Preocuparse Conjugation | How to Conjugate Preocuparse in Spanish

Preocuparse means “to worry” or “to be concerned.” You will learn its regular -AR morphology, required pronominal clitics, preocuparse por, pronoun placement, compound forms, and commands.

Preocuparse conjugation at a glance

Verb type: Regular AR. The lexical verb preocupar is regular, and the whitelist target preocuparse adds a person-matched pronominal clitic: me preocupo — “I worry,” te preocupas — “you worry,” se preocupan — “they worry.”

Preocuparse gerund, past participle, and infinitive

The infinitive keeps se — the pronominal marker. The gerund can carry an attached clitic, and compound non-finite forms combine the clitic with haber — “to have” as an auxiliary. The participle preocupado stays invariant in compound forms.

Form	Spanish	Natural English guide
Infinitive	preocuparse	to worry / be concerned
Gerund	preocupándose	worrying / being concerned
Past participle	preocupado	worried / been concerned
Compound infinitive	haberse preocupado	to have worried / been concerned
Compound gerund	habiéndose preocupado	having worried / been concerned

Preocuparse meaning and essential uses

Preocuparse — “to worry / be concerned” — commonly takes por: Me preocupo por mi familia. — “I worry about my family.” The clitic matches the person experiencing the concern.

The non-pronominal verb preocupar means causing worry: La situación me preocupa. — “The situation worries me.” This lesson targets the pronominal infinitive preocuparse, while acknowledging the related transitive construction.

Preocuparse regular conjugation pattern

The lexical stem preocup- is fully regular. In finite pronominal forms, the clitic precedes the verb: me preocupo, te preocupaste, se preocupará, nos preocupemos.

In affirmative commands, attach the clitic and recompute accentuation: preocúpate, preocúpese, preocupémonos, preocupaos, preocúpense. Negative commands keep the clitic before the verb. Progressive and near-future constructions allow both standard clitic positions.

Preocuparse indicative and periphrastic conjugations

Preocuparse present tense conjugation

Present indicative (el presente de indicativo) — Use it for current situations, habits, facts, and contextually near-future reference. The person-matched pronominal clitic precedes the finite verb.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me preocupo	I worry / be concerned
Tú — you, singular informal	te preocupas	you worry / be concerned
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se preocupa	he / she worries / is concerned; you worry / be concerned (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos preocupamos	we worry / be concerned
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os preocupáis	you worry / be concerned (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se preocupan	they worry / be concerned; you worry / be concerned (plural)

• Me preocupo por mi familia. — I worry about my family.

Preocuparse preterite conjugation

Preterite (el pretérito perfecto simple / pretérito indefinido) — Use it for completed or bounded past events. The person-matched pronominal clitic precedes the finite verb.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me preocupé	I worried / was concerned
Tú — you, singular informal	te preocupaste	you worried / was concerned
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se preocupó	he / she worried / was concerned; you worried / was concerned (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos preocupamos	we worried / was concerned
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os preocupasteis	you worried / was concerned (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se preocuparon	they worried / was concerned; you worried / was concerned (plural)

• Ayer me preocupé por el retraso. — Yesterday I worried about the delay.

Preocuparse imperfect conjugation

Imperfect (el pretérito imperfecto) — Use it for habitual, descriptive, background, or ongoing past situations. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by the invariant participle preocupado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me preocupaba	I used to worry / be concerned / was worrying / being concerned
Tú — you, singular informal	te preocupabas	you used to worry / be concerned / were worrying / being concerned
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se preocupaba	he / she used to worry / be concerned / was worrying / being concerned; you used to worry / be concerned / were worrying / being concerned (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos preocupábamos	we used to worry / be concerned / were worrying / being concerned
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os preocupabais	you used to worry / be concerned / were worrying / being concerned (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se preocupaban	they used to worry / be concerned / were worrying / being concerned; you used to worry / be concerned / were worrying / being concerned (plural)

• Antes me preocupaba por todo. — I used to worry about everything.

