Doler Conjugation | How to Conjugate Doler in Spanish

Doler means “to hurt,” “to ache,” or “to cause pain.” You will learn its o → ue present change and the common experiencer pattern used for body pain and emotional hurt.

Doler conjugation at a glance

Verb type: Irregular. Doler follows the o → ue present-family pattern: duelo, dueles, duele, duelen — “I hurt, you hurt, it/he/she hurts, they hurt” — while dolemos — “we hurt” — and doléis — “you plural hurt” — keep the base vowel. In everyday pain expressions, third-person forms are especially important.

Doler gerund, past participle, and infinitive

The infinitive names the verb, the gerund supports progressive constructions, and the participle combines with haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — in compound forms. The participle dolido remains invariant in those compounds.

Form	Spanish	Natural English guide
Infinitive	doler	to hurt / ache
Gerund	doliendo	hurting / aching
Past participle	dolido	hurt / ached

Doler meaning and essential uses

For physical pain, Spanish commonly makes the painful body part the grammatical subject and marks the experiencer with an indirect-object pronoun: Me duele la cabeza. — “My head hurts.” Me duelen los pies. — “My feet hurt.”

The same structure can express emotional pain: Me dolió la noticia. — “The news hurt me.” The verb has a complete paradigm, so personal forms are valid in broader meanings, but the everyday bodily-pain construction strongly favors agreement with the thing that hurts.

Doler irregular conjugation patterns

Doler has an o → ue stem change in stressed present-family forms: these forms use duel-, while nosotros/nosotras and vosotros/vosotras keep dol-. The present subjunctive therefore has duela — “that it hurt” — beside dolamos — “that we hurt.”

The preterite, imperfect, future, and conditional do not use a special stem. The gerund doliendo — “hurting” — and participle dolido — “hurt / pained” — are regular.

Doler indicative and periphrastic conjugations

Doler present tense conjugation

Present indicative (el presente de indicativo) — Use it for current actions, habits, facts, and contextually near-future events. Stressed forms use duel-, while nosotros/nosotras and vosotros/vosotras use dol-. Everyday pain expressions most often use third-person agreement with the painful thing.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	duelo	I hurt / ache
Tú — you, singular informal	dueles	you hurt / ache
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	duele	he / she hurts / aches; you hurt / ache (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	dolemos	we hurt / ache
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	doléis	you hurt / ache (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	duelen	they hurt / ache; you hurt / ache (plural)

• Me duele la espalda. — My back hurts.

Doler preterite conjugation

Preterite (el pretérito perfecto simple / pretérito indefinido) — Use it for completed or bounded past events. It uses the verified -ER preterite family.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	dolí	I hurt / ached
Tú — you, singular informal	doliste	you hurt / ached
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	dolió	he / she hurt / ached; you hurt / ached (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	dolimos	we hurt / ached
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	dolisteis	you hurt / ached (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	dolieron	they hurt / ached; you hurt / ached (plural)

• Ayer me dolió la rodilla después de correr. — Yesterday my knee hurt after running.

Doler imperfect conjugation

Imperfect (el pretérito imperfecto) — Use it for habitual, descriptive, background, or ongoing past situations. It uses the regular -ER imperfect endings.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	dolía	I used to hurt / ache / was hurting / aching
Tú — you, singular informal	dolías	you used to hurt / ache / were hurting / aching
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	dolía	he / she used to hurt / ache / was hurting / aching; you used to hurt / ache / were hurting / aching (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	dolíamos	we used to hurt / ache / were hurting / aching
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	dolíais	you used to hurt / ache / were hurting / aching (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	dolían	they used to hurt / ache / were hurting / aching; you used to hurt / ache / were hurting / aching (plural)

• De niño me dolían los oídos con frecuencia. — As a child, my ears used to hurt frequently.

Doler present progressive

Present progressive — This verbal periphrasis focuses on an action or process in progress. Form it with present estar — “to be” — plus doliendo — “hurting / aching.” In the everyday experiencer construction, the painful thing normally controls agreement, as in Me está doliendo una muela. — “One of my teeth is hurting.”

