Pensar Conjugation | How to Conjugate Pensar in Spanish

Pensar means “to think,” “to consider,” or “to intend.” You will learn its e → ie present change, regular past and future families, subjunctive forms, and key complement patterns.

Pensar conjugation at a glance

Verb type: Irregular. Pensar has an e → ie stem change in stressed present-family forms. Those forms use piens-, as in pienso — “I think,” while unstressed forms such as pensamos — “we think” — keep pens-.

Pensar 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 pensado remains invariant in those compounds.

Form	Spanish	Natural English guide
Infinitive	pensar	to think
Gerund	pensando	thinking
Past participle	pensado	thought

Pensar meaning and essential uses

Pensar — “to think / consider” — can be transitive: Pienso la respuesta con cuidado. — “I think through the answer carefully.” More often, a proposition follows with que — “that”: Pienso que tienes razón. — “I think you are right.”

For directing thought toward a topic or person, use pensar en — “to think about”: Pienso en mi familia. — “I think about my family.” RAE also records pensar + infinitive for intention: Pienso viajar mañana. — “I intend to travel tomorrow.”

Pensar irregular conjugation patterns

The stressed present indicative forms use piens-: pienso, piensas, piensa, piensan. Nosotros/nosotras and vosotros/vosotras keep pens-: pensamos, pensáis.

The present subjunctive has the same stress distribution: piense, pienses, piense, pensemos, penséis, piensen. The preterite, imperfect, future, conditional, gerund pensando, and participle pensado are otherwise regular.

Pensar indicative and periphrastic conjugations

Pensar present tense conjugation

Present indicative (el presente de indicativo) — Use it for current situations, habits, facts, and contextually near-future reference. Stressed forms use piens-; nosotros/nosotras and vosotros/vosotras keep pens-.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	pienso	I think
Tú — you, singular informal	piensas	you think
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	piensa	he / she thinks; you think (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	pensamos	we think
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	pensáis	you think (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	piensan	they think; you think (plural)

• Pienso en el problema antes de responder. — I think about the problem before answering.

Pensar preterite conjugation

Preterite (el pretérito perfecto simple / pretérito indefinido) — Use it for completed or bounded past events. The table uses the verified paradigm.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	pensé	I thought
Tú — you, singular informal	pensaste	you thought
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	pensó	he / she thought; you thought (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	pensamos	we thought
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	pensasteis	you thought (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	pensaron	they thought; you thought (plural)

• Ayer pensé mucho en esa decisión. — Yesterday I thought a lot about that decision.

Pensar 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 pensado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	pensaba	I used to think / was thinking
Tú — you, singular informal	pensabas	you used to think / were thinking
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	pensaba	he / she used to think / was thinking; you used to think / were thinking (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	pensábamos	we used to think / were thinking
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	pensabais	you used to think / were thinking (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	pensaban	they used to think / were thinking; you used to think / were thinking (plural)

• Antes pensaba que era imposible. — I used to think it was impossible.

Pensar present progressive

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

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

• Estoy pensando en cambiar de trabajo. — I am thinking about changing jobs.

Pensar 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 pensar.

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

• Voy a pensar en otra solución. — I am going to think about another solution.

Pensar future tense conjugation

Simple future (el futuro simple) — Use it for future reference and, where useful, probability. The endings attach to the full infinitive.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	pensaré	I will think
Tú — you, singular informal	pensarás	you will think
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	pensará	he / she will think; you will think (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	pensaremos	we will think
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	pensaréis	you will think (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	pensarán	they will think; you will think (plural)

• Pensaré en tu propuesta. — I will think about your proposal.

Pensar conditional conjugation

Conditional (el condicional simple) — Use it for hypothetical outcomes, softened statements, or related conditional meanings. The endings attach to the full infinitive.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	pensaría	I would think
Tú — you, singular informal	pensarías	you would think
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	pensaría	he / she would think; you would think (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	pensaríamos	we would think
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	pensaríais	you would think (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	pensarían	they would think; you would think (plural)

• Pensaría lo mismo en tu situación. — I would think the same in your situation.

