Sentir Conjugation in Spanish: Every tense, with examples

Sentir is a key verb in Spanish that you’ll need to master when expressing feelings or emotions. Being familiar with sentir conjugation will come in handy on an everyday basis whether you’re just learning Spanish or you’re an advanced student. Sentir is considered one of the fundamental verbs, up there with other heavy-hitters like ser, estar, hacer, and tener.

We’ll start today’s conjugation post with a section on the main meanings of sentir in Spanish. Then, we’ll dive in to our conjugation sections, broken down by mood: indicative, subjunctive, and imperative. Each mood will be further broken down by tense, ultimately providing full sentir conjugation tables for each and every tense.

Sentir is an irregular -ir verb, with an -e- to -ie- stem change in the present tense and several other stem changes in other tenses. By the end of this post you will have seen every sentir conjugation in Spanish, and you can practice what you’ve learned with a set of exercises.

Now, let’s get started!

Sentir Meanings

We already have a dedicated post that covers how and when to use both sentir and its reflexive version sentirse, so we won’t go too deep on meanings again here. We’ll provide a few examples for the main meanings in this section, but for more depth check out our post on sentir and sentirse in Spanish.

Sentir: What we feel

Whenever we want to talk about feelings we use the verb sentir, whose usual translation is to feel in English. Sentir is used to describe what we feel, whether a physical feeling or an emotion:

• I feel sadness for the stray cats. – Siento tristeza por los gatos abandonados.

• After using the cell phone for so long, he felt a heavy headache. – Después de tanto usar el celular, sintió mucho dolor de cabeza.

Sentir can also take other meanings along the lines of to sense, irrespective of which physical sense is doing the sensing. Depending on the context, translations can therefore range between options including to sense, to feel, to notice, to hear, and to perceive.

• Did you hear that noise? – ¿Sentiste ese ruido?

• That night she perceived the presence of her dead grandfather. – Esa noche ella sintió la presencia de su abuelo muerto.

Lo siento: I’m sorry

The other main meaning of sentir is for feeling compassion or for feeling apologetic. You may recognize the first-person present conjugation from a very common phrase: lo siento. This translates roughly as I feel it, while it’s understood that this feeling is meant to express an acknowledgement of how the other person probably feels because of a situation. Lo siento therefore translates better as I’m sorry about it, I’m sorry about that, or simply as I’m sorry.

• Did my dog surprise you? I’m sorry. – ¿Mi perro te sorprendió? Lo siento.

• I thought this seat was free. Sorry. – Pensé que este asiento estaba libre. Lo siento.

To move beyond lo siento, check out our post with 14 ways to say Sorry in Spanish.

Sentirse: How we feel

Sentirse, in the reflexive form, has a similiar but distinct use. Rather than being used to describe what we feel, sentirse is used to describe how we feel.

• Carolina feels tired after work. – Carolina se siente cansada después del trabajo.

• The kids felt bad when the teacher told them off. – Los niños se sintieron mal cuando la maestra los retó.

Sentir Conjugation Indicative Mood

We use the indicative mood in Spanish to talk about concrete and certain facts and situations. In this section we present each indicative sentir conjugation chart: present, preterite, imperfect, conditional, future, and all of the perfect forms.

Sentir conjugation present tense

In our sentir present tense conjugation chart we see that this irregular verb takes a stem change to sient- for most of the grammatical persons, with the exception of the nosotros and vosotros conjugations where the stem remains sent-.

Subject	Sentir conjugation present tense
Yo	siento
Tú	sientes
Él, Ella, Usted	siente
Nosotros, Nosotras	sentimos
Vosotros, Vosotras	sentís
Ustedes, Ellos, Ellas	sienten

• We feel really sorry we can’t go to the party tonight. – Sentimos mucho no poder ir a la fiesta esta noche.

• Marcos feels fear when he has to cross the street. – Marcos siente miedo cuando tiene que cruzar la calle.

• Now we hear the noise from the street. – Ahora sentimos el ruido de la calle.

For a full lesson on this tense, have a look at our dedicated post on the present tense in Spanish.

Sentir preterite conjugation

For this past tense conjugation, sentir remains regular except for the third person singular and plural where the stem changes from sent- to sint-.

Subject	Sentir conjugation preterite
Yo	sentí
Tú	sentiste
Él, Ella, Usted	sintió
Nosotros, Nosotras	sentimos
Vosotros, Vosotras	sentisteis
Ustedes, Ellos, Ellas	sintieron

• When María arrived, he felt that everything was more beautiful. – Cuando llegó María, sintió que todo era más bello.

