¿Qué estudias?
¿Estudias o trabajas? is a classic small-talk question in Spain (and a famous pick-up line!). To say what you study: Estudio Derecho (I study law). For an exam: estudiar para. The noun is los estudios (studies) and a student is un/una estudiante.
Indicative tenses of estudiar
Facts and things that happen: the tenses you'll use most.
Present indicative
| yo | estudioI study |
|---|---|
| tú | estudiasyou study |
| él/ella/usted | estudiahe/she studies |
| nosotros/as | estudiamoswe study |
| vosotros/as | estudiáisyou all study |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | estudianthey study |
Fully regular. The stress stays on the u: estudio (es-TU-dio), no accent needed.
Preterite indicative
| yo | estudiéI studied |
|---|---|
| tú | estudiasteyou studied |
| él/ella/usted | estudióhe/she studied |
| nosotros/as | estudiamoswe studied |
| vosotros/as | estudiasteisyou all studied |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | estudiaronthey studied |
Imperfect indicative
| yo | estudiabaI used to study |
|---|---|
| tú | estudiabasyou used to study |
| él/ella/usted | estudiabahe/she used to study |
| nosotros/as | estudiábamoswe used to study |
| vosotros/as | estudiabaisyou all used to study |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | estudiabanthey used to study |
Present continuous indicative
| yo | estoy estudiandoI am studying |
|---|---|
| tú | estás estudiandoyou are studying |
| él/ella/usted | está estudiandohe/she is studying |
| nosotros/as | estamos estudiandowe are studying |
| vosotros/as | estáis estudiandoyou all are studying |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | están estudiandothey are studying |
estar + gerund
Informal future indicative
| yo | voy a estudiarI am going to study |
|---|---|
| tú | vas a estudiaryou are going to study |
| él/ella/usted | va a estudiarhe/she is going to study |
| nosotros/as | vamos a estudiarwe are going to study |
| vosotros/as | vais a estudiaryou all are going to study |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | van a estudiarthey are going to study |
ir a + infinitive
Future indicative
| yo | estudiaréI will study |
|---|---|
| tú | estudiarásyou will study |
| él/ella/usted | estudiaráhe/she will study |
| nosotros/as | estudiaremoswe will study |
| vosotros/as | estudiaréisyou all will study |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | estudiaránthey will study |
Conditional indicative
| yo | estudiaríaI would study |
|---|---|
| tú | estudiaríasyou would study |
| él/ella/usted | estudiaríahe/she would study |
| nosotros/as | estudiaríamoswe would study |
| vosotros/as | estudiaríaisyou all would study |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | estudiaríanthey would study |
Present perfect indicative
| yo | he estudiadoI have studied |
|---|---|
| tú | has estudiadoyou have studied |
| él/ella/usted | ha estudiadohe/she has studied |
| nosotros/as | hemos estudiadowe have studied |
| vosotros/as | habéis estudiadoyou all have studied |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | han estudiadothey have studied |
haber (present) + past participle
Past perfect indicative
| yo | había estudiadoI had studied |
|---|---|
| tú | habías estudiadoyou had studied |
| él/ella/usted | había estudiadohe/she had studied |
| nosotros/as | habíamos estudiadowe had studied |
| vosotros/as | habíais estudiadoyou all had studied |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | habían estudiadothey had studied |
haber (imperfect) + past participle
Future perfect indicative
| yo | habré estudiadoI will have studied |
|---|---|
| tú | habrás estudiadoyou will have studied |
| él/ella/usted | habrá estudiadohe/she will have studied |
| nosotros/as | habremos estudiadowe will have studied |
| vosotros/as | habréis estudiadoyou all will have studied |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | habrán estudiadothey will have studied |
haber (future) + past participle
Conditional perfect indicative
| yo | habría estudiadoI would have studied |
|---|---|
| tú | habrías estudiadoyou would have studied |
| él/ella/usted | habría estudiadohe/she would have studied |
| nosotros/as | habríamos estudiadowe would have studied |
| vosotros/as | habríais estudiadoyou all would have studied |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | habrían estudiadothey would have studied |
haber (conditional) + past participle
Subjunctive tenses of estudiar
Wishes, doubts, emotions and "if" sentences.