Preocuparse present progressive

Present progressive — This verbal periphrasis focuses on an action or process in progress. The main table places the clitic before estar. Attaching it to the gerund is also standard: estoy preocupándome — “I am worrying.”

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

• Me estoy preocupando demasiado. — I am worrying too much.

Preocuparse near future conjugation

Near future — This verbal periphrasis expresses an intention, plan, or expected event. The main table places the clitic before ir. Attaching it to the infinitive is also standard: voy a preocuparme — “I am going to worry.”

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

• Me voy a preocupar si no responde. — I am going to worry if he / she does not respond.

Preocuparse future tense conjugation

Simple future (el futuro simple) — Use it for future reference and, where useful, probability. The person-matched pronominal clitic precedes the finite verb.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me preocuparé	I will worry / be concerned
Tú — you, singular informal	te preocuparás	you will worry / be concerned
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se preocupará	he / she will worry / be concerned; you will worry / be concerned (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos preocuparemos	we will worry / be concerned
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os preocuparéis	you will worry / be concerned (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se preocuparán	they will worry / be concerned; you will worry / be concerned (plural)

• Me preocuparé si llega tarde. — I will worry if he / she arrives late.

Preocuparse conditional conjugation

Conditional (el condicional simple) — Use it for hypothetical outcomes, softened statements, or related conditional meanings. The person-matched pronominal clitic precedes the finite verb.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me preocuparía	I would worry / be concerned
Tú — you, singular informal	te preocuparías	you would worry / be concerned
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se preocuparía	he / she would worry / be concerned; you would worry / be concerned (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos preocuparíamos	we would worry / be concerned
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os preocuparíais	you would worry / be concerned (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se preocuparían	they would worry / be concerned; you would worry / be concerned (plural)

• Me preocuparía más sin noticias. — I would worry more without news.

Preocuparse present perfect conjugation

Present perfect (el pretérito perfecto compuesto) — Use it for completed events connected to a present reference frame; regional distribution varies. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by the invariant participle preocupado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me he preocupado	I have worried / been concerned
Tú — you, singular informal	te has preocupado	you have worried / been concerned
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se ha preocupado	he / she has worried / been concerned; you have worried / been concerned (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos hemos preocupado	we have worried / been concerned
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os habéis preocupado	you have worried / been concerned (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se han preocupado	they have worried / been concerned; you have worried / been concerned (plural)

• Me he preocupado mucho esta semana. — I have worried a lot this week.

Preocuparse past perfect conjugation

Past perfect (el pretérito pluscuamperfecto) — Use it for an event completed before another past reference point. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by the invariant participle preocupado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me había preocupado	I had worried / been concerned
Tú — you, singular informal	te habías preocupado	you had worried / been concerned
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se había preocupado	he / she had worried / been concerned; you had worried / been concerned (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos habíamos preocupado	we had worried / been concerned
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os habíais preocupado	you had worried / been concerned (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se habían preocupado	they had worried / been concerned; you had worried / been concerned (plural)

• Nos habíamos preocupado antes de recibir el mensaje. — We had worried before receiving the message.

Preocuparse future perfect conjugation

Future perfect (el futuro perfecto) — Use it for an event expected to be completed before a future reference point. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by the invariant participle preocupado.

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

• Para entonces ya se habrán preocupado todos. — By then everyone will already have become worried.

Preocuparse conditional perfect conjugation

Conditional perfect (el condicional compuesto) — Use it for a hypothetical completed outcome. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by the invariant participle preocupado.

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

• Me habría preocupado más sin tu llamada. — I would have worried more without your call.

Preocuparse subjunctive conjugations

Preocuparse 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 person-matched pronominal clitic precedes the finite verb.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me preocupe	that I worry / be concerned
Tú — you, singular informal	te preocupes	that you worry / be concerned
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se preocupe	that he / she worry / be concerned; that you worry / be concerned (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos preocupemos	that we worry / be concerned
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os preocupéis	that you worry / be concerned (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se preocupen	that they worry / be concerned; that you worry / be concerned (plural)

• No quiero que te preocupes. — I do not want you to worry.

