Lavarse Conjugation | How to Conjugate Lavarse in Spanish

Lavarse means “to wash oneself.” You will learn its regular -AR morphology, required pronominal clitics, pronoun placement in verbal sequences, compound forms, and correctly spelled commands.

Lavarse conjugation at a glance

Verb type: Regular AR. Lavarse keeps the stable stem lav- and regular -AR endings. Its defining feature is pronominal behavior: me lavo — “I wash myself,” te lavas — “you wash yourself,” and se lavan — “they wash themselves.”

Lavarse gerund, past participle, and infinitive

The infinitive keeps se — the pronominal marker. The gerund may carry an attached person-matched clitic, while compound non-finite forms place the clitic with haber — “to have” as an auxiliary. The participle lavado remains invariant in compound forms.

Form	Spanish	Natural English guide
Infinitive	lavarse	to wash oneself
Gerund	lavándose	washing oneself
Past participle	lavado	washed oneself
Compound infinitive	haberse lavado	to have washed oneself
Compound gerund	habiéndose lavado	having washed oneself

Lavarse meaning and essential uses

Lavarse — “to wash oneself” — expresses washing one’s own body or part of it. The person-matched clitic stays with the verb: Me lavo las manos. — “I wash my hands.”

With body parts, Spanish commonly uses the definite article rather than a possessive because the clitic already identifies the possessor: Se lava la cara. — “He / she washes his / her face.”

Lavarse conjugation pattern

The lexical stem lav- is fully regular. Present, preterite, imperfect, future, conditional, and subjunctive forms take the expected -AR endings; the clitic precedes finite forms.

In affirmative commands, the clitic attaches and the resulting word is accented as needed: lávate — “wash yourself,” lavémonos — “let’s wash ourselves,” and lavaos — “wash yourselves.” Negative commands place the clitic before the verb.

Lavarse indicative and periphrastic conjugations

Lavarse present tense conjugation

Present indicative (el presente de indicativo) — Use it for current actions, habits, facts, and contextually near-future reference. The lexical stem takes the regular -AR present endings, with the clitic before the finite verb.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me lavo	I wash myself
Tú — you, singular informal	te lavas	you wash yourself
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se lava	he / she washes himself / herself; you wash yourself (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos lavamos	we wash ourselves
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os laváis	you wash yourselves (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se lavan	they wash themselves; you wash yourselves (plural)

• Me lavo las manos antes de comer. — I wash my hands before eating.

Lavarse preterite conjugation

Preterite (el pretérito perfecto simple / pretérito indefinido) — Use it for completed or bounded past events. The table uses the regular -AR preterite family, with the clitic before the finite verb.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me lavé	I washed myself
Tú — you, singular informal	te lavaste	you washed yourself
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se lavó	he / she washed himself / herself; you washed yourself (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos lavamos	we washed ourselves
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os lavasteis	you washed yourselves (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se lavaron	they washed themselves; you washed yourselves (plural)

• Ayer me lavé el pelo. — Yesterday I washed my hair.

Lavarse imperfect conjugation

Imperfect (el pretérito imperfecto) — Use it for habitual, descriptive, background, or ongoing past situations. The table uses the regular -AR imperfect family. The clitic precedes the finite verb.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me lavaba	I used to wash myself / was washing myself
Tú — you, singular informal	te lavabas	you used to wash yourself / were washing yourself
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se lavaba	he / she used to wash himself / herself / was washing himself / herself; you used to wash yourself / were washing yourself (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos lavábamos	we used to wash ourselves / were washing ourselves
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os lavabais	you used to wash yourselves / were washing yourselves (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se lavaban	they used to wash themselves / were washing themselves; you used to wash yourselves / were washing yourselves (plural)

• De niño me lavaba la cara con agua fría. — As a child, I used to wash my face with cold water.

Lavarse present progressive

Present progressive — This verbal periphrasis focuses on an action or process in progress. Form it with present estar — “to be” — plus lavando; the main table places the clitic before the finite auxiliary. Enclitic placement on the gerund is also possible.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me estoy lavando	I am washing myself
Tú — you, singular informal	te estás lavando	you are washing yourself
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se está lavando	he / she is washing himself / herself; you are washing yourself (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos estamos lavando	we are washing ourselves
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os estáis lavando	you are washing yourselves (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se están lavando	they are washing themselves; you are washing yourselves (plural)

• Me estoy lavando las manos. — I am washing my hands.