• They felt really sorry for not being able to help their friend. – Sintieron mucho no haber podido ayudar a su amigo.

• At that moment, we felt that nothing would be the same. – En ese momento sentimos que nada sería igual.

In case you need to freshen up on this past tense, check out our post on the Spanish preterite.

Sentir imperfect conjugation

The sentir imperfect conjugation is just like any regular -ir verb.

Subject	Sentir conjugation imperfect tense
Yo	sentía
Tú	sentías
Él, Ella, Usted	sentía
Nosotros, Nosotras	sentíamos
Vosotros, Vosotras	sentíais
Ustedes, Ellos, Ellas	sentían

• My friends and I felt that we were forgetting something important. – Mis amigos y yo sentíamos que algo importante se nos estaba olvidando.

• They felt the warmth of the audience at every concert. – En cada recital sentían el calor del público.

• After running for 2 hours every morning, I felt my legs go numb. – Después de correr dos horas cada mañana sentía las piernas dormidas.

For more detail on when to use this particular past tense in Spanish, check out our guide to the Spanish imperfect. To see when to use one past tense over the other, we can recommend our guide on preterite vs imperfect.

Sentir conditional conjugation

Our sentir conditional conjugation closely resembles the imperfect conjugations, except that we leave the infinitive’s -ir ending before adding the regular conditional endings.

Subject	Sentir conjugation conditional
Yo	sentiría
Tú	sentirías
Él, Ella, Usted	sentiría
Nosotros, Nosotras	sentiríamos
Vosotros, Vosotras	sentiríais
Ustedes, Ellos, Ellas	sentirían

• Do you think you would feel fear on that mountain? – ¿Crees que sentirías miedo en esa montaña?

• If I were you, I would feel really embarrassed. – Si yo fuera tú, sentiría mucha vergüenza.

• I was sure that she would soon feel love for that kitten. – Estaba seguro de que pronto ella sentiría amor por eso gatito.

If you’d like to review this tense, go see our post on the conditional form in Spanish.

Sentir future conjugation

For our sentir future tense conjugation, this verb remains regular: sentir follows the pattern of any regular -ir verb where we add the endings to the infinitive.

Subject	Sentir conjugation conditional
Yo	sentiré
Tú	sentirás
Él, Ella, Usted	sentirá
Nosotros, Nosotras	sentiremos
Vosotros, Vosotras	sentiréis
Ustedes, Ellos, Ellas	sentirán

• This summer you will feel the sun on your face. – Este verano sentirás el sol en tu cara.

• The team will feel happiness when they win the game. – El equipo sentirá felicidad cuando ganen el partido.

• Once they reach the top, they’ll feel that all their effort was worth it. – Cuando lleguen a la cima, sentirán que su esfuerzo valió la pena.

For more on how to refer to the future in Spanish, including this tense and a couple of other options, see our post on future tense Spanish.

Sentir compound conjugation

Here we have the remaining indicative sentir conjugation charts for all of the compound forms. For sentir, the perfect conjugations are formed with the conjugated form of the auxiliary verb haber and the sentir participle, which is sentido. We go into more detail on this verb form in our guide to the Spanish past participle.

The gerund form of sentir is sintiendo.

First let’s focus on our sentir conjugation in the present perfect and past perfect tenses.

Subject	Present perfect	Past perfect
Yo	he sentido	había sentido
Tú	has sentido	habías sentido
Él, Ella, Usted	ha sentido	había sentido
Nosotros, Nosotras	hemos sentido	habíamos sentido
Vosotros, Vosotras	habéis sentido	habíais sentido
Ustedes, Ellos, Ellas	han sentido	habían sentido

• They have always felt mutual love. – Ellos siempre han sentido mutuo amor.

• I thought that you’d already smelled the perfume. – Pensé que ya habías sentido el olor a perfume.

• We’ve already felt all the pain possible. – Ya hemos sentido todo el dolor posible.

For full lessons on how to use these two verb forms, take a look at our posts on present perfect Spanish and past perfect Spanish

Now let’s move on to the other two compound conjugations of sentir, the perfect future and the perfect conditional.