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

• Me está doliendo una muela. — One of my teeth is hurting.

Doler near future conjugation

Near future — This verbal periphrasis expresses an intention, plan, or expected event. Form it with present ir a plus the infinitive. In everyday pain expressions, the painful thing normally controls the third-person form, as in Me va a doler el brazo. — “My arm is going to hurt.”

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

• Me va a doler el brazo después de la vacuna. — My arm is going to hurt after the vaccine.

Doler future tense conjugation

Simple future (el futuro simple) — Use it for future reference and, when useful, probability. The endings attach to the full infinitive; there is no separate irregular future or conditional stem.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	doleré	I will hurt / ache
Tú — you, singular informal	dolerás	you will hurt / ache
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	dolerá	he / she will hurt / ache; you will hurt / ache (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	doleremos	we will hurt / ache
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	doleréis	you will hurt / ache (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	dolerán	they will hurt / ache; you will hurt / ache (plural)

• Mañana te dolerán menos los músculos. — Tomorrow your muscles will hurt less.

Doler conditional conjugation

Conditional (el condicional simple) — Use it for hypothetical outcomes, softened statements, or related conditional meanings. The endings attach to the full infinitive; there is no separate irregular future or conditional stem.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	dolería	I would hurt / ache
Tú — you, singular informal	dolerías	you would hurt / ache
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	dolería	he / she would hurt / ache; you would hurt / ache (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	doleríamos	we would hurt / ache
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	doleríais	you would hurt / ache (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	dolerían	they would hurt / ache; you would hurt / ache (plural)

• Me dolería perder esa oportunidad. — Losing that opportunity would hurt me.

Doler present perfect conjugation

Present perfect (el pretérito perfecto compuesto) — Use it for completed events connected to a present reference frame; regional distribution varies. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle dolido — “hurt / ached.”

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

• Hoy me ha dolido la cabeza. — My head has hurt today.

Doler past perfect conjugation

Past perfect (el pretérito pluscuamperfecto) — Use it for an event completed before another past reference point. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle dolido — “hurt / ached.”

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

• Ya me había dolido esa zona antes. — That area had already hurt before.

Doler future perfect conjugation

Future perfect (el futuro perfecto) — Use it for an event expected to be completed before a future reference point. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle dolido — “hurt / ached.”

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

• Para entonces te habrá dolido varias horas. — By then it will have been hurting you for several hours.

Doler conditional perfect conjugation

Conditional perfect (el condicional compuesto) — Use it for a hypothetical completed outcome. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle dolido — “hurt / ached.”

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

• Me habría dolido mucho perder el recuerdo. — Losing the memory would have hurt me a lot.

Doler subjunctive conjugations

Doler present subjunctive conjugation

Present subjunctive (el presente de subjuntivo) — Use it in subordinate environments involving wishes, influence, emotion, doubt or denial, evaluation, necessity, possibility, or non-specific reference. Stressed forms use duel-, while nosotros/nosotras and vosotros/vosotras use dol-.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	duela	that I hurt / ache
Tú — you, singular informal	duelas	that you hurt / ache
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	duela	that he / she hurt / ache; that you hurt / ache (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	dolamos	that we hurt / ache
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	doláis	that you hurt / ache (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	duelan	that they hurt / ache; that you hurt / ache (plural)

• Espero que no te duela la espalda mañana. — I hope your back does not hurt tomorrow.

Doler imperfect subjunctive conjugation

Imperfect subjunctive (el imperfecto de subjuntivo) — The main table uses the -ra series. The accepted -se series is also valid in many contexts and is demonstrated after the table; do not assume unrestricted interchangeability in every special construction. These forms are built from the third-person plural preterite family; the main table uses the -ra series.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	doliera	that I hurt / ached
Tú — you, singular informal	dolieras	that you hurt / ached
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	doliera	that he / she hurt / ached; that you hurt / ached (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	doliéramos	that we hurt / ached
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	dolierais	that you hurt / ached (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	dolieran	that they hurt / ached; that you hurt / ached (plural)

• El médico quería que me doliera menos al moverme. — The doctor wanted it to hurt me less when I moved.
• Prefería que no me doliese la cicatriz. — I preferred that the scar not hurt.