Lavarse 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 lavar; the main table places the clitic before ir. Attaching it to the infinitive is also standard.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me voy a lavar	I am going to wash myself
Tú — you, singular informal	te vas a lavar	you are going to wash yourself
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se va a lavar	he / she is going to wash himself / herself; you are going to wash yourself (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos vamos a lavar	we are going to wash ourselves
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os vais a lavar	you are going to wash yourselves (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se van a lavar	they are going to wash themselves; you are going to wash yourselves (plural)

• Me voy a lavar antes de salir. — I am going to wash myself before going out.

Lavarse future tense conjugation

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

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me lavaré	I will wash myself
Tú — you, singular informal	te lavarás	you will wash yourself
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se lavará	he / she will wash himself / herself; you will wash yourself (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos lavaremos	we will wash ourselves
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os lavaréis	you will wash yourselves (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se lavarán	they will wash themselves; you will wash yourselves (plural)

• Me lavaré el pelo mañana. — I will wash my hair tomorrow.

Lavarse 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. The clitic precedes the finite verb.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me lavaría	I would wash myself
Tú — you, singular informal	te lavarías	you would wash yourself
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se lavaría	he / she would wash himself / herself; you would wash yourself (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos lavaríamos	we would wash ourselves
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os lavaríais	you would wash yourselves (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se lavarían	they would wash themselves; you would wash yourselves (plural)

• Me lavaría las manos otra vez. — I would wash my hands again.

Lavarse 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 lavado — “washed oneself.” The clitic precedes haber.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me he lavado	I have washed myself
Tú — you, singular informal	te has lavado	you have washed yourself
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se ha lavado	he / she has washed himself / herself; you have washed yourself (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos hemos lavado	we have washed ourselves
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os habéis lavado	you have washed yourselves (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se han lavado	they have washed themselves; you have washed yourselves (plural)

• Ya me he lavado. — I have already washed myself.

Lavarse 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 lavado — “washed oneself.” The clitic precedes haber.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me había lavado	I had washed myself
Tú — you, singular informal	te habías lavado	you had washed yourself
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se había lavado	he / she had washed himself / herself; you had washed yourself (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos habíamos lavado	we had washed ourselves
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os habíais lavado	you had washed yourselves (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se habían lavado	they had washed themselves; you had washed yourselves (plural)

• Nos habíamos lavado antes de cenar. — We had washed ourselves before dinner.

Lavarse 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 lavado — “washed oneself.” The clitic precedes haber.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me habré lavado	I will have washed myself
Tú — you, singular informal	te habrás lavado	you will have washed yourself
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se habrá lavado	he / she will have washed himself / herself; you will have washed yourself (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos habremos lavado	we will have washed ourselves
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os habréis lavado	you will have washed yourselves (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se habrán lavado	they will have washed themselves; you will have washed yourselves (plural)

• Para entonces todos se habrán lavado. — By then everyone will have washed themselves.

Lavarse 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 lavado — “washed oneself.” The clitic precedes haber.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me habría lavado	I would have washed myself
Tú — you, singular informal	te habrías lavado	you would have washed yourself
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se habría lavado	he / she would have washed himself / herself; you would have washed yourself (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos habríamos lavado	we would have washed ourselves
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os habríais lavado	you would have washed yourselves (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se habrían lavado	they would have washed themselves; you would have washed yourselves (plural)

• Me habría lavado antes si hubiera habido agua. — I would have washed earlier if there had been water.

Lavarse subjunctive conjugations

Lavarse 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 table uses the regular -AR present-subjunctive family, with the clitic before the finite verb.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me lave	that I wash myself
Tú — you, singular informal	te laves	that you wash yourself
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se lave	that he / she wash himself / herself; that you wash yourself (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos lavemos	that we wash ourselves
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os lavéis	that you wash yourselves (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se laven	that they wash themselves; that you wash yourselves (plural)

• Quiero que te laves las manos. — I want you to wash your hands.

Lavarse 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 lavado — “washed oneself.” The clitic precedes haber.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me lavara	that I washed myself
Tú — you, singular informal	te lavaras	that you washed yourself
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se lavara	that he / she washed himself / herself; that you washed yourself (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos laváramos	that we washed ourselves
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os lavarais	that you washed yourselves (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se lavaran	that they washed themselves; that you washed yourselves (plural)

• Preferían que nos laváramos antes de entrar. — They preferred that we wash ourselves before entering.
• Era mejor que te lavases la cara primero. — It was better for you to wash your face first.

