Spanish Verb Averiguar Conjugation

Conjugation, Usage, and Examples

One man, mature FBI agent working on a case in dark office.
El agente quiere averiguar quién cometió el crimen. (The agent wants to find out who committed the crime).

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By
Jocelly Meiners
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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 November 26, 2019

Averiguar is a Spanish verb that means "to find out", "to discover," or "to figure out." This article includes many examples of how averiguar is used, as well as the conjugations of averiguar in the present, past, conditional, and future indicative, the present and past subjunctive, the imperative, and other verb forms.

Averiguar is a regular -ar verb, but it has a special spelling change in some conjugations. In Spanish, the letter combination "gue" is normally pronounced without the u sound, like in the English word "get." However, in some conjugations of averiguar, the letter combination "gue" exists with the u pronounced as in the English word Gwen. In Spanish, in order for the u to sound, you have to add a dieresis, also called umlaut, on top of the u, as in the imperative averigüe. It also occurs in the first person singular conjugation of the preterite (yo averigüé) and in all the conjugations of the present subjunctive.

Present Indicative

Yo averiguo Yo averiguo el horario de clase en la universidad. I find out the class schedule at the university.
Tú averiguas Tú averiguas la fecha del examen en Internet. You find out the exam date on the internet.
Usted/él/ella averigua Ella averigua la receta del pastel de su madre. She finds out her mother's cake recipe.
Nosotros averiguamos Nosotros siempre averiguamos cómo llegar a la fiesta. We always figure out how to get to the party.
Vosotros averiguáis Vosotros averiguáis dónde comer bien en esa ciudad. You find out where to eat well in that city.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas averiguan Ellos averiguan la historia del criminal. They discover the criminal's story.

Preterite Indicative

The preterite tense is used to talk about completed events in the past. Notice the addition of ü in the preterite first person conjugation (yo)

Yo averigüé Yo averigüé el horario de clase en la universidad. I found out the class schedule at the university.
Tú averiguaste Tú averiguaste la fecha del examen en Internet. You found out the exam date on the internet.
Usted/él/ella averiguó Ella averiguó la receta del pastel de su madre. She found out her mother's cake recipe.
Nosotros averiguamos Nosotros averiguamos cómo llegar a la fiesta. We figured out how to get to the party.
Vosotros averiguasteis Vosotros averiguasteis dónde comer bien en esa ciudad. You found out where to eat well in that city.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas averiguaron Ellos averiguaron la historia del criminal. They discovered the criminal's story.

Imperfect Indicative

The imperfect tense is used to talk about ongoing or repeated past actions. It can be translated to English as "was finding out" or "used to find out."

Yo averiguaba Yo averiguaba el horario de clase en la universidad. I used to find out the class schedule at the university.
Tú averiguabas Tú averiguabas la fecha del examen en Internet. You used to find out the exam date on the internet.
Usted/él/ella averiguaba Ella averiguaba la receta del pastel de su madre. She was finding out her mother's cake recipe.
Nosotros averiguábamos Nosotros averiguábamos cómo llegar a la fiesta. We used to figure out how to get to the party.
Vosotros averiguabais Vosotros averiguabais dónde comer bien en esa ciudad. You used to find out where to eat well in that city.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas averiguaban Ellos averiguaban la historia del criminal. They were discovering the criminal's story.

Future Indicative

Yo averiguaré Yo averiguaré el horario de clase en la universidad. I will find out the class schedule at the university.
Tú averiguarás Tú averiguarás la fecha del examen en Internet. You will find out the exam date on the internet.
Usted/él/ella averiguará Ella averiguará la receta del pastel de su madre. She will find out her mother's cake recipe.
Nosotros averiguaremos Nosotros averiguaremos cómo llegar a la fiesta. We will figure out how to get to the party.
Vosotros averiguaréis Vosotros averiguaréis dónde comer bien en esa ciudad. You will find out where to eat well in that city.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas averiguarán Ellos averiguarán la historia del criminal. They will discover the criminal's story.

Periphrastic Future Indicative 

The periphrastic future can be translated to English as "going to find out."

Yo voy a averiguar Yo voy a averiguar el horario de clase en la universidad. I am going to find out the class schedule at the university.
Tú vas a averiguar Tú vas a averiguar la fecha del examen en Internet. You are going to find out the exam date on the internet.
Usted/él/ella va a averiguar Ella va a averiguar la receta del pastel de su madre. She is going to find out her mother's cake recipe.
Nosotros vamos a averiguar Nosotros vamos a averiguar cómo llegar a la fiesta. We are going to figure out how to get to the party.
Vosotros vais a averiguar Vosotros vais a averiguar dónde comer bien en esa ciudad. You are going to find out where to eat well in that city.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas van a averiguar Ellos van a averiguar la historia del criminal. They are going to discover the criminal's story.

Present Progressive/Gerund Form

The gerund or present participle in Spanish for -ar verbs ends in -ando. It can be used to form progressive tenses like the present progressive.

Present Progressive of Averiguando está averiguando Ella está averiguando la receta del pastel de su madre. She is finding out her mother's cake recipe.

Past Participle

The past participle in Spanish for -ar verbs ends in -ado. It can be used to form perfect tenses like the present perfect.

Present Perfect of Averiguar ha averiguado Ella ha averiguado la receta del pastel de su madre. She has found out her mother's cake recipe.

Conditional Indicative

To talk about things you "would do" in Spanish, you need the conditional tense.

