Intentar Conjugation | How to Conjugate Intentar in Spanish

Intentar means “to try” or “to attempt.” You will learn its regular -AR conjugation and the central construction intentar + infinitive, which takes no preposition before the following verb.

Intentar conjugation at a glance

Verb type: Regular AR. Intentar keeps the stable stem intent- and takes ordinary -AR endings. Its gerund intentando — “trying / attempting” — and participle intentado — “tried / attempted” — are regular.

Intentar 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. The participle intentado remains invariant in those compounds.

Form	Spanish	Natural English guide
Infinitive	intentar	to try / attempt
Gerund	intentando	trying / attempting
Past participle	intentado	tried / attempted

Intentar meaning and essential uses

Intentar — “to try / attempt” — is transitive. It can take a noun phrase: Intentamos una solución diferente. — “We try a different solution.”

More commonly for an action, use intentar + infinitive with no preposition: Intento aprender español. — “I try to learn Spanish.” Do not insert a or de before the infinitive in this core pattern.

Intentar regular conjugation pattern

The stem intent- remains unchanged throughout the core paradigm. Forms such as intento — “I try,” intenté — “I tried,” and intente — “that I try” — use normal -AR endings.

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

Intentar indicative and periphrastic conjugations

Intentar present tense conjugation

Present indicative (el presente de indicativo) — Use it for current situations, habits, facts, and contextually near-future reference. The verb uses the regular -AR forms shown below.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	intento	I try / attempt
Tú — you, singular informal	intentas	you try / attempt
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	intenta	he / she tries / attempts; you try / attempt (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	intentamos	we try / attempt
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	intentáis	you try / attempt (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	intentan	they try / attempt; you try / attempt (plural)

• Intento hablar español todos los días. — I try to speak Spanish every day.

Intentar preterite conjugation

Preterite (el pretérito perfecto simple / pretérito indefinido) — Use it for completed or bounded past events. The verb uses the regular -AR forms shown below.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	intenté	I tried / attempted
Tú — you, singular informal	intentaste	you tried / attempted
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	intentó	he / she tried / attempted; you tried / attempted (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	intentamos	we tried / attempted
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	intentasteis	you tried / attempted (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	intentaron	they tried / attempted; you tried / attempted (plural)

• Ayer intenté llamar tres veces. — Yesterday I tried to call three times.

Intentar imperfect conjugation

Imperfect (el pretérito imperfecto) — Use it for habitual, descriptive, background, or ongoing past situations. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle intentado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	intentaba	I used to try / attempt / was trying / attempting
Tú — you, singular informal	intentabas	you used to try / attempt / were trying / attempting
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	intentaba	he / she used to try / attempt / was trying / attempting; you used to try / attempt / were trying / attempting (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	intentábamos	we used to try / attempt / were trying / attempting
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	intentabais	you used to try / attempt / were trying / attempting (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	intentaban	they used to try / attempt / were trying / attempting; you used to try / attempt / were trying / attempting (plural)

• Antes intentaba hacerlo solo. — I used to try to do it alone.

Intentar present progressive

Present progressive — This verbal periphrasis focuses on an action or process in progress. Form it with present estar — “to be” — plus intentando — “trying / attempting.”

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

• Estoy intentando resolver el problema. — I am trying to solve the problem.

Intentar 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 intentar.

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

• Voy a intentar llegar temprano. — I am going to try to arrive early.

Intentar future tense conjugation

Simple future (el futuro simple) — Use it for future reference and, where useful, probability. The verb uses the regular -AR forms shown below.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	intentaré	I will try / attempt
Tú — you, singular informal	intentarás	you will try / attempt
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	intentará	he / she will try / attempt; you will try / attempt (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	intentaremos	we will try / attempt
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	intentaréis	you will try / attempt (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	intentarán	they will try / attempt; you will try / attempt (plural)

• Intentaré terminar hoy. — I will try to finish today.

Intentar conditional conjugation

Conditional (el condicional simple) — Use it for hypothetical outcomes, softened statements, or related conditional meanings. The verb uses the regular -AR forms shown below.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	intentaría	I would try / attempt
Tú — you, singular informal	intentarías	you would try / attempt
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	intentaría	he / she would try / attempt; you would try / attempt (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	intentaríamos	we would try / attempt
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	intentaríais	you would try / attempt (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	intentarían	they would try / attempt; you would try / attempt (plural)

• Intentaría otra estrategia. — I would try another strategy.

