Learn to Conjugate the Spanish Verb Ayudar (2023)

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Ayudar Conjugation, Usage and Examples

Learn to Conjugate the Spanish Verb Ayudar (1)

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    By

    Jocelly Meiners

    Learn to Conjugate the Spanish Verb Ayudar (3)

    Jocelly Meiners

    Professor of Hispanic Linguistics

    • Ph.D., Hispanic Linguistics, University of Texas at Austin
    • M.A., French Linguistics, University of Texas at Austin
    • B.A., French and Astronomy, University of Texas at Austin

    Dr. Jocelly Meiners has taught language courses at the University of Texas at Austin since 2008. She holds a Ph.D. in Hispanic linguistics and an M.A. in French linguistics.

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    Updated on February 26, 2020

    The Spanish verbayudarmeans to help. It is a regular-arverb likebuscarorllamar.To conjugate ayudar, simply drop the-arand add the endings for each corresponding verb tense. Below you will find tables with the conjugations forayudarin the present, past and future indicative, the present and past subjunctive, the imperative and other verb forms.

    How to Use the Verb Ayudar in Spanish?

    Something to note about the verb ayudar is that it is almost always followed by the preposition a. In many cases, this verbis used to talk about helping someone, and in that case the prepositionis called"personala" (calleda personalin Spanish). The personal ais used before a direct object when the direct object is a person. For example, you can sayYo ayudo a Carlos(I help Carlos) orCarlos ayudó a mi hermano(Carlos helped my brother). Since the verbayudaris a transitive verbthat takes a direct object, it is used with direct object pronouns (lo, la, los, las,etc.). However, it is common for many Spanish speakers to use theindirect object pronouns (le,les)with this verb. For example, you might hear bothYo lo ayudoorYo le ayudo(I help him/you), or you might hear bothAnaquiere ayudarlaorAnaquiere ayudarle(Anawants to help her/you).

    Also, whenever ayudar is followed by an infinitive verb, you must also use the prepositiona.For example, when talkingabout helping to do something, such asEllos ayudan a cocinar la cena(They help cook dinner) or Pedro ayuda a poner la mesa (Pedro helps setthe table).

    Ayudar Present Indicative

    YoayudoI helpYo ayudo a mi hermano con su tarea.
    ayudasYou helpTú ayudas a los enfermos del hospital.
    Usted/él/ellaayudaYou/he/she helpsElla ayuda a la familia.
    NosotrosayudamosWe helpNosotros ayudamos a lavar la ropa.
    VosotrosayudáisYou helpVosotros ayudáis a preparar la comida.
    Ustedes/ellos/ellas ayudanYou/they helpEllos ayudan a la maestra.

    Ayudar PreteriteIndicative

    There are two past tenses in Spanish. The preterite tense is used to talk about punctual actions or events that have a defined ending in the past.

    YoayudéI helpedYo ayudé a mi hermano con su tarea.
    ayudasteYou helpedTú ayudaste a los enfermos del hospital.
    Usted/él/ellaayudóYou/he/she helpedElla ayudó a la familia.
    NosotrosayudamosWe helpedNosotros ayudamos a lavar la ropa.
    VosotrosayudasteisYou helpedVosotros ayudasteis a preparar la comida.
    Ustedes/ellos/ellas ayudaronYou/they helpedEllos ayudaron a la maestra.

    Ayudar ImperfectIndicative

    The imperfect tense is used to talk about background information, or events in the past that were ongoing or habitual. The imperfect can be translated as "was helping" or "used to help".

    YoayudabaI used to helpYo ayudaba a mi hermano con su tarea.
    ayudabasYou used to helpTú ayudabas a los enfermos del hospital.
    Usted/él/ellaayudabaYou/he/she used to helpElla ayudaba a la familia.
    NosotrosayudábamosWe used to helpNosotros ayudábamos a lavar la ropa.
    VosotrosayudabaisYou used to helpVosotros ayudabais a preparar la comida.
    Ustedes/ellos/ellas ayudabanYou/they used to helpEllos ayudaban a la maestra.

    Ayudar FutureIndicative

    YoayudaréI will helpYo ayudaré a mi hermano con su tarea.
    ayudarásYou will helpTú ayudarás a los enfermos del hospital.
    Usted/él/ellaayudaránYou/he/she will helpElla ayudará a la familia.
    Nosotrosayudaremos We will helpNosotros ayudaremos a lavar la ropa.
    VosotrosayudaréisYou will helpVosotros ayudaréis a preparar la comida.
    Ustedes/ellos/ellas ayudaránYou/they will helpEllos ayudarán a la maestra.

    Ayudar Periphrastic FutureIndicative

    Yovoy a ayudarI am going to helpYo voy a ayudar a mi hermano con su tarea.
    vas a ayudarYou are going to helpTú vas a ayudar a los enfermos del hospital.
    Usted/él/ellava a ayudarYou/he/she is going to helpElla va a ayudar a la familia.
    Nosotrosvamos a ayudarWe are going to helpNosotros vamos a ayudar a lavar la ropa.
    Vosotrosvais a ayudarYou are going to helpVosotros vais a ayudar a preparar la comida.
    Ustedes/ellos/ellas van a ayudarYou/they are going to helpEllos van a ayudar a la maestra.

