Spanish Verb Ayudar Conjugation

The Spanish verb ayudar means to help. It is a regular -ar verb like buscar or llamar. To conjugate ayudar, simply drop the -ar and add the endings for each corresponding verb tense. Below you will find tables with the conjugations for ayudar in 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 verb is used to talk about helping someone, and in that case the preposition is called "personal a" (called a personal in Spanish). The personal a is used before a direct object when the direct object is a person. For example, you can say Yo ayudo a Carlos (I help Carlos) or Carlos ayudó a mi hermano (Carlos helped my brother). Since the verb ayudar is a transitive verb that 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 the indirect object pronouns (le, les) with this verb. For example, you might hear both Yo lo ayudo or Yo le ayudo (I help him/you), or you might hear both Ana quiere ayudarla or Ana quiere ayudarle (Ana wants to help her/you).

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

Ayudar Present Indicative

Ayudar Preterite Indicative

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. 

Ayudar Imperfect Indicative

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".

Ayudar Future Indicative

Ayudar Periphrastic Future Indicative

Ayudar Conditional Indicative

Ayudar Present Progressive/Gerund Form

The present participle or gerund of regular -ar verbs is formed by dropping the -ar and 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 of ayudar is formed by dropping the -ar and 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.

Ayudar Imperfect Subjunctive

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

Option 2

Ayudar Imperative 

The imperative mood is used to give direct orders. There are different conjugations of the imperative for tú, usted, nosotros, vosotros and ustedes. Note that the positive and negative commands for tú and vosotros are different. 

Positive Commands

Negative Commands