Subject	Perfect future	Perfect conditional
Yo	habré sentido	habría sentido
Tú	habrás sentido	habrías sentido
Él, Ella, Usted	habrá sentido	habría sentido
Nosotros, Nosotras	habremos sentido	habríamos sentido
Vosotros, Vosotras	habréis sentido	habríais sentido
Ustedes, Ellos, Ellas	habrán sentido	habrían sentido

• By the end of the trip you’ll have felt the excitement of the adventure. – Cuando termine el viaje, habrás sentido la emoción de la aventura.

• If we’d tried that dish, we would have felt the exquisite taste of seafood. – Si hubiéramos probado ese plato, habríamos sentido el exquisito sabor de los mariscos.

• If you’d come to the winery, you would have felt the pleasure of drinking a good wine. – Si hubieras venido a la bodega, habrías sentido el placer de tomar un buen vino.

We recommend our posts on the future perfect in Spanish and on the conditional in Spanish for more detail on these two tenses.

Sentir Conjugation Subjunctive Mood

The subjunctive mood in Spanish is used to express uncertainty, possibility, necessity, expressions of judgement, desire, and doubt. For a comprehensive discussion on this specific Spanish mood, take a look at our post on the Spanish subjunctive.

Sentir present subjunctive conjugation

The present subjunctive conjugation of sentir follows the same stem changes as we saw for the indicative present tense.

There’s an -e- to -ie- stem change to give us the stem of sient- for most grammatical persons, while the nosotros and vosotros conjugations take an -e- to -i- stem change to give us sint-.

Subject	Sentir conjugation present subjunctive
Yo	sienta
Tú	sientas
Él, Ella, Usted	sienta
Nosotros, Nosotras	sintamos
Vosotros, Vosotras	sintáis
Ustedes, Ellos, Ellas	sientan

• I don’t think I’ll feel the same the next time I see her. – No creo que sienta lo mismo la próxima vez que la vea.

• We might not feel cold with the heat on. – Quizá no sintamos frío con la calefacción encendida.

• Perhaps Julia feels tired after class. – Tal vez Julia sienta cansancio después de clase.

To dig deeper on this tense, take a look at our dedicated post on the present subjunctive.

Sentir imperfect subjunctive

For our imperfect subjunctive conjugations of sentir, the stem remains sint- for all grammatical persons. This tense has two correct forms for its endings, so we include both options here.

Subject	Sentir conjugation imperfect subjunctive
Yo	sintiera / sintiese
Tú	sintieras / sintieses
Él, Ella, Usted	sintiera / sintiese
Nosotros, Nosotras	sintiéramos / sintiésemos
Vosotros, Vosotras	sintierais / sintieseis
Ustedes, Ellos, Ellas	sintieran / sintiesen

• We recommended that they feel the calm of the countryside. – Les recomendábamos que sintieran la calma del campo.

• I was glad you felt satisfaction for your achievements. – Me alegraba que sintieras satisfacción por tus logros.

• We liked it very much that you felt empathy for your enemies. – Nos gustó mucho que sintieses empatía por tus enemigos.

For an in-depth explanation of this subjunctive tense, check out our post on the imperfect subjunctive in Spanish.

Sentir future subjunctive

Here is a quick tip for the future subjunctive conjugation of sentir: take the first imperfect subjunctive conjugations we just saw above, and just exchange the final -a of the sintiera forms for an -e. That’s right, our sentir future subjunctive stem is still sint-, and it takes the regular -ir endings for this tense.

Subject	Sentir conjugation future subjunctive
Yo	sintiere
Tú	sintieres
Él, Ella, Usted	sintiere
Nosotros, Nosotras	sintiéremos
Vosotros, Vosotras	sintiereis
Ustedes, Ellos, Ellas	sintieren

• In case you feel a of lack of air, open the window. – En caso de que sintiere falta de aire, abra la ventana.

• Whoever feels sick, won’t be able to get onto the bus. – El que se sintiere enfermo, no podrá subir al autobús.

Sentir conjugation compound subjunctive

Just like we did with the compound conjugations of sentir in the indicative, now we present you with the sentir subjunctive conjugation chart for the compound tenses.

These sentir compound conjugations are built from the present and imperfect subjunctive forms of the auxiliary verb haber, followed by the participle of sentir, which is sentido. As such, the pluperfect subjunctive has two correct forms that we provide here.