Intentar 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 intentado.

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

• He intentado contactarte varias veces. — I have tried to contact you several times.

Intentar 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 intentado.

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

• Ya habíamos intentado esa solución. — We had already tried that solution.

Intentar 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 intentado.

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

• Para entonces habrán intentado todos los métodos. — By then they will have tried all the methods.

Intentar 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 intentado.

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

• Habría intentado ayudar de otra manera. — I would have tried to help in another way.

Intentar subjunctive conjugations

Intentar 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. The verb uses the regular -AR forms shown below.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	intente	that I try / attempt
Tú — you, singular informal	intentes	that you try / attempt
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	intente	that he / she try / attempt; that you try / attempt (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	intentemos	that we try / attempt
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	intentéis	that you try / attempt (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	intenten	that they try / attempt; that you try / attempt (plural)

• Quiero que intentes otra vez. — I want you to try again.

Intentar 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. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle intentado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	intentara	that I tried / attempted
Tú — you, singular informal	intentaras	that you tried / attempted
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	intentara	that he / she tried / attempted; that you tried / attempted (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	intentáramos	that we tried / attempted
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	intentarais	that you tried / attempted (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	intentaran	that they tried / attempted; that you tried / attempted (plural)

• Preferían que intentáramos resolverlo juntos. — They preferred that we try to solve it together.
• Era mejor que intentases primero la opción sencilla. — It was better for you to try the simple option first.

Intentar 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 forms share the same historical stem family as the imperfect subjunctive.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	intentare	if / when I should try / attempt
Tú — you, singular informal	intentares	if / when you should try / attempt
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	intentare	if / when he / she should try / attempt; if / when you should try / attempt (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	intentáremos	if / when we should try / attempt
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	intentareis	if / when you should try / attempt (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	intentaren	if / when they should try / attempt; if / when you should try / attempt (plural)

• Quien intentare acceder deberá identificarse. — Whoever should attempt to gain access must identify themselves.

Intentar 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 intentado.

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

• Me alegra que hayas intentado ayudar. — I am glad that you tried to help.

Intentar 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 invariant participle intentado.

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

• Si hubiéramos intentado otra ruta, quizá habríamos llegado antes. — If we had tried another route, perhaps we would have arrived earlier.
• Si hubieses intentado llamarme, habría contestado. — If you had tried to call me, I would have answered.

Intentar 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 intentado.

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

• Si hubieren intentado entrar sin permiso, deberá registrarse. — If they should have attempted to enter without permission, it must be recorded.

Intentar imperative and commands

Commands address another person directly. The nosotros/nosotras row is a present-subjunctive form used with exhortative “let’s…” value.

Intentar affirmative commands

Use the verified affirmative command forms for direct instructions when the target meaning supports them naturally.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	intenta	try
Usted — you, singular formal	intente	try (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	intentemos	let’s try
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	intentad	try (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	intenten	try (plural)

• Intenta hacerlo otra vez. — Try to do it again.

Intentar 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 intentes	do not try
Usted — you, singular formal	no intente	do not try (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	no intentemos	let’s not try
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	no intentéis	do not try (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	no intenten	do not try (plural)

• No intentes abrir esa puerta. — Do not try to open that door.

Common constructions with Intentar

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

• intentar + infinitive. — to try / attempt to do something.
• intentar algo. — to try / attempt something.
• intentar que + clause. — to try to make / arrange for something to happen.

Example sentences with Intentar

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

• Voy a intentar terminar temprano. — I am going to try to finish early.
• Intentamos resolver el problema juntos. — We try to solve the problem together.
• Ella intentó explicarlo de nuevo. — She tried to explain it again.
• Espero que intentes descansar. — I hope you try to rest.
• He intentado aprender esa palabra. — I have tried to learn that word.
• Intenta hablar más despacio. — Try to speak more slowly.

Regional and usage notes for Intentar

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 intentás hacerlo bien. — You try to do it well. (voseo)
• Intentá otra vez. — Try again. (affirmative vos command)

Intentar is fully regular. The main learner point is syntactic: before another action, place the infinitive directly after intentar with no intervening preposition.