Decidir Conjugation in Spanish, Translation, and Examples

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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 27, 2019

The Spanish verb decidir is a cognate of the English verb "to decide." It is an easy verb to learn because it can be used in the same contexts that you would use "to decide" in English. Also, decidir is a regular verb. When conjugating it you simply have to follow the pattern for other regular -ir verbs, such as recibir, escribir and vivir.

In this article you'll find the conjugations of decidir in the indicative mood (present, past, and future), the subjunctive mood (present and past), the imperative mood, and other verb forms like the gerund and past participle.

Using the Verb Decidir

When using the verb decidir, you will often talk about deciding to do something. Therefore, it should be followed by another verb. In English we would say "decide to do something." In Spanish, we say decidir hacer algo, so it is followed by the infinitive form of the verb. For example, Ana decidió ir a la fiesta (Ana decided to go to the party).

Decidir can also be followed by a noun, as in Tengo que decidir el tema de la fiesta (I have to decide the theme of the party), or it can be followed by an interrogative adverb, as in Ella debe decidir cómo hacer el trabajo (She must decide how to do the job), or Nosotros decidimos cuál camino tomar (We decide which way to go).

The verb decidir is sometimes used reflexively, decidirse. In that case, it has the meaning of "making up your mind." For example, Ana se decidió ir a la fiesta (Ana made up her mind to go to the party).

Present Indicative

Yo decido Yo decido hacer la tarea sola. I decide to do my homework alone.
Tú decides Tú decides trabajar tarde. You decide to work late.
Usted/él/ella decide Ella decide a quién invitar a la fiesta. She decides whom to invite to the party.
Nosotros decidimos Nosotros decidimos con quién estudiar. We decide with whom to study.
Vosotros decidís Vosotros decidís el color de la casa. You decide the color of the house.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas deciden Ellos deciden aprender a bailar. They decide to learn how to dance.

Preterite Indicative

Of the two forms of the past tense in Spanish, the preterite describes past events that are completed.

Yo decidí Yo decidí hacer la tarea sola. I decided to do my homework alone.
Tú decidiste Tú decidiste trabajar tarde. You decided to work late.
Usted/él/ella decidió Ella decidió a quién invitar a la fiesta. She decided whom to invite to the party.
Nosotros decidimos Nosotros decidimos con quién estudiar. We decided with whom to study.
Vosotros decidisteis Vosotros decidisteis el color de la casa. You decided the color of the house.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas decidieron Ellos decidieron aprender a bailar. They decided to learn how to dance.

Imperfect Indicative

The other past tense in Spanish is called the imperfect, which is the one used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past. You can translate it to English as "was deciding" or "used to decide."

Yo decidía Yo decidía hacer la tarea sola. I used to decide to do my homework alone.
Tú decidías Tú decidías trabajar tarde. You used to decide to work late.
Usted/él/ella decidía Ella decidía a quién invitar a la fiesta. She used to decide whom to invite to the party.
Nosotros decidíamos Nosotros decidíamos con quién estudiar. We used to decide with whom to study.
Vosotros decidíais Vosotros decidíais el color de la casa. You used to decide the color of the house.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas decidían Ellos decidían aprender a bailar. They used to decide to learn how to dance.

Future Indicative

Yo decidiré Yo decidiré hacer la tarea sola. I will decide to do my homework alone.
Tú decidirás Tú decidirás trabajar tarde. You will decide to work late.
Usted/él/ella decidirá Ella decidirá a quién invitar a la fiesta. She will decide whom to invite to the party.
Nosotros decidiremos Nosotros decidiremos con quién estudiar. We will decide with whom to study.
Vosotros decidiréis Vosotros decidiréis el color de la casa. You will decide the color of the house.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas decidirán Ellos decidirán aprender a bailar. They will decide to learn how to dance.

Periphrastic Future Indicative 

The periphrastic future is used similarly to the English "going to + verb."

Yo voy a decidir Yo voy a decidir hacer la tarea sola. I am going to decide to do my homework alone.
Tú vas a decidir Tú vas a decidir trabajar tarde. You are going to decide to work late.
Usted/él/ella va a decidir Ella va a decidir a quién invitar a la fiesta. She is going to decide whom to invite to the party.
Nosotros vamos a decidir Nosotros vamos a decidir con quién estudiar. We are going to decide with whom to study.
Vosotros vais a decidir Vosotros vais a decidir el color de la casa. You are going to decide the color of the house.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas van a decidir Ellos van a decidir aprender a bailar. They are going to decide to learn how to dance.

Present Progressive/Gerund Form

The gerund or present participle in Spanish, is the English -ing form, which can be used to form the present progressive and other progressive tenses. Be careful though, because in English you can use the present progressive to talk about future actions, as in Tomorrow she is deciding whom to invite, while in Spanish the present progressive can only refer to actions that are occurring in the present.

Present Progressive of Decidir está decidiendo Ella está decidiendo a quién invitar a la fiesta.  She is deciding whom to invite to the party.

Past Participle

The verb form called the past participle in Spanish has the ending -ado or -ido. The past participle is often used to form perfect tenses like the present perfect.