Doler 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. These rare reference forms share the same historical stem family as the imperfect subjunctive.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	doliere	if / when I should hurt / ache
Tú — you, singular informal	dolieres	if / when you should hurt / ache
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	doliere	if / when he / she should hurt / ache; if / when you should hurt / ache (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	doliéremos	if / when we should hurt / ache
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	doliereis	if / when you should hurt / ache (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	dolieren	if / when they should hurt / ache; if / when you should hurt / ache (plural)

• Si le doliere el pecho, deberá pedir ayuda. — If his / her chest should hurt, he / she must seek help.

Doler 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 the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle dolido — “hurt / ached.”

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

• Me alegra que ya no te haya dolido la cabeza. — I am glad that your head has not hurt anymore.

Doler past perfect subjunctive conjugation

Past perfect subjunctive (el pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo) — The main table uses hubiera; hubiese is an accepted alternative auxiliary in many contexts and is demonstrated after the table. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle dolido — “hurt / ached.”

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

• Si me hubiera dolido más, habría ido al médico. — If it had hurt more, I would have gone to the doctor.
• Si te hubiese dolido el pecho, habrías tenido que avisar. — If your chest had hurt, you would have had to tell someone.

Doler future perfect subjunctive conjugation

Future perfect subjunctive (el futuro perfecto de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. Treat it as a formal or historical reference form, not an everyday conversational target. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle dolido — “hurt / ached.”

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

• Si le hubiere dolido la zona operada, deberá comunicarlo. — If the operated area should have hurt, he / she must report it.

Doler imperative and commands

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

Doler affirmative commands

The command forms are morphologically documented, but direct commands with the everyday bodily-pain meaning are not normally a central conversational use. The table is therefore a reference paradigm; the example uses an attested broader sense rather than inventing a body-pain command.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	duele	hurt
Usted — you, singular formal	duela	hurt (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	dolamos	let’s hurt
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	doled	hurt (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	duelan	hurt (plural)

• Duele menos de lo que esperaba. — It hurts less than I expected.

Doler negative commands

Negative command forms are also morphologically available, but they are uncommon for ordinary body-pain descriptions. Use them only in a meaning and context where directly instructing the addressee with doler is semantically appropriate.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	no duelas	do not hurt
Usted — you, singular formal	no duela	do not hurt (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	no dolamos	let’s not hurt
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	no doláis	do not hurt (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	no duelan	do not hurt (plural)

• No duela por mí. — Do not grieve for me.

Common constructions with Doler

These patterns show sentence frames that materially affect how the target verb is used.

• me duele + singular noun. — a singular thing hurts me / my singular body part hurts.
• me duelen + plural noun. — plural things hurt me / my plural body parts hurt.
• dolerle algo a alguien. — for something to hurt someone or cause someone pain.

Example sentences with Doler

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

• Me duele la cabeza. — My head hurts.
• Me duelen los pies. — My feet hurt.
• ¿Te duele aquí? — Does it hurt you here?
• A Marta le dolió mucho la noticia. — The news hurt Marta a lot.
• Puede que mañana te duelan los músculos. — Your muscles may hurt tomorrow.
• Ya no me duele la garganta. — My throat no longer hurts.

Regional and usage notes for Doler

The common experiencer construction is broadly standard: the painful thing controls singular or plural agreement, while the person affected is expressed with an indirect-object pronoun. Voseo affects personal present forms where those broader personal uses occur.

• Vos dolés en construcciones personales menos frecuentes. — You hurt in less common personal constructions. (voseo)

The everyday experiencer pattern is shared broadly across Spanish-speaking regions; regional differences do not change the core agreement rule.

For everyday doler, do not start from English word order. Identify what causes the pain, make that the Spanish grammatical subject, choose duele or duelen for its number, and mark the experiencer with the appropriate indirect-object pronoun.