Subject	Perfect subjunctive	Pluperfect subjunctive
Yo	haya sentido	hubiera sentido / hubiese sentido
Tú	hayas sentido	hubieras sentido / hubieses sentido
Él, Ella, Usted	haya sentido	hubiera sentido / hubiese sentido
Nosotros, Nosotras	hayamos sentido	hubiéramos sentido / hubiésemos sentido
Vosotros, Vosotras	hayáis sentido	hubierais sentido / hubieseis sentido
Ustedes, Ellos, Ellas	hayan sentido	hubieran sentido / hubiesen sentido

• I’m glad they weren’t scared on the rollercoaster. – Me alegra que no hayan sentido miedo en la montaña rusa.

• I doubt you felt the same as me at that moment. – Dudo que hayas sentido lo mismo que yo en ese momento.

• Would you have come if you hadn’t heard that noise? – ¿Habrías venido si no hubieras sentido ese ruido?

Sentir Conjugation Imperative Mood

The imperative mood is used to give commands, orders, and suggestions in a direct manner. This mood doesn’t include conjugations for the subject yo, because we generally don’t give orders to ourselves. Note that the conjugations of the sentir commands for tú and vosotros change in the negative form.

Subject	Hacer imperative
Tú	siente / no sientas
Él, Ella, Usted	sienta
Nosotros, Nosotras	sintamos
Vosotros, Vosotras	sentid / no sintáis
Ustedes, Ellos, Ellas	sientan

• Don’t be sorry, you just do your job. – No lo sientas, solo haz tu trabajo.

• Let’s feel the sea breeze on our skin. – Sintamos la brisa del mar en nuestra piel.

• Feel admiration for your classmates who have made such a big effort. – Sientan admiración por sus compañeros que se han esforzado tanto.

For more details on how to use the Spanish command form, take a look at our post on the imperative mood in Spanish.

Conclusion

So far so good! In this post we presented you with the full set of sentir conjugations in Spanish. We went through all three moods and every tense, including examples for every single one so you can see each sentir conjugation in action.

We also started our post off with some basic definitions of the verb sentir. While it can usually be translated into English as to feel, to hear, or to perceive, it’s also used to say sorry in Spanish.

Now that you’ve seen every sentir conjugation, why not end the lesson with a few exercises? Don’t feel scared! We know you can do it! – ¡No sientas miedo! Sabemos que puedes hacerlo.

Exercises

Provide the correct conjugation for sentir according to the mood and tense in parentheses. The answers and translations are below.

1. Quizá, usted _____ malestar en la garganta. (subjunctive: present)

2. Si tú _____ el dolor que yo sentí, no dirías lo que dijiste. (subjunctive: pluperfect)

3. Esa noche, ellos _____ mucho frío durante el viaje. (indicative: past tense)

4. Tus padres _____ mucho orgullo desde que te graduaste. (indicative: present perfect)

5. Mi novio _____ que yo me alejaba cada vez más de él. (indicative: imperfect)

6. Yo _____ felicidad si tú volvieras a vivir conmigo. (indicative: conditional)

7. Nunca antes Pedro y Luis _____ tanto miedo como esa noche. (indicative: past perfect)

8. Te aseguro que no _____ nada cuando te operen la rodilla. (indicative: future)

9. No _____ odio por nadie, no es sano. (imperative)

10. Ojalá _____ mucha alegría el día de tu boda. (subjunctive: present)

Answers

1. Quizá, usted sienta malestar en la garganta. – Maybe you will feel discomfort in your throat.

2. Si tú hubieras sentido / hubieses sentido el dolor que yo sentí, no dirías lo que dijiste. – If you had felt what I felt, you wouldn’t say what you said.

3. Esa noche, ellos sintieron mucho frío durante el viaje. – That night they felt really cold during the trip.

4. Tus padres han sentido orgullo por ti desde que te graduaste. – Your parents have felt pride for you since you graduated.

5. Mi novio sentía que yo me alejaba cada vez más de él. – My boyfriend felt that I was becoming more and more distant from him.

6. Yo sentiría felicidad si tú volvieras a vivir conmigo. – I would feel happiness if you lived with me again.

7. Nunca antes Pedro y Luis habían sentido tanto miedo como esa noche. – Never before had Pedro and Luis felt as scared as that night.

8. Te aseguro que no sentirás nada cuando te operen la rodilla. – I assure you that you won’t feel anything during your knee operation.

9. No sientas odio por nadie, no es sano. – Do not feel hate for anyone, it’s not healthy.

10. Ojalá sientas mucha alegría el día de tu boda. – I hope you feel really happy on your wedding day.