Present Perfect of Decidir ha decidido Ella ha decidido a quién invitar a la fiesta. She has decided whom to invite to the party.

Conditional Indicative

The conditional tense is used to talk about possibilities. It is the equivalent of the English form "would + verb."

Yo decidiría Yo decidiría hacer la tarea sola si fuera fácil. I would decide to do my homework alone if it were easy.
Tú decidirías Tú decidirías trabajar tarde si no estuvieras cansado. You would decide to work late if you were not tired.
Usted/él/ella decidiría Ella decidiría a quién invitar a la fiesta, pero no la dejan. She would decide whom to invite to the party, but they won't let her.
Nosotros decidiríamos Nosotros decidiríamos con quién estudiar, pero no podemos hacerlo. We would decide with whom to study, but we can't do it.
Vosotros decidiríais Vosotros decidiríais el color de la casa si la pintarais de nuevo. You would decide the color of the house if you painted it again.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas decidirían Ellos decidirían aprender a bailar si tuvieran tiempo. They would decide to learn how to dance if they had time.

Present Subjunctive

Que yo decida Mi madre sugiere que yo decida estudiar sola. My mother suggests that I decide to study alone.
Que tú decidas El jefe espera que tú decidas trabajar tarde. The boss hopes that you decide to work late.
Que usted/él/ella decida Pedro quiere que ella decida a quién invitar a la fiesta. Peter wants her to decide whom to invite to the party.
Que nosotros decidamos Carlos recomienda que nosotros decidamos con quién estudiar. Carlos recommends that we decide whom to study with.
Que vosotros decidáis El pintor sugiere que vosotros decidáis el color de la casa. The painter suggests that you decide the color of the house.
Que ustedes/ellos/ellas decidan El instructor quiere que ellos decidan aprender a bailar. The instructor wants them to decide to learn how to dance.

Imperfect Subjunctive

There are two ways of conjugating the imperfect subjunctive:

Option 1

Que yo decidiera Mi madre sugirió que yo decidiera estudiar sola. My mother suggested that I decide to study alone.
Que tú decidieras El jefe esperaba que tú decidieras trabajar tarde. The boss hoped that you would decide to work late.
Que usted/él/ella decidiera Pedro quería que ella decidiera a quién invitar a la fiesta. Peter wanted her to decide whom to invite to the party.
Que nosotros decidiéramos Carlos recomendaba que nosotros decidiéramos con quién estudiar. Carlos recommended that we decide whom to study with.
Que vosotros decidierais El pintor sugirió que vosotros decidierais el color de la casa. The painter suggested that you decide the color of the house.
Que ustedes/ellos/ellas decidieran El instructor quería que ellos decidieran aprender a bailar. The instructor wanted them to decide to learn how to dance.

Option 2

Que yo decidiese Mi madre sugirió que yo decidiese estudiar sola. My mother suggested that I decide to study alone.
Que tú decidieses El jefe esperaba que tú decidieses trabajar tarde. The boss hoped that you would decide to work late.
Que usted/él/ella decidiese Pedro quería que ella decidiese a quién invitar a la fiesta. Peter wanted her to decide whom to invite to the party.
Que nosotros decidiésemos Carlos recomendaba que nosotros decidiésemos con quién estudiar. Carlos recommended that we decide whom to study with.
Que vosotros decidieseis El pintor sugirió que vosotros decidieseis el color de la casa. The painter suggested that you decide the color of the house.
Que ustedes/ellos/ellas decidiesen El instructor quería que ellos decidiesen aprender a bailar. The instructor wanted them to decide to learn how to dance.

Imperative

To give someone an order or command, you need the imperative mood.

Positive Commands

Tú decide ¡Decide trabajar tarde! Decide to work late!
Usted decida ¡Decida a quién invitar a la fiesta! Decide whom to invite to the party!
Nosotros decidamos ¡Decidamos con quién estudiar! Let's decide whom to study with!
Vosotros decidid  ¡Decidid el color de la casa! Decide the color of the house!
Ustedes decidan ¡Decidan aprender a bailar! Decide to learn how to dance!

Negative Commands

Tú no decidas ¡No decidas trabajar tarde! Don't decide to work late!
Usted no decida ¡No decida a quién invitar a la fiesta! Don't decide whom to invite to the party!
Nosotros no decidamos ¡No decidamos con quién estudiar! Let's not decide whom to study with!
Vosotros no decidáis ¡No decidáis el color de la casa! Don't decide the color of the house!
Ustedes no decidan ¡No decidan aprender a bailar! Don't decide to learn how to dance!
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Meiners, Jocelly. "Decidir Conjugation in Spanish, Translation, and Examples." ThoughtCo, Aug. 28, 2020, thoughtco.com/decidir-conjugation-in-spanish-4776881. Meiners, Jocelly. (2020, August 28). Decidir Conjugation in Spanish, Translation, and Examples. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/decidir-conjugation-in-spanish-4776881 Meiners, Jocelly. "Decidir Conjugation in Spanish, Translation, and Examples." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/decidir-conjugation-in-spanish-4776881 (accessed March 27, 2023).

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