Lavarse 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 family as the imperfect subjunctive. The clitic precedes the finite verb.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me lavare	if / when I should wash myself
Tú — you, singular informal	te lavares	if / when you should wash yourself
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se lavare	if / when he / she should wash himself / herself; if / when you should wash yourself (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos laváremos	if / when we should wash ourselves
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os lavareis	if / when you should wash yourselves (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se lavaren	if / when they should wash themselves; if / when you should wash yourselves (plural)

• Quien se lavare en estas instalaciones deberá mantenerlas limpias. — Whoever should wash in these facilities must keep them clean.

Lavarse 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 lavado — “washed oneself.” The clitic precedes haber.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me haya lavado	that I have washed myself
Tú — you, singular informal	te hayas lavado	that you have washed yourself
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se haya lavado	that he / she has washed himself / herself; that you have washed yourself (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos hayamos lavado	that we have washed ourselves
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os hayáis lavado	that you have washed yourselves (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se hayan lavado	that they have washed themselves; that you have washed yourselves (plural)

• Me alegra que te hayas lavado las manos. — I am glad that you washed your hands.

Lavarse 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 lavado — “washed oneself.” The clitic precedes haber.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me hubiera lavado	that I had washed myself
Tú — you, singular informal	te hubieras lavado	that you had washed yourself
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se hubiera lavado	that he / she had washed himself / herself; that you had washed yourself (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos hubiéramos lavado	that we had washed ourselves
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os hubierais lavado	that you had washed yourselves (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se hubieran lavado	that they had washed themselves; that you had washed yourselves (plural)

• Si me hubiera lavado antes, ya estaría listo. — If I had washed earlier, I would already be ready.
• Si te hubieses lavado las manos, podrías empezar. — If you had washed your hands, you could begin.

Lavarse 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 lavado — “washed oneself.” The clitic precedes haber.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me hubiere lavado	if / when I should have washed myself
Tú — you, singular informal	te hubieres lavado	if / when you should have washed yourself
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se hubiere lavado	if / when he / she should have washed himself / herself; if / when you should have washed yourself (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos hubiéremos lavado	if / when we should have washed ourselves
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os hubiereis lavado	if / when you should have washed yourselves (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se hubieren lavado	if / when they should have washed themselves; if / when you should have washed yourselves (plural)

• Si se hubieren lavado aquí, deberán dejar el espacio limpio. — If they should have washed here, they must leave the area clean.

Lavarse 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.

Lavarse affirmative commands

In affirmative pronominal commands, attach the clitic and recompute accentuation. The nosotros/nosotras form loses final -s before nos, and the ordinary vosotros/vosotras form loses -d before os.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	lávate	wash yourself
Usted — you, singular formal	lávese	wash yourself (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	lavémonos	let’s wash ourselves
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	lavaos	wash yourselves (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	lávense	wash yourselves (plural)

• Lávate las manos. — Wash your hands.

Lavarse negative commands

Negative commands use subjunctive-based forms, and the pronominal clitic precedes the verb after no — “not / do not.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	no te laves	do not wash yourself
Usted — you, singular formal	no se lave	do not wash yourself (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	no nos lavemos	let’s not wash ourselves
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	no os lavéis	do not wash yourselves (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	no se laven	do not wash yourselves (plural)

• No te laves con agua demasiado caliente. — Do not wash yourself with water that is too hot.

Common constructions with Lavarse

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

• lavarse las manos. — to wash one’s hands.
• lavarse la cara / el pelo. — to wash one’s face / hair.
• lavarse antes de / después de + event. — to wash oneself before / after an event.

Example sentences with Lavarse

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

• Me lavo la cara por la mañana. — I wash my face in the morning.
• Nos estamos lavando las manos. — We are washing our hands.
• Voy a lavarme el pelo esta noche. — I am going to wash my hair tonight.
• Espero que te laves antes de comer. — I hope you wash before eating.
• Ya se ha lavado las manos. — He / she has already washed his / her hands.
• Lávense las manos antes de entrar. — Wash your hands before entering.

Regional and usage notes for Lavarse

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

• Vos te lavás las manos antes de comer. — You wash your hands before eating. (voseo)
• Lavate las manos. — Wash your hands. (affirmative vos command)

Lavarse is morphologically regular. The main work is pronominal: match the clitic to the subject, place it correctly in verbal sequences, and attach it correctly in affirmative commands.