Vaciar Conjugation | How to Conjugate Vaciar in Spanish

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Vaciar means “to empty.” You will learn its regular -AR framework, its distinctive stress and written-accent pattern in present-family forms, and how to use the verb naturally with containers, contents, and commands.

Vaciar conjugation at a glance

Vaciar is the approved infinitive for this lesson. Its primary English meaning is to empty.

Infinitive: vaciar — to empty.
Verb type: Irregular.
Linguistic pattern: Vaciar follows the -AR ending system, but its stress pattern is distinctive. When the stem vowel i is stressed in present-family forms, it carries a written accent: vacío — I empty, vacías — you empty, vacía — he / she / you (formal) empties, and vacían — they / you (plural) empty. Nosotros and vosotros forms such as vaciamos — we empty and vaciáis — you (plural, informal) empty do not follow that stressed-stem pattern.

Vaciar gerund, past participle, and infinitive

These non-finite forms build progressive and compound constructions. The infinitive names the verb, the gerund presents an unfolding action or change, and the past participle combines with haber — the perfect auxiliary.

Form	Spanish	Natural English guide
Infinitive	vaciar	to empty
Gerund	vaciando	emptying
Past participle	vaciado	emptied
Compound infinitive	haber vaciado	to have emptied
Compound gerund	habiendo vaciado	having emptied

Vaciar meaning and essential uses

Vaciar most directly means to empty. The examples below show the sentence frames that matter most for using this verb accurately.

Vacío la botella antes de reciclarla. — I empty the bottle before recycling it.
Vaciaron el agua en otro recipiente. — They emptied the water into another container.
El depósito se vació durante la noche. — The tank emptied during the night.

Vaciar conjugation pattern

Vaciar follows the -AR ending system, but its stress pattern is distinctive. When the stem vowel i is stressed in present-family forms, it carries a written accent: vacío — I empty, vacías — you empty, vacía — he / she / you (formal) empties, and vacían — they / you (plural) empty. Nosotros and vosotros forms such as vaciamos — we empty and vaciáis — you (plural, informal) empty do not follow that stressed-stem pattern.

Vaciar indicative and periphrastic conjugations

Vaciar present tense conjugation

Use the present indicative for current situations, routines, repeated actions, and general facts involving this verb. The Spanish term is presente de indicativo — present indicative.

The stem is stressed in four present forms, creating a hiatus marked with í: vacío — I empty, vacías — you empty, vacía — he / she / you (formal) empties, and vacían — they / you (plural) empty. Vaciamos — we empty and vaciáis — you (plural, informal) empty keep the unstressed sequence.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	vacío	I empty
Tú — you, singular informal	vacías	you empty
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	vacía	he / she empties; you (formal) empty
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	vaciamos	we empty
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	vaciáis	you (plural, informal) empty
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	vacían	they / you (plural) empty

Vacío el recipiente después de usarlo. — I empty the container after using it.

Vaciar preterite conjugation

Use the preterite for completed or bounded past events, viewed as finished rather than background or habit. The Spanish term is pretérito perfecto simple / pretérito indefinido — preterite.

Use the standard preterite endings for this conjugation class.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	vacié	I emptied
Tú — you, singular informal	vaciaste	you emptied
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	vació	he / she / you (formal) emptied
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	vaciamos	we emptied
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	vaciasteis	you (plural, informal) emptied
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	vaciaron	they / you (plural) emptied

Ayer vacié el depósito por completo. — Yesterday I emptied the tank completely.

Vaciar imperfect conjugation

Use the imperfect for habitual, repeated, descriptive, or ongoing past situations without a completed boundary. The Spanish term is pretérito imperfecto — imperfect.

Use the standard imperfect endings for this conjugation class.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	vaciaba	I used to empty
Tú — you, singular informal	vaciabas	you used to empty
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	vaciaba	he / she / you (formal) used to empty
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	vaciábamos	we used to empty
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	vaciabais	you (plural, informal) used to empty
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	vaciaban	they / you (plural) used to empty

Antes vaciábamos las papeleras al final del día. — We used to empty the wastebaskets at the end of the day.

Vaciar present progressive

Use the present progressive for an action or change in progress around the present moment. This is a verbal periphrasis, not a simple tense. The Spanish term is presente progresivo — present progressive.

Build the present progressive with estar — to be as an auxiliary — plus vaciando — emptying.

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

Estoy vaciando la caja ahora. — I am emptying the box now.

Vaciar near future conjugation

Use the near future for plans or developments viewed as approaching or already intended. This is a verbal periphrasis, not a simple tense. The Spanish term is futuro próximo — near future.

Build the near future with ir a — to be going to — plus vaciar — empty.

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

Voy a vaciar el armario esta tarde. — I am going to empty the closet this afternoon.

Vaciar future tense conjugation

Use the simple future for future events and, where context supports it, probability or conjecture. The Spanish term is futuro simple — simple future.