    AyudarConditionalIndicative

    YoayudaríaI would helpYo ayudaría a mi hermano con su tarea.
    ayudaríasYou would helpTú ayudarías a los enfermos del hospital.
    Usted/él/ellaayudaríaYou/he/she would helpElla ayudaría a la familia.
    Nosotrosayudaríamos We would helpNosotros ayudaríamos a lavar la ropa.
    VosotrosayudaríaisYou would helpVosotros ayudaríais a preparar la comida.
    Ustedes/ellos/ellas ayudaríanYou/they would helpEllos ayudarían a la maestra.

    Ayudar Present Progressive/Gerund Form

    The present participle or gerund of regular -arverbs is formed by dropping the-arand adding the ending -ando. The present participle can be used for the progressive tenses, such as the present progressive.

    Present Progressive of Ayudar:está ayudando

    She is helping ->Ella está ayudando a la familia.

    Ayudar Past Participle

    The past participle ofayudaris formed by dropping the -arand adding the ending-ado. The past participle can be used to form compound verb tenses, such as the present perfect.

    Present Perfect of Ayudar:ha ayudado

    She has helped ->Ella ha ayudado a la familia.

    Ayudar Present Subjunctive

    The subjunctive mood is used to talk about emotions, desires, needs, doubts, possibilities and other subjective situations. The subjunctive is used in sentences with a main clause and a subordinate clause.

    Que yoayudeThat I helpMiguel espera que yo ayude a mi hermano con su tarea.
    Que túayudesThat you helpClara espera que tú ayudes a los enfermos del hospital.
    Que usted/él/ellaayudeThat you/he/she helpEduardo espera que ella ayude a la familia.
    Que nosotrosayudemosThat we helpPetra espera que nosotros ayudemos a lavar la ropa.
    Que vosotrosayudéisThat you helpFranco espera que vosotros ayudéis a preparar la cena.
    Que ustedes/ellos/ellas ayudenThat you/they helpRebeca espera que ellos ayuden a la maestra.

    Ayudar ImperfectSubjunctive

    The imperfect subjunctive is used similarly to the present subjunctive, but in situations that occurred in the past. There are two forms of the imperfect subjunctive, shown in the tables below.

    Option 1

    Que yoayudaraThat I helpedMiguel esperaba que yo ayudara a mi hermano con su tarea.
    Que túayudarasThat you helpedClara esperaba que tú ayudaras a los enfermos del hospital.
    Que usted/él/ellaayudaraThat you/he/she helpedEduardo esperaba que ella ayudara a la familia.
    Que nosotrosayudáramosThat we helpedPetra esperaba que nosotros ayudáramos a lavar la ropa.
    Que vosotrosayudaraisThat you helpedFranco esperaba que vosotros ayudarais a preparar la cena.
    Que ustedes/ellos/ellas ayudaranThat you/they helpedRebeca esperaba que ellos ayudaran a la maestra.

    Option 2

    Que yoayudaseThat I helpedMiguel esperaba que yo ayudase a mi hermano con su tarea.
    Que túayudasesThat you helpedClara esperaba que tú ayudases a los enfermos del hospital.
    Que usted/él/ellaayudaseThat you/he/she helpedEduardo esperaba que ella ayudase a la familia.
    Que nosotrosayudásemos That we helpedPetra esperaba que nosotros ayudásemos a lavar la ropa.
    Que vosotrosayudaseisThat you helpedFranco esperaba que vosotros ayudaseis a preparar la cena.
    Que ustedes/ellos/ellas ayudasenThat you/they helpedRebeca esperaba que ellos ayudasen a la maestra.

    Ayudar Imperative

    The imperative mood is used to give direct orders. There are different conjugations of the imperative fortú, usted, nosotros, vosotrosandustedes.Note that the positive and negative commands forandvosotrosare different.

    Positive Commands

    ayudaHelp!¡Ayuda a los enfermos del hospital!
    UstedayudeHelp!¡Ayude a la familia!
    Nosotros ayudemosLet's help!¡Ayudemos a lavar la ropa!
    VosotrosayudadHelp!¡Ayudad a preparar la cena!
    UstedesayudenHelp!¡Ayuden a la maestra!

    Negative Commands

    no ayudesDon't help!¡No ayudes a los enfermos del hospital!
    Ustedno ayudeDon't help!¡No ayude a la familia!
    Nosotros no ayudemosLet's not help!¡No ayudemos a lavar la ropa!
    Vosotrosno ayudéisDon't help!¡No ayudéis a preparar la cena!
    Ustedesno ayudenDon't help!¡No ayuden a la maestra!

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    Your Citation

    Meiners, Jocelly. "Spanish Verb Ayudar Conjugation." ThoughtCo, Aug. 27, 2020, thoughtco.com/ayudar-conjugation-in-spanish-4174343.Meiners, Jocelly. (2020, August 27). Spanish Verb Ayudar Conjugation. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/ayudar-conjugation-in-spanish-4174343Meiners, Jocelly. "Spanish Verb Ayudar Conjugation." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/ayudar-conjugation-in-spanish-4174343 (accessed January 28, 2023).

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