Spanish Verb Cepillarse Conjugation

The Spanish verb cepillar means to brush. It is a regular -ar verb like caminar and desayunar. However, this verb can also be used in its reflexive form cepillarse, which implies that the action returns to the subject of the verb. You will often hear the verb used reflexively, thus the tables below show the conjugations for the reflexive form cepillarse, including the reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nos, os, se).

The conjugation tables include the present, past and future indicative, the present and past subjunctive, the imperative, and other verb forms.

How to Use the Verbs Cepillar and Cepillarse

When cepillar is used non-reflexively, it is simply a transitive verb that means to brush something. For example, El hombre cepilla sus zapatos para limpiarlos (The man brushes his shoes to clean them). Also, it can be used to talk about brushing someone else's hair or teeth. In that case, you need to use the indirect object pronouns, which indicate who receives the action. For example, La mamá le cepilla los dientes a su hijo (The mom brushes her son's teeth). 

When used reflexively, cepillarse is most often used to talk about brushing one's hair or teeth. For example, Ella se cepilla el pelo antes de acostarse (She brushes her hair before going to bed) or El niño se cepilla los dientes por la mañana (The boy brushes his teeth in the morning).

However, there are two other verbs that are also used for the same contexts. Peinarse is used to talk about combing one's hair, and lavarse is commonly used to talk about washing one's teeth. 

Cepillarse Present Indicative

Cepillarse Preterite Indicative

Cepillarse Imperfect Indicative

The imperfect tense can be translated as "used to brush" or "was brushing." It is used to talk about ongoing or habitual actions in the past. 

Cepillarse Future Indicative

Cepillarse Periphrastic Future Indicative

The periphrastic future is formed with the verb ir (to go) conjugated in the present indicative tense, plus the preposition a, and the infinitive of the verb. With reflexive verbs remember to put the reflexive pronoun before the conjugated verb ir.

Cepillarse Conditional Indicative

The conditional tense is used for talking about possibilities or probabilities. In English it is translated as "would brush." 

Cepillarse Present Progressive/Gerund Form

The present participe or gerund for -ar verbs is formed by adding the ending -ando. You can use the present participle to form progressive verb forms like the present progressive. 

Cepillarse Past Participle

The past participle for -ar verbs is formed by adding the ending -ado. You can use the past participle to form compound tenses like the present perfect. 

Cepillarse Present Subjunctive

The subjunctive mood is used in subordinate clauses for situations that describe doubts, desires, emotions, or situations that are pending or subjective.

Cepillarse Imperfect Subjunctive

The imperfect subjunctive can be conjugated in two different ways. Below you can find the two conjugations, which are both considered correct.

Option 1

Option 2

Cepillarse Imperative 

In order to give orders or commands, you need the imperative mood.

You can use positive or negative commands, which differ in the tú and vosotros conjugations. Notice that the placement of the reflexive pronoun is also different in the positive and negative commands. 

Positive Commands

Negative Commands