Add the future endings directly to vaciar — empty.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	vaciaré	I will empty
Tú — you, singular informal	vaciarás	you will empty
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	vaciará	he / she / you (formal) will empty
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	vaciaremos	we will empty
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	vaciaréis	you (plural, informal) will empty
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	vaciarán	they / you (plural) will empty

Vaciaré el recipiente después de medirlo. — I will empty the container after measuring it.

Vaciar conditional conjugation

Use the conditional for hypothetical outcomes, softened statements, or future-in-the-past meanings. The Spanish term is condicional simple — simple conditional.

Add the conditional endings directly to vaciar — empty.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	vaciaría	I would empty
Tú — you, singular informal	vaciarías	you would empty
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	vaciaría	he / she / you (formal) would empty
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	vaciaríamos	we would empty
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	vaciaríais	you (plural, informal) would empty
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	vaciarían	they / you (plural) would empty

Vaciaría el depósito antes de moverlo. — I would empty the tank before moving it.

Vaciar present perfect conjugation

Use the present perfect for past actions connected to the present. Its distribution varies across Spanish-speaking regions. The Spanish term is pretérito perfecto compuesto — present perfect.

Combine the present forms of haber — the perfect auxiliary — with vaciado — emptied. The participle remains invariant with haber.

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

Ya he vaciado la papelera. — I have already emptied the wastebasket.

Vaciar past perfect conjugation

Use the past perfect for an action completed before another past reference point. The Spanish term is pretérito pluscuamperfecto — past perfect / pluperfect.

Combine the imperfect forms of haber — the perfect auxiliary — with vaciado — emptied. The participle remains invariant with haber.

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

Habíamos vaciado el almacén antes de la inspección. — We had emptied the storeroom before the inspection.

Vaciar future perfect conjugation

Use the future perfect for an action expected to be completed before a future reference point. The Spanish term is futuro perfecto — future perfect.

Combine the future forms of haber — the perfect auxiliary — with vaciado — emptied. The participle remains invariant with haber.

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

Para las seis, habremos vaciado el local. — By six, we will have emptied the premises.

Vaciar conditional perfect conjugation

Use the conditional perfect for a hypothetical past result or an outcome that would have occurred under different circumstances. The Spanish term is condicional perfecto — conditional perfect.

Combine the conditional forms of haber — the perfect auxiliary — with vaciado — emptied. The participle remains invariant with haber.

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

Habrían vaciado el depósito si hubieran tenido tiempo. — They would have emptied the tank if they had had time.

Vaciar subjunctive conjugations

Vaciar present subjunctive conjugation

Use the present subjunctive in subordinate clauses triggered by wishes, influence, emotion, evaluation, doubt, necessity, possibility, or similar environments. The Spanish term is presente de subjuntivo — present subjunctive.

The same stressed-stem accent pattern appears in the present subjunctive: vacíe — that I / he / she / you (formal) empty, vacíes — that you empty, and vacíen — that they / you (plural) empty. Nosotros and vosotros use vaciemos — that we empty and vaciéis — that you (plural, informal) empty.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	vacíe	that I empty
Tú — you, singular informal	vacíes	that you empty
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	vacíe	that he / she / you (formal) empty
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	vaciemos	that we empty
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	vaciéis	that you (plural, informal) empty
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	vacíen	that they / you (plural) empty

Necesito que vacíes la botella. — I need you to empty the bottle.

Vaciar imperfect subjunctive conjugation

Use the imperfect subjunctive in past or hypothetical subordinate contexts, including reported wishes, requests, evaluations, and conditions. The Spanish term is imperfecto de subjuntivo — imperfect subjunctive.

The main table uses the accepted -ra series, built from the third-person plural preterite stem. The accepted -se series is shown after the main examples.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	vaciara	that I emptied / were to empty
Tú — you, singular informal	vaciaras	that you emptied / were to empty
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	vaciara	that he / she / you (formal) emptied / were to empty
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	vaciáramos	that we emptied / were to empty
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	vaciarais	that you (plural, informal) emptied / were to empty
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	vaciaran	that they / you (plural) emptied / were to empty

El técnico pidió que vaciáramos el tanque. — The technician asked us to empty the tank.

The -se series is also accepted in many contexts; do not substitute it mechanically where a construction has a documented preference or restriction.

vaciase — that I emptied / were to empty
vaciases — that you emptied / were to empty
vaciase — that he / she / you (formal) emptied / were to empty
vaciásemos — that we emptied / were to empty
vaciaseis — that you (plural, informal) emptied / were to empty
vaciasen — that they / you (plural) emptied / were to empty

Vaciar future subjunctive conjugation

Use the future subjunctive only as a reference form for rare modern uses, especially formal, legal, literary, proverbial, or historical language. The Spanish term is futuro de subjuntivo — future subjunctive.

Rare in modern everyday Spanish.

