinido) — Use it for completed or bounded past events. Comprar uses the regular -AR preterite pattern.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	compré	I bought
Tú — you, singular informal	compraste	you bought
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	compró	he / she bought; you bought (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	compramos	we bought
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	comprasteis	you bought (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	compraron	they bought; you bought (plural)

• Ayer compré un libro nuevo. — Yesterday I bought a new book.

Comprar imperfect conjugation

Imperfect (el pretérito imperfecto) — Use it for past habits, background descriptions, or actions viewed as ongoing. Comprar uses the regular -AR imperfect pattern in this system.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	compraba	I used to buy / was buying
Tú — you, singular informal	comprabas	you used to buy / were buying
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	compraba	he / she used to buy / was buying; you used to buy / were buying (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	comprábamos	we used to buy / were buying
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	comprabais	you used to buy / were buying (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	compraban	they used to buy / were buying; you used to buy / were buying (plural)

• Antes comprábamos la comida los sábados. — We used to buy the food on Saturdays.

Comprar present progressive

Present progressive — This verbal periphrasis presents the action as genuinely in progress. Form it with a present form of estar — “to be” — plus comprando — “buying.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	estoy comprando	I am buying
Tú — you, singular informal	estás comprando	you are buying
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	está comprando	he / she is buying; you are buying (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	estamos comprando	we are buying
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	estáis comprando	you are buying (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	están comprando	they are buying; you are buying (plural)

• Estoy comprando los billetes. — I am buying the tickets.

Comprar near future conjugation

Near future — This verbal periphrasis expresses plans or expected future events. Form it with a present form of ir — “to go” — followed by a and comprar — “to buy.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	voy a comprar	I am going to buy
Tú — you, singular informal	vas a comprar	you are going to buy
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	va a comprar	he / she is going to buy; you are going to buy (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	vamos a comprar	we are going to buy
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	vais a comprar	you are going to buy (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	van a comprar	they are going to buy; you are going to buy (plural)

• Vamos a comprar una mesa nueva. — We are going to buy a new table.

Comprar future tense conjugation

Simple future (el futuro simple) — Use it for future reference and, in suitable contexts, probability. The endings attach to the full infinitive comprar — “to buy”; the target verb uses its full infinitive as the future stem.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	compraré	I will buy
Tú — you, singular informal	comprarás	you will buy
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	comprará	he / she will buy; you will buy (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	compraremos	we will buy
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	compraréis	you will buy (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	comprarán	they will buy; you will buy (plural)

• Compraré la entrada mañana. — I will buy the ticket tomorrow.

Comprar conditional conjugation

Simple conditional (el condicional simple) — Use it for hypothetical outcomes, polite softening, and other conditional meanings. The endings attach to the full infinitive comprar — “to buy.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	compraría	I would buy
Tú — you, singular informal	comprarías	you would buy
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	compraría	he / she would buy; you would buy (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	compraríamos	we would buy
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	compraríais	you would buy (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	comprarían	they would buy; you would buy (plural)

• Compraría esa casa si fuera más barata. — I would buy that house if it were cheaper.

Comprar present perfect conjugation

Present perfect (el pretérito perfecto compuesto) — Use it for completed events connected to the present; regional distribution varies. Form it with present forms of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle. Here the target participle is comprado — “bought.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	he comprado	I have bought
Tú — you, singular informal	has comprado	you have bought
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	ha comprado	he / she has bought; you have bought (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hemos comprado	we have bought
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habéis comprado	you have bought (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	han comprado	they have bought; you have bought (plural)

• Ya he comprado los ingredientes. — I have already bought the ingredients.

Comprar past perfect conjugation

Past perfect / pluperfect (el pretérito pluscuamperfecto) — Use it for an event completed before another past reference point. Form it with imperfect forms of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle. Here the target participle is comprado — “bought.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	había comprado	I had bought
Tú — you, singular informal	habías comprado	you had bought
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	había comprado	he / she had bought; you had bought (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habíamos comprado	we had bought
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habíais comprado	you had bought (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habían comprado	they had bought; you had bought (plural)

• Habíamos comprado todo antes de salir. — We had bought everything before leaving.

Comprar future perfect conjugation

Future perfect (el futuro perfecto) — Use it for something expected to be completed by a future reference point. Form it with future forms of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle. Here the target participle is comprado — “bought.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	habré comprado	I will have bought
Tú — you, singular informal	habrás comprado	you will have bought
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	habrá comprado	he / she will have bought; you will have bought (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habremos comprado	we will have bought
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habréis comprado	you will have bought (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habrán comprado	they will have bought; you will have bought (plural)

• Para el viernes habremos comprado los materiales. — By Friday we will have bought the materials.

Comprar conditional perfect conjugation

Conditional perfect (el condicional compuesto) — Use it for hypothetical completed results or unreal past outcomes. Form it with conditional forms of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle. Here the target participle is comprado — “bought.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	habría comprado	I would have bought
Tú — you, singular informal	habrías comprado	you would have bought
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	habría comprado	he / she would have bought; you would have bought (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habríamos comprado	we would have bought
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habríais comprado	you would have bought (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habrían comprado	they would have bought; you would have bought (plural)

• Habría comprado el ordenador, pero era demasiado caro. — I would have bought the computer, but it was too expensive.

Comprar subjunctive conjugations

Comprar present subjunctive conjugation

Present subjunctive (el presente de subjuntivo) — Use it in subordinate environments involving wishes, influence, emotion, doubt, evaluation, necessity, possibility, or non-specific reference. The verb follows the regular -AR present-subjunctive pattern.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	compre	that I buy
Tú — you, singular informal	compres	that you buy
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	compre	that he / she buy; that you buy (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	compremos	that we buy
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	compréis	that you buy (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	compren	that they buy; that you buy (plural)

• Espero que compres lo necesario. — I hope you buy what is necessary.