Present subjunctive
| yo | estudie(that) I study |
|---|---|
| tú | estudies(that) you study |
| él/ella/usted | estudie(that) he/she studies |
| nosotros/as | estudiemos(that) we study |
| vosotros/as | estudiéis(that) you all study |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | estudien(that) they study |
Imperfect subjunctive
| yo | estudiara(if) I studied |
|---|---|
| tú | estudiaras(if) you studied |
| él/ella/usted | estudiara(if) he/she studied |
| nosotros/as | estudiáramos(if) we studied |
| vosotros/as | estudiarais(if) you all studied |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | estudiaran(if) they studied |
Future subjunctive
| yo | estudiare(if) I study |
|---|---|
| tú | estudiares(if) you study |
| él/ella/usted | estudiare(if) he/she studies |
| nosotros/as | estudiáremos(if) we study |
| vosotros/as | estudiareis(if) you all study |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | estudiaren(if) they study |
rarely used: legal & formal texts
Present perfect subjunctive
| yo | haya estudiado(that) I have studied |
|---|---|
| tú | hayas estudiado(that) you have studied |
| él/ella/usted | haya estudiado(that) he/she has studied |
| nosotros/as | hayamos estudiado(that) we have studied |
| vosotros/as | hayáis estudiado(that) you all have studied |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | hayan estudiado(that) they have studied |
haber (present subj.) + past participle
Past perfect subjunctive
| yo | hubiera estudiado(if) I had studied |
|---|---|
| tú | hubieras estudiado(if) you had studied |
| él/ella/usted | hubiera estudiado(if) he/she had studied |
| nosotros/as | hubiéramos estudiado(if) we had studied |
| vosotros/as | hubierais estudiado(if) you all had studied |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | hubieran estudiado(if) they had studied |
haber (imperfect subj.) + past participle
Future perfect subjunctive
| yo | hubiere estudiado(if) I will have studied |
|---|---|
| tú | hubieres estudiado(if) you will have studied |
| él/ella/usted | hubiere estudiado(if) he/she will have studied |
| nosotros/as | hubiéremos estudiado(if) we will have studied |
| vosotros/as | hubiereis estudiado(if) you all will have studied |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | hubieren estudiado(if) they will have studied |
rarely used: legal & formal texts
Imperative tenses of estudiar
Commands and instructions.
Affirmative imperative
| tú | estudiastudy! |
|---|---|
| usted | estudiestudy! (formal) |
| nosotros/as | estudiemoslet's study! |
| vosotros/as | estudiadstudy! (you all) |
| ustedes | estudienstudy! (you all, formal) |
Negative imperative
| tú | no estudiesdon't study! |
|---|---|
| usted | no estudiedon't study! (formal) |
| nosotros/as | no estudiemoslet's not study! |
| vosotros/as | no estudiéisdon't study! (you all) |
| ustedes | no estudiendon't study! (you all, formal) |
Practice estudiar
Two quick exercises. No sign-up, no app: just you and estudiar.
How to use estudiar
Estudio español desde hace un año.
I've been studying Spanish for a year.
Mi hermana estudia Medicina.
My sister studies medicine.
Tengo que estudiar para el examen.
I have to study for the exam.
¿Estudias o trabajas?
Do you study or work?
Vamos a estudiar la propuesta.
We're going to study the proposal.
Example sentences with estudiar
- Estudio todas las noches.I study every night.
- ¿Dónde estudiaste?Where did you study?
- Estudié en Barcelona.I studied in Barcelona.
- Antes estudiaba con música.I used to study with music on.
- Estoy estudiando para mañana.I'm studying for tomorrow.
- El año que viene estudiaré en México.Next year I'll study in Mexico.
- Estudia un poco cada día.Study a little every day.
- ¿Has estudiado alemán?Have you studied German?
Verbs like estudiar
Estudiar follows the regular -ar pattern and keeps the stress on the same syllable, like cambiar (cambio).
Frequently asked questions about estudiar
Is estudiar regular or irregular?
Estudiar is completely regular in every tense.
How do you conjugate estudiar in the present tense?
estudio, estudias, estudia, estudiamos, estudiáis, estudian.
How do you conjugate estudiar in the preterite?
estudié, estudiaste, estudió, estudiamos, estudiasteis, estudiaron.
How do you say "I study for the exam"?
Estudio para el examen.
What is the difference between estudiar and aprender?
Estudiar = the effort (to study). Aprender = the result (to learn).
What is the past participle of estudiar?
The past participle is estudiado and the gerund is estudiando.
Free cheat sheet
All 18 tenses of estudiar, on one page.
Print it, stick it on your fridge, or keep it on your phone. Fill in your name and email and I'll send it straight to your inbox.
📩 Check your inbox! The estudiar cheat sheet is on its way.
Paid courses
Ready to actually speak?
Knowing the conjugations is step one. My paid courses take you from tables to real conversations: structured, step by step, with practice built in.
- Conversational courseStop freezing in real conversations
- Verb tenses courseEvery tense, finally clear
Hola, soy Wes!
Your Spanish teacher
A Dutchie who learned Spanish from scratch. I make the lessons I wish I'd had: clear, practical and free.
My story →Support Spanish with Wes!
Did this page help you?
All my lessons, verb charts and cheat sheets are free, and I want to keep it that way. If you'd like to help me make more, you can support me here. Think of it as buying me a café con leche ☕
More Spanish verbs
Verb search
Find any Spanish verb.
Type a verb, an English word or a conjugated form like fui or hubo.