Conjugations
Present Presente
Habits, current states, and general facts.
| Subject | Verb form | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| yo | sostengo | |
| tú | sostienes | |
| él / ella / usted | sostiene | |
| nosotros / nosotras | sostenemos | |
| vosotros / vosotras | sostenéis | |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | sostienen |
Preterite Pretérito perfecto simple
Actions viewed as completed events in the past.
| Subject | Verb form | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| yo | sostuve | |
| tú | sostuviste | |
| él / ella / usted | sostuvo | |
| nosotros / nosotras | sostuvimos | |
| vosotros / vosotras | sostuvisteis | |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | sostuvieron |
Imperfect Pretérito imperfecto
Past habits, descriptions, and actions in progress.
| Subject | Verb form | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| yo | sostenía | |
| tú | sostenías | |
| él / ella / usted | sostenía | |
| nosotros / nosotras | sosteníamos | |
| vosotros / vosotras | sosteníais | |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | sostenían |
Future Futuro simple
Future events; also used to express a guess about the present.
| Subject | Verb form | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| yo | sostendré | |
| tú | sostendrás | |
| él / ella / usted | sostendrá | |
| nosotros / nosotras | sostendremos | |
| vosotros / vosotras | sostendréis | |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | sostendrán |
Conditional Condicional simple
Hypothetical events and some polite requests.
| Subject | Verb form | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| yo | sostendría | |
| tú | sostendrías | |
| él / ella / usted | sostendría | |
| nosotros / nosotras | sostendríamos | |
| vosotros / vosotras | sostendríais | |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | sostendrían |
Present subjunctive Presente de subjuntivo
Used in certain clauses expressing wishes, doubt, feelings, and other non-asserted situations.
| Subject | Verb form | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| yo | sostenga | |
| tú | sostengas | |
| él / ella / usted | sostenga | |
| nosotros / nosotras | sostengamos | |
| vosotros / vosotras | sostengáis | |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | sostengan |
Use ustedes for plural “you” in Latin America. Its verb form matches ellos / ellas. Vos forms are not included. Google voice when available; device voice as a fallback.
Meaning & usage
- to hold, to hold up, to prop up, to sustain, to underpin (physically)
- to sustain, to support, to keep (i.e. to give continuity to)
- to support, to uphold, to hold, to sustain, to contend, to maintain, to argue, to claim, to underpin, to defend
English glosses are a starting point. The meaning of a verb can change with context, a preposition, or se. Read the full dictionary entry ↗
Meanings and conjugation data adapted from English Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki.org / Wiktextract. Frequency scores from wordfreq 3.1.1 by Robyn Speer and contributors. Adapted data is available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Entry source · Sources, download & limitations