Empeorar Conjugation | How to Conjugate Empeorar in Spanish

Empeorar means “to get worse” or “to make something worse.” You will learn its regular -AR conjugation and how transitive, intransitive, and pronominal uses affect sentence structure.

Empeorar conjugation at a glance

Verb type: Regular AR. Empeorar keeps the stable stem empeor- and takes regular -AR endings. Its gerund empeorando — “getting worse / making worse” — and participle empeorado — “gotten worse / worsened” — are regular.

Empeorar gerund, past participle, and infinitive

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

Form	Spanish	Natural English guide
Infinitive	empeorar	to get worse
Gerund	empeorando	getting worse
Past participle	empeorado	gotten worse

Empeorar meaning and essential uses

Empeorar — “to get worse / worsen” — can be intransitive: La situación empeora. — “The situation gets worse.” It can also be transitive: El ruido empeora el problema. — “The noise makes the problem worse.”

RAE also records pronominal use. The core tables here show the non-pronominal verb because that is the lesson identity; pronominal use is a syntactic option in relevant contexts, not a separate irregular paradigm.

Empeorar regular conjugation pattern

The stem empeor- remains unchanged through the core paradigm: empeoro — “I get worse / make worse,” empeoré — “I got worse / made worse,” and empeore — “that I get worse / make worse.”

There is no stem change, spelling alternation, irregular preterite stem, irregular future stem, irregular gerund, or irregular participle.

Empeorar indicative and periphrastic conjugations

Empeorar present tense conjugation

Present indicative (el presente de indicativo) — Use it for current actions, habits, facts, and contextually near-future events. The stem takes the regular -AR present endings.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	empeoro	I get worse
Tú — you, singular informal	empeoras	you get worse
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	empeora	he / she gets worse; you get worse (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	empeoramos	we get worse
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	empeoráis	you get worse (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	empeoran	they get worse; you get worse (plural)

• La situación empeora cada día. — The situation gets worse every day.

Empeorar preterite conjugation

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

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	empeoré	I got worse
Tú — you, singular informal	empeoraste	you got worse
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	empeoró	he / she got worse; you got worse (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	empeoramos	we got worse
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	empeorasteis	you got worse (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	empeoraron	they got worse; you got worse (plural)

• Ayer el tiempo empeoró por la tarde. — Yesterday the weather got worse in the afternoon.

Empeorar imperfect conjugation

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

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	empeoraba	I used to get worse / was getting worse
Tú — you, singular informal	empeorabas	you used to get worse / were getting worse
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	empeoraba	he / she used to get worse / was getting worse; you used to get worse / were getting worse (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	empeorábamos	we used to get worse / were getting worse
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	empeorabais	you used to get worse / were getting worse (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	empeoraban	they used to get worse / were getting worse; you used to get worse / were getting worse (plural)

• Antes el dolor empeoraba por la noche. — The pain used to get worse at night.

Empeorar present progressive

Present progressive — This verbal periphrasis focuses on an action or process in progress. Form it with present estar — “to be” — plus empeorando — “getting worse.”

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

• El tráfico está empeorando. — Traffic is getting worse.

Empeorar near future conjugation

Near future — This verbal periphrasis expresses an intention, plan, or expected event. Form it with present ir — “to go” — plus a — “to” — and empeorar — “to get worse.”

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

• La situación va a empeorar si no actuamos. — The situation is going to get worse if we do not act.

Empeorar future tense conjugation

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

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	empeoraré	I will get worse
Tú — you, singular informal	empeorarás	you will get worse
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	empeorará	he / she will get worse; you will get worse (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	empeoraremos	we will get worse
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	empeoraréis	you will get worse (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	empeorarán	they will get worse; you will get worse (plural)

• El problema empeorará con el tiempo. — The problem will get worse over time.

Empeorar conditional conjugation

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

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	empeoraría	I would get worse
Tú — you, singular informal	empeorarías	you would get worse
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	empeoraría	he / she would get worse; you would get worse (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	empeoraríamos	we would get worse
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	empeoraríais	you would get worse (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	empeorarían	they would get worse; you would get worse (plural)

• Todo empeoraría sin mantenimiento. — Everything would get worse without maintenance.

Empeorar present perfect conjugation

Present perfect (el pretérito perfecto compuesto) — Use it for completed events connected to a present reference frame; its distribution varies regionally. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the participle empeorado — “gotten worse.”

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

• La calidad ha empeorado este año. — Quality has gotten worse this year.