Comprar imperfect subjunctive conjugation

Imperfect subjunctive (el imperfecto de subjuntivo) — Use it in subordinate clauses linked to past, hypothetical, or unreal contexts. The main table uses the accepted -ra series. The -se series is also accepted in many contexts, and the second example below demonstrates it without implying mechanical interchangeability in every construction.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	comprara	that I bought / were to buy
Tú — you, singular informal	compraras	that you bought / were to buy
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	comprara	that he / she bought / were to buy; that you bought / were to buy (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	compráramos	that we bought / were to buy
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	comprarais	that you bought / were to buy (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	compraran	that they bought / were to buy; that you bought / were to buy (plural)

• Querían que compráramos los billetes juntos. — They wanted us to buy the tickets together.
• Prefería que compraseis la comida allí. — She preferred that you all buy the food there.

Comprar future subjunctive conjugation

Future subjunctive (el futuro de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. It survives mainly in formal, legal, proverbial, literary, or historical contexts and is presented here as a reference system.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	comprare	if / when I should buy
Tú — you, singular informal	comprares	if / when you should buy
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	comprare	if / when he / she should buy; if / when you should buy (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	compráremos	if / when we should buy
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	comprareis	if / when you should buy (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	compraren	if / when they should buy; if / when you should buy (plural)

• Quien comprare el producto deberá conservar el recibo. — Whoever should buy the product must keep the receipt.

Comprar present perfect subjunctive conjugation

Present perfect subjunctive (el pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo) — Use it when a completed event appears inside a present- or future-oriented subjunctive environment. Form it with present-subjunctive forms of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus comprado — “bought.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	haya comprado	that I have bought
Tú — you, singular informal	hayas comprado	that you have bought
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	haya comprado	that he / she has bought; that you have bought (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hayamos comprado	that we have bought
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hayáis comprado	that you have bought (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hayan comprado	that they have bought; that you have bought (plural)

• Me alegra que hayas comprado las entradas. — I am glad that you have bought the tickets.

Comprar past perfect subjunctive conjugation

Past perfect subjunctive (el pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo) — Use it for earlier completed situations in unreal, counterfactual, or other subjunctive contexts. The main table uses hubiera plus comprado — “bought”; hubiese is an accepted auxiliary alternative in many contexts.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	hubiera comprado	that I had bought
Tú — you, singular informal	hubieras comprado	that you had bought
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubiera comprado	that he / she had bought; that you had bought (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubiéramos comprado	that we had bought
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubierais comprado	that you had bought (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieran comprado	that they had bought; that you had bought (plural)

• Ojalá hubiéramos comprado más fruta. — I wish we had bought more fruit.
• Si hubieses comprado el billete antes, habría costado menos. — If you had bought the ticket earlier, it would have cost less.

Comprar future perfect subjunctive conjugation

Future perfect subjunctive (el futuro perfecto de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. This reference form appears mainly in formal, legal, literary, or historical contexts. Form it with future-subjunctive forms of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus comprado — “bought.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	hubiere comprado	if / when I should have bought
Tú — you, singular informal	hubieres comprado	if / when you should have bought
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubiere comprado	if / when he / she should have bought; if / when you should have bought (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubiéremos comprado	if / when we should have bought
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubiereis comprado	if / when you should have bought (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieren comprado	if / when they should have bought; if / when you should have bought (plural)

• Si hubieren comprado los equipos, deberán registrar la factura. — If they should have bought the equipment, they must record the invoice.

Comprar imperative and commands

Commands address another person directly. Spanish uses different morphological sources across persons and polarity; the nosotros/nosotras row is a present-subjunctive form used with exhortative “let’s…” value.

Comprar affirmative commands

Use affirmative commands to tell someone directly to buy. The forms follow the standard -AR command pattern.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	compra	buy
Usted — you, singular formal	compre	buy (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	compremos	let’s buy
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	comprad	buy (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	compren	buy (plural)

• Compra solo lo necesario. — Buy only what is necessary.

Comprar negative commands

Negative commands use subjunctive-based forms.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	no compres	do not buy
Usted — you, singular formal	no compre	do not buy (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	no compremos	let’s not buy
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	no compréis	do not buy (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	no compren	do not buy (plural)

• No compres sin revisar el precio. — Do not buy without checking the price.

Example sentences with Comprar

These examples reinforce the target verb across useful forms and contexts already explained in the lesson.

• Compro fruta en el mercado. — I buy fruit at the market.
• Ayer compramos un regalo. — Yesterday we bought a gift.
• Antes compraba aquí cada semana. — I used to shop here every week.
• Quiero que compres los billetes hoy. — I want you to buy the tickets today.
• Ya hemos comprado todo lo necesario. — We have already bought everything necessary.
• Compra solo lo que necesitas. — Buy only what you need.

Regional and usage notes for Comprar

The core tables retain tú, usted, vosotros/vosotras, and ustedes for project comparability. In voseo regions, the present indicative and affirmative command can use distinct forms; these regional forms do not replace the core tú paradigm.

• Vos comprás aquí con frecuencia. — You shop here often. (voseo)
• Comprá los billetes hoy. — Buy the tickets today. (affirmative vos command)

Comprar is fully regular, so the conjugation itself is predictable. Accuracy comes from matching the tense to the situation and supplying the item, place, or other complement that makes the purchase context clear.