Preocuparse 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. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by the invariant participle preocupado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me preocupara	that I worried / was concerned
Tú — you, singular informal	te preocuparas	that you worried / was concerned
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se preocupara	that he / she worried / was concerned; that you worried / was concerned (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos preocupáramos	that we worried / was concerned
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os preocuparais	that you worried / was concerned (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se preocuparan	that they worried / was concerned; that you worried / was concerned (plural)

• Preferían que nos preocupáramos menos. — They preferred that we worry less.
• Era normal que te preocupases por la situación. — It was normal that you worried about the situation.

Preocuparse 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. The person-matched pronominal clitic precedes the finite verb.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me preocupare	if / when I should worry / be concerned
Tú — you, singular informal	te preocupares	if / when you should worry / be concerned
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se preocupare	if / when he / she should worry / be concerned; if / when you should worry / be concerned (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos preocupáremos	if / when we should worry / be concerned
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os preocupareis	if / when you should worry / be concerned (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se preocuparen	if / when they should worry / be concerned; if / when you should worry / be concerned (plural)

• Quien se preocupare por el resultado podrá solicitar información. — Whoever should be concerned about the result may request information.

Preocuparse 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. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by the invariant participle preocupado.

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

• Me alegra que no te hayas preocupado demasiado. — I am glad that you did not worry too much.

Preocuparse 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. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by the invariant participle preocupado.

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

• Si me hubiera preocupado antes, habría llamado. — If I had worried earlier, I would have called.
• Si te hubieses preocupado por eso, habrías preguntado. — If you had worried about that, you would have asked.

Preocuparse 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. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by the invariant participle preocupado.

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

• Si se hubieren preocupado por el retraso, deberán comunicarlo. — If they should have been concerned about the delay, they must report it.

Preocuparse imperative and commands

Commands address another person directly. The project includes an exhortative nosotros/nosotras row, built from the present subjunctive, alongside the standard imperative persons.

Preocuparse affirmative commands

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

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	preocúpate	worry
Usted — you, singular formal	preocúpese	worry (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	preocupémonos	let’s worry
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	preocupaos	worry (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	preocúpense	worry (plural)

• Preocúpate solo por lo que puedes controlar. — Worry only about what you can control.

Preocuparse negative commands

Negative commands use subjunctive-based forms, with no before the person-matched clitic and the verb.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	no te preocupes	do not worry
Usted — you, singular formal	no se preocupe	do not worry (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	no nos preocupemos	let’s not worry
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	no os preocupéis	do not worry (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	no se preocupen	do not worry (plural)

• No te preocupes por eso. — Do not worry about that.

Common constructions with Preocuparse

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

• preocuparse por alguien o algo. — to worry / be concerned about someone or something.
• preocuparse de algo. — to concern oneself with / take responsibility for something in suitable contexts.
• algo preocupa a alguien. — something worries someone, using non-pronominal preocupar.

Example sentences with Preocuparse

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

• No te preocupes. — Do not worry.
• Me preocupa el resultado. — The result worries me.
• Estamos preocupándonos demasiado. — We are worrying too much.
• Voy a preocuparme si no llamas. — I am going to worry if you do not call.
• Espero que no te preocupes por el examen. — I hope you do not worry about the exam.
• Se ha preocupado mucho por su familia. — He / she has worried a lot about his / her family.

Regional and usage notes for Preocuparse

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 te preocupás demasiado. — You worry too much. (voseo)
• Preocupate solo por lo importante. — Worry only about what matters. (affirmative vos command)

Preocuparse is morphologically regular but pronominal throughout. Match the clitic to the subject, use por for the usual worry-about complement, and place or attach the clitic correctly in verbal sequences and commands.