Empeorar 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 participle empeorado — “gotten worse.”

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

• El servicio ya había empeorado antes del cambio. — The service had already gotten worse before the change.

Empeorar 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 participle empeorado — “gotten worse.”

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

• Para entonces la situación habrá empeorado. — By then the situation will have gotten worse.

Empeorar 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 participle empeorado — “gotten worse.”

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

• El resultado habría empeorado sin esa medida. — The result would have gotten worse without that measure.

Empeorar subjunctive conjugations

Empeorar 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. It uses the regular present-subjunctive endings for a -AR verb.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	empeore	that I get worse
Tú — you, singular informal	empeores	that you get worse
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	empeore	that he / she get worse; that you get worse (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	empeoremos	that we get worse
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	empeoréis	that you get worse (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	empeoren	that they get worse; that you get worse (plural)

• No quiero que la situación empeore. — I do not want the situation to get worse.

Empeorar 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	empeorara	that I got worse
Tú — you, singular informal	empeoraras	that you got worse
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	empeorara	that he / she got worse; that you got worse (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	empeoráramos	that we got worse
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	empeorarais	that you got worse (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	empeoraran	that they got worse; that you got worse (plural)

• Temían que el tiempo empeorara. — They feared the weather would get worse.
• Era posible que el dolor empeorase. — It was possible that the pain would get worse.

Empeorar 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	empeorare	if / when I should get worse
Tú — you, singular informal	empeorares	if / when you should get worse
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	empeorare	if / when he / she should get worse; if / when you should get worse (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	empeoráremos	if / when we should get worse
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	empeorareis	if / when you should get worse (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	empeoraren	if / when they should get worse; if / when you should get worse (plural)

• Si empeorare el estado del paciente, deberá avisarse. — If the patient’s condition should worsen, it must be reported.

Empeorar 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 participle empeorado — “gotten worse.”

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

• Dudo que haya empeorado tanto. — I doubt that it has gotten that much worse.

Empeorar past perfect subjunctive conjugation

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

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

• Si hubiera empeorado antes, habríamos cambiado el plan. — If it had gotten worse earlier, we would have changed the plan.
• Si hubiese empeorado el tiempo, habríamos cancelado el viaje. — If the weather had gotten worse, we would have canceled the trip.

Empeorar 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 participle empeorado — “gotten worse.”

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

• Si hubiere empeorado la situación, se revisará el protocolo. — If the situation should have worsened, the protocol will be reviewed.

Empeorar imperative and commands

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

Empeorar affirmative commands

Use affirmative commands for direct instructions when the meaning supports an instruction naturally. The table contains the five core addressee or exhortative rows.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	empeora	get worse
Usted — you, singular formal	empeore	get worse (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	empeoremos	let’s get worse
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	empeorad	get worse (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	empeoren	get worse (plural)

• Empeora el contraste para comprobar el efecto. — Make the contrast worse to check the effect.

Empeorar negative commands

Negative commands use subjunctive-based forms, with no — “not / do not” — before the command form.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	no empeores	do not get worse
Usted — you, singular formal	no empeore	do not get worse (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	no empeoremos	let’s not get worse
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	no empeoréis	do not get worse (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	no empeoren	do not get worse (plural)

• No empeores el problema. — Do not make the problem worse.

Common constructions with Empeorar

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

• empeorar algo. — to make something worse.
• empeorar una situación. — to worsen a situation.
• empeorar con el tiempo. — to get worse over time.

Example sentences with Empeorar

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

• El ruido empeora mi concentración. — The noise makes my concentration worse.
• Su estado empeoró durante la noche. — His / her condition got worse during the night.
• No quiero empeorar las cosas. — I do not want to make things worse.
• Parece que el tráfico está empeorando. — It seems that traffic is getting worse.
• La situación podría empeorar mañana. — The situation could get worse tomorrow.
• No empeores una discusión innecesariamente. — Do not make an argument worse unnecessarily.

Regional and usage notes for Empeorar

The core tables retain tú, usted, vosotros/vosotras, and ustedes for project comparability. Voseo changes some common second-person singular forms in regions where vos — “you, singular informal” — is used.

• Vos empeorás la situación con ese comentario. — You make the situation worse with that comment. (voseo)
• Empeorá el contraste solo si es necesario. — Make the contrast worse only if necessary. (affirmative vos command)

Empeorar is morphologically regular. The important choice is semantic: use it intransitively for something becoming worse, transitively for making something worse, and recognize pronominal use when context requires it.