This reference paradigm comes from the same past-stem family used by the imperfect subjunctive. It is rare in modern everyday Spanish and survives mainly in formal, legal, literary, proverbial, or historical contexts.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	vaciare	that I should empty (rare/formal)
Tú — you, singular informal	vaciares	that you should empty (rare/formal)
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	vaciare	that he / she / you (formal) should empty (rare/formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	vaciáremos	that we should empty (rare/formal)
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	vaciareis	that you (plural, informal) should empty (rare/formal)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	vaciaren	that they / you (plural) should empty (rare/formal)

Si el responsable vaciare el depósito, deberá registrarlo. — If the person responsible should empty the tank, they must record it.

Vaciar present perfect subjunctive conjugation

Use the present perfect subjunctive for a completed action viewed through a present subjunctive trigger. The Spanish term is pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo — present perfect subjunctive.

Combine the present subjunctive forms of haber — the perfect auxiliary — with vaciado — emptied.

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

Me alegra que hayas vaciado la caja. — I am glad that you have emptied the box.

Vaciar past perfect subjunctive conjugation

Use the past perfect subjunctive for an action completed before another past or hypothetical reference point in a subjunctive context. The Spanish term is pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo — past perfect subjunctive.

Combine the -ra imperfect subjunctive forms of haber — the perfect auxiliary — with vaciado — emptied. The hubiese series is also accepted and is shown below.

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

Ojalá hubiéramos vaciado el depósito antes. — I wish we had emptied the tank earlier.

The hubiese series is an accepted alternative in many contexts.

hubiese vaciado — that I had emptied
hubieses vaciado — that you had emptied
hubiese vaciado — that he / she / you (formal) had emptied
hubiésemos vaciado — that we had emptied
hubieseis vaciado — that you (plural, informal) had emptied
hubiesen vaciado — that they / you (plural) had emptied

Vaciar future perfect subjunctive conjugation

Use the future perfect subjunctive as a rare reference form for an action completed before another future point in formal or historical-style contexts. The Spanish term is futuro perfecto de subjuntivo — future perfect subjunctive.

Rare in modern everyday Spanish.

Combine the future subjunctive forms of haber — the perfect auxiliary — with vaciado — emptied. This system is rare in modern everyday Spanish.

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

Si el responsable hubiere vaciado el depósito, deberá anotarlo. — If the person responsible should have emptied the tank, they must note it.

Vaciar imperative and commands

Commands address other people directly. Spanish uses imperative forms and present-subjunctive forms according to person and polarity; there is no ordinary yo — I command row.

Vaciar affirmative commands

The informal singular command is vacía — empty. Formal and plural command forms use present-subjunctive morphology where applicable, so the stressed-stem accent appears in vacíe — empty (formal) and vacíen — empty (plural).

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	vacía	empty
Usted — you, singular formal	vacíe	empty (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; exhortative “let’s…”	vaciemos	let’s empty
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	vaciad	empty (plural informal, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	vacíen	empty (plural)

Vacía la botella en el fregadero. — Empty the bottle into the sink.

Vaciar negative commands

Negative commands use present-subjunctive-based forms and have no ordinary yo — I command row.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	no vacíes	do not empty
Usted — you, singular formal	no vacíe	do not empty (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; exhortative “let’s…”	no vaciemos	let’s not empty
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	no vaciéis	do not empty (plural informal, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	no vacíen	do not empty (plural)

No vacíes esa caja todavía. — Do not empty that box yet.

Common constructions with Vaciar

Vaciar commonly takes a direct object for the container or thing being emptied. When the contents are moved into another place, en — into / in can introduce the destination.

vaciar un recipiente — to empty a container
Vacía el agua en el fregadero. — Empty the water into the sink.
Vaciamos las cajas de documentos viejos. — We empty the boxes of old documents.

Example sentences with Vaciar

These examples reinforce the target verb across several useful systems and contexts.

Vacío la papelera al final del día. — I empty the wastebasket at the end of the day.
Ayer vacié todos los cajones del escritorio. — Yesterday I emptied all the desk drawers.
Antes vaciábamos el almacén una vez al mes. — We used to empty the storeroom once a month.
Esta tarde voy a vaciar los estantes del trastero. — This afternoon I am going to empty the shelves in the storage room.
Necesito que vacíen el depósito con cuidado. — I need you to empty the tank carefully.
Ya hemos vaciado todas las cajas. — We have already emptied all the boxes.
Vaciad el contenido en este recipiente. — Empty the contents into this container.
No vacíes esa botella todavía. — Do not empty that bottle yet.

Regional and usage notes for Vaciar

RAE records voseo forms such as vos vaciás — you empty and the affirmative command vaciá — empty. The core tables retain tú — you, singular informal and vosotros / vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain for project comparability.

Rare and reference forms of Vaciar

The future subjunctive and future perfect subjunctive above are already marked as rare in modern everyday Spanish. The preterite anterior is another formal or literary reference form and is uncommon in present-day conversation.

Apenas hube vaciado el depósito, cerré la válvula. — As soon as I had emptied the tank, I closed the valve.

Use Vaciar by choosing the time frame first and then applying its verified stem, stress, participle, or pronoun pattern. Keep rare reference systems distinct from the forms used in ordinary modern conversation.