Yo averiguaría Yo averiguaría el horario de clase en la universidad si tuviera tiempo. I would find out the class schedule at the university if I had time.
Tú averiguarías Tú averiguarías la fecha del examen en Internet si fuera posible. You would find out the exam date on the internet if it were possible.
Usted/él/ella averiguaría Ella averiguaría la receta del pastel de su madre si le interesara. She would find out her mother's cake recipe if she were interested.
Nosotros averiguaríamos Nosotros averiguaríamos cómo llegar a la fiesta, pero no vamos a ir. We would figure out how to get to the party, but we are not going.
Vosotros averiguaríais Vosotros averiguaríais dónde comer bien en esa ciudad si fueras a visitarla. You would find out where to eat well in that city if you were to visit it.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas averiguarían Ellos averiguarían la historia del criminal si fueran buenos detectives. They would discover the criminal's story if they were good detectives.

Present Subjunctive

Notice that you need to include the ü in all of the present subjunctive conjugations.

Que yo averigüe Esteban sugiere que yo averigüe el horario de clase en la universidad. Esteban suggests that I find out the class schedule at the university.
Que tú averigües Tu compañero de clase pide que tú averigües la fecha del examen en Internet. Your classmate asks that you find out the exam date on the internet.
Que usted/él/ella averigüe El niño quiere que ella averigüe la receta del pastel de su madre. The boy wants her to find out her mother's cake recipe.
Que nosotros averigüemos Carina desea que nosotros averigüemos cómo llegar a la fiesta. Carina wishes for us to figure out how to get to the party.
Que vosotros averigüéis El estudiante recomienda que vosotros averigüéis dónde comer bien en esa ciudad. The student recommends that you find out where to eat well in that city.
Que ustedes/ellos/ellas averigüen El juez sugiere que ellos averigüen la historia del criminal. The judge suggests that they discover the criminal's history.

Imperfect Subjunctive

The imperfect subjunctive can be conjugated in two different ways. Below you will find both options.

Option 1

Que yo averiguara Esteban sugirió que yo averiguara el horario de clase en la universidad. Esteban suggested that I find out the class schedule at the university.
Que tú averiguaras Tu compañero de clase pidió que tú averiguaras la fecha del examen en Internet. Your classmate asked that you find out the exam date on the internet.
Que usted/él/ella averiguara El niño quería que ella averiguara la receta del pastel de su madre. The boy wanted her to find out her mother's cake recipe.
Que nosotros averiguáramos Carina deseaba que nosotros averiguáramos cómo llegar a la fiesta. Carina wished for us to figure out how to get to the party.
Que vosotros averiguarais El estudiante recomendó que vosotros averiguarais dónde comer bien en esa ciudad. The student recommended that you find out where to eat well in that city.
Que ustedes/ellos/ellas averiguaran El juez sugirió que ellos averiguaran la historia del criminal. The judge suggested that they discover the criminal's history.

Option 2

Que yo averiguase Esteban sugirió que yo averiguase el horario de clase en la universidad. Esteban suggested that I find out the class schedule at the university.
Que tú averiguases Tu compañero de clase pidió que tú averiguases la fecha del examen en Internet. Your classmate asked that you find out the exam date on the internet.
Que usted/él/ella averiguase El niño quería que ella averiguase la receta del pastel de su madre. The boy wanted her to find out her mother's cake recipe.
Que nosotros averiguásemos Carina deseaba que nosotros averiguásemos cómo llegar a la fiesta. Carina wished for us to figure out how to get to the party.
Que vosotros averiguaseis El estudiante recomendó que vosotros averiguaseis dónde comer bien en esa ciudad. The student recommended that you find out where to eat well in that city.
Que ustedes/ellos/ellas averiguasen El juez sugirió que ellos averiguasen la historia del criminal. The judge suggested that they discover the criminal's history.

Imperative

The imperative mood is for giving orders or commands. There are both positive and negative forms. Notice that you need to use the ü in some of the imperative forms.

Positive Commands

Tú averigua ¡Averigua la fecha del examen en Internet! Find out the exam date on the internet!
Usted averigüe ¡Averigüe la receta del pastel de su madre! Find out your mother's cake recipe!
Nosotros averigüemos ¡Averigüemos cómo llegar a la fiesta! Let's figure out how to get to the party!
Vosotros averiguad ¡Averiguad dónde comer bien en esa ciudad! Find out where to eat well in that city!
Ustedes averigüen ¡Averigüen la historia del criminal! Discover the criminal's story!

Negative Commands

Tú no averigües ¡No averigües la fecha del examen en Internet! Don't find out the exam date on the internet!
Usted no averigüe ¡No averigüe la receta del pastel de su madre! Don't find out your mother's cake recipe!
Nosotros no averigüemos ¡No averigüemos cómo llegar a la fiesta! Let's not figure out how to get to the party!
Vosotros no averigüéis ¡No averigüéis dónde comer bien en esa ciudad! Don't find out where to eat well in that city!
Ustedes no averigüen ¡No averigüen la historia del criminal! Don't discover the criminal's story!
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Meiners, Jocelly. "Spanish Verb Averiguar Conjugation." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/averiguar-conjugation-in-spanish-4776602. Meiners, Jocelly. (2023, April 5). Spanish Verb Averiguar Conjugation. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/averiguar-conjugation-in-spanish-4776602 Meiners, Jocelly. "Spanish Verb Averiguar Conjugation." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/averiguar-conjugation-in-spanish-4776602 (accessed June 7, 2023).