Languages ›Spanish
Ayudar Conjugation, Usage and Examples
Spanish
- Grammar
- Pronunciation
- Vocabulary
- Writing Skills
By
Jocelly Meiners
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.
Learn about ourEditorial Process
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
Yo | ayudo | I help | Yo ayudo a mi hermano con su tarea. |
Tú | ayudas | You help | Tú ayudas a los enfermos del hospital. |
Usted/él/ella | ayuda | You/he/she helps | Ella ayuda a la familia. |
Nosotros | ayudamos | We help | Nosotros ayudamos a lavar la ropa. |
Vosotros | ayudáis | You help | Vosotros ayudáis a preparar la comida. |
Ustedes/ellos/ellas | ayudan | You/they help | Ellos 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.
Yo | ayudé | I helped | Yo ayudé a mi hermano con su tarea. |
Tú | ayudaste | You helped | Tú ayudaste a los enfermos del hospital. |
Usted/él/ella | ayudó | You/he/she helped | Ella ayudó a la familia. |
Nosotros | ayudamos | We helped | Nosotros ayudamos a lavar la ropa. |
Vosotros | ayudasteis | You helped | Vosotros ayudasteis a preparar la comida. |
Ustedes/ellos/ellas | ayudaron | You/they helped | Ellos 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".
Yo | ayudaba | I used to help | Yo ayudaba a mi hermano con su tarea. |
Tú | ayudabas | You used to help | Tú ayudabas a los enfermos del hospital. |
Usted/él/ella | ayudaba | You/he/she used to help | Ella ayudaba a la familia. |
Nosotros | ayudábamos | We used to help | Nosotros ayudábamos a lavar la ropa. |
Vosotros | ayudabais | You used to help | Vosotros ayudabais a preparar la comida. |
Ustedes/ellos/ellas | ayudaban | You/they used to help | Ellos ayudaban a la maestra. |
Ayudar FutureIndicative
Yo | ayudaré | I will help | Yo ayudaré a mi hermano con su tarea. |
Tú | ayudarás | You will help | Tú ayudarás a los enfermos del hospital. |
Usted/él/ella | ayudarán | You/he/she will help | Ella ayudará a la familia. |
Nosotros | ayudaremos | We will help | Nosotros ayudaremos a lavar la ropa. |
Vosotros | ayudaréis | You will help | Vosotros ayudaréis a preparar la comida. |
Ustedes/ellos/ellas | ayudarán | You/they will help | Ellos ayudarán a la maestra. |
Ayudar Periphrastic FutureIndicative
Yo | voy a ayudar | I am going to help | Yo voy a ayudar a mi hermano con su tarea. |
Tú | vas a ayudar | You are going to help | Tú vas a ayudar a los enfermos del hospital. |
Usted/él/ella | va a ayudar | You/he/she is going to help | Ella va a ayudar a la familia. |
Nosotros | vamos a ayudar | We are going to help | Nosotros vamos a ayudar a lavar la ropa. |
Vosotros | vais a ayudar | You are going to help | Vosotros vais a ayudar a preparar la comida. |
Ustedes/ellos/ellas | van a ayudar | You/they are going to help | Ellos van a ayudar a la maestra. |
AyudarConditionalIndicative
Yo | ayudaría | I would help | Yo ayudaría a mi hermano con su tarea. |
Tú | ayudarías | You would help | Tú ayudarías a los enfermos del hospital. |
Usted/él/ella | ayudaría | You/he/she would help | Ella ayudaría a la familia. |
Nosotros | ayudaríamos | We would help | Nosotros ayudaríamos a lavar la ropa. |
Vosotros | ayudaríais | You would help | Vosotros ayudaríais a preparar la comida. |
Ustedes/ellos/ellas | ayudarían | You/they would help | Ellos 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 yo | ayude | That I help | Miguel espera que yo ayude a mi hermano con su tarea. |
Que tú | ayudes | That you help | Clara espera que tú ayudes a los enfermos del hospital. |
Que usted/él/ella | ayude | That you/he/she help | Eduardo espera que ella ayude a la familia. |
Que nosotros | ayudemos | That we help | Petra espera que nosotros ayudemos a lavar la ropa. |
Que vosotros | ayudéis | That you help | Franco espera que vosotros ayudéis a preparar la cena. |
Que ustedes/ellos/ellas | ayuden | That you/they help | Rebeca 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 yo | ayudara | That I helped | Miguel esperaba que yo ayudara a mi hermano con su tarea. |
Que tú | ayudaras | That you helped | Clara esperaba que tú ayudaras a los enfermos del hospital. |
Que usted/él/ella | ayudara | That you/he/she helped | Eduardo esperaba que ella ayudara a la familia. |
Que nosotros | ayudáramos | That we helped | Petra esperaba que nosotros ayudáramos a lavar la ropa. |
Que vosotros | ayudarais | That you helped | Franco esperaba que vosotros ayudarais a preparar la cena. |
Que ustedes/ellos/ellas | ayudaran | That you/they helped | Rebeca esperaba que ellos ayudaran a la maestra. |
Option 2
Que yo | ayudase | That I helped | Miguel esperaba que yo ayudase a mi hermano con su tarea. |
Que tú | ayudases | That you helped | Clara esperaba que tú ayudases a los enfermos del hospital. |
Que usted/él/ella | ayudase | That you/he/she helped | Eduardo esperaba que ella ayudase a la familia. |
Que nosotros | ayudásemos | That we helped | Petra esperaba que nosotros ayudásemos a lavar la ropa. |
Que vosotros | ayudaseis | That you helped | Franco esperaba que vosotros ayudaseis a preparar la cena. |
Que ustedes/ellos/ellas | ayudasen | That you/they helped | Rebeca 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 fortúandvosotrosare different.
Positive Commands
Tú | ayuda | Help! | ¡Ayuda a los enfermos del hospital! |
Usted | ayude | Help! | ¡Ayude a la familia! |
Nosotros | ayudemos | Let's help! | ¡Ayudemos a lavar la ropa! |
Vosotros | ayudad | Help! | ¡Ayudad a preparar la cena! |
Ustedes | ayuden | Help! | ¡Ayuden a la maestra! |
Negative Commands
Tú | no ayudes | Don't help! | ¡No ayudes a los enfermos del hospital! |
Usted | no ayude | Don't help! | ¡No ayude a la familia! |
Nosotros | no ayudemos | Let's not help! | ¡No ayudemos a lavar la ropa! |
Vosotros | no ayudéis | Don't help! | ¡No ayudéis a preparar la cena! |
Ustedes | no ayuden | Don't help! | ¡No ayuden a la maestra! |
Format
mlaapachicago
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).
- Spanish Verb Necesitar Conjugation
- Spanish Verb Enviar Conjugation
- Spanish Verb Arreglar Conjugation
- Spanish Verb Almorzar Conjugation
- Spanish Verb Cortar Conjugation
- Spanish Verb Gustar Conjugation
- Spanish Verb Despertarse Conjugation
- Spanish Verb Participar Conjugation
- Spanish Verb Tratar Conjugation
- Spanish Verb Graduarse Conjugation
- Spanish Verb Maquillarse Conjugation
- Spanish Verb Cenar Conjugation
- Spanish Verb Evitar Conjugation
- Spanish Verb Desayunar Conjugation
- Spanish Verb Caminar Conjugation
- Spanish Verb Bajar Conjugation
When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site.