Pensar 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 pensado.

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

• He pensado mucho en este tema. — I have thought a lot about this topic.

Pensar 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 pensado.

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

• Ya habíamos pensado en esa posibilidad. — We had already thought about that possibility.

Pensar 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 pensado.

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

• Para entonces habrán pensado en varias alternativas. — By then they will have thought about several alternatives.

Pensar 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 pensado.

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

• Habría pensado mejor la respuesta con más tiempo. — I would have thought through the answer better with more time.

Pensar subjunctive conjugations

Pensar 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 piens-, while nosotros/nosotras and vosotros/vosotras keep pens-.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	piense	that I think
Tú — you, singular informal	pienses	that you think
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	piense	that he / she think; that you think (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	pensemos	that we think
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	penséis	that you think (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	piensen	that they think; that you think (plural)

• Quiero que pienses antes de decidir. — I want you to think before deciding.

Pensar 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 pensado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	pensara	that I thought
Tú — you, singular informal	pensaras	that you thought
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	pensara	that he / she thought; that you thought (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	pensáramos	that we thought
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	pensarais	that you thought (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	pensaran	that they thought; that you thought (plural)

• Preferían que pensáramos en otra opción. — They preferred that we think about another option.
• Era mejor que pensases primero en las consecuencias. — It was better for you to think about the consequences first.

Pensar 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.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	pensare	if / when I should think
Tú — you, singular informal	pensares	if / when you should think
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	pensare	if / when he / she should think; if / when you should think (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	pensáremos	if / when we should think
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	pensareis	if / when you should think (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	pensaren	if / when they should think; if / when you should think (plural)

• Quien pensare presentar una reclamación deberá hacerlo por escrito. — Whoever should intend to file a complaint must do so in writing.

Pensar 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 pensado.

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

• Me alegra que hayas pensado en todos los detalles. — I am glad that you thought about all the details.

Pensar 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 pensado.

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

• Si hubiéramos pensado mejor el plan, habríamos evitado el problema. — If we had thought through the plan better, we would have avoided the problem.
• Si hubieses pensado en eso antes, habrías actuado de otra manera. — If you had thought about that earlier, you would have acted differently.

Pensar 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 pensado.

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

• Si hubieren pensado presentar una solicitud, deberán cumplir los requisitos. — If they should have intended to file an application, they must meet the requirements.

Pensar imperative and commands

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

Pensar 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	piensa	think
Usted — you, singular formal	piense	think (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	pensemos	let’s think
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	pensad	think (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	piensen	think (plural)

• Piensa bien la respuesta. — Think carefully about the answer.

Pensar negative commands

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

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	no pienses	do not think
Usted — you, singular formal	no piense	do not think (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	no pensemos	let’s not think
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	no penséis	do not think (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	no piensen	do not think (plural)

• No pienses solo en el resultado. — Do not think only about the result.

Common constructions with Pensar

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

• pensar en alguien o algo. — to think about someone or something.
• pensar que + clause. — to think that something is the case.
• pensar + infinitive. — to intend / plan to do something.

Example sentences with Pensar

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

• Pienso que tienes razón. — I think you are right.
• ¿Qué piensas de esta idea? — What do you think of this idea?
• Estamos pensando en mudarnos. — We are thinking about moving.
• Espero que pienses en las consecuencias. — I hope you think about the consequences.
• He pensado viajar en octubre. — I have considered / intended traveling in October.
• Piensa antes de hablar. — Think before speaking.

Regional and usage notes for Pensar

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 pensás mucho en el futuro. — You think a lot about the future. (voseo)
• Pensá bien la respuesta. — Think carefully about the answer. (affirmative vos command)

For pensar, the main irregularity is the stressed e → ie change. Keep piens- in stressed present-family forms and pens- elsewhere, then choose the complement pattern that matches the meaning.