Spanish Verb Mirar Conjugation, Usage, and Examples

The verb mirar in Spanish means "to look" or "to watch." Mirar is an easy verb to conjugate, since it is a regular -ar verb. Other similarly conjugated verbs are hablar, necesitar, and arreglar.

A similar verb in Spanish is the common verb ver, which is usually translated as "to see" but also as "to watch." That means that mirar and ver are sometimes used in the same contexts.

In this article you will find the conjugations of mirar in the most commonly used verb tenses: present, past, conditional, and future indicative, the present and past subjunctive, and the imperative. You will also find some other frequently used verb forms like the gerund and past participle.

Present Indicative

Yo	miro	Yo miro al niño bailar.	I watch the boy dance.
Tú	miras	Tú miras las pinturas en el museo.	You look at the paintings in the museum.
Usted/él/ella	mira	Ella mira el reloj para saber la hora.	She looks at the clock to tell the time.
Nosotros	miramos	Nosotros miramos las noticias en la televisión.	We watch the news on the television.
Vosotros	miráis	Vosotros miráis una película en el cine.	You watch a movie at the movie theater.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas	miran	Ellas miran los carros pasar por la ventana.	They watch the cars go by out the window.

Preterite Indicative

Notice that in the preterite and present tense, the conjugation of the first person plural (nosotros) is exactly the same, miramos. Therefore, you need to rely on context to determine whether you are using present or preterite.

Yo	miré	Yo miré al niño bailar.	I watched the boy dance.
Tú	miraste	Tú miraste las pinturas en el museo.	You looked at the paintings in the museum.
Usted/él/ella	miró	Ella miró el reloj para saber la hora.	She looked at the clock to tell the time.
Nosotros	miramos	Nosotros miramos las noticias en la televisión.	We watched the news on the television.
Vosotros	mirasteis	Vosotros mirasteis una película en el cine.	You watched a movie at the movie theater.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas	miraron	Ellas miraron los carros pasar por la ventana.	They watched the cars go by out the window.

Imperfect Indicative

The imperfect tense can be translated to English as "was watching" or "used to watch."

Yo	miraba	Yo miraba al niño bailar.	I used to watch the boy dance.
Tú	mirabas	Tú mirabas las pinturas en el museo.	You used to look at the paintings in the museum.
Usted/él/ella	miraba	Ella miraba el reloj para saber la hora.	She used to look at the clock to tell the time.
Nosotros	mirábamos	Nosotros mirábamos las noticias en la televisión.	We used to watch the news on the television.
Vosotros	mirabais	Vosotros mirabais una película en el cine.	You used to watch a movie at the movie theater.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas	miraban	Ellas miraban los carros pasar por la ventana.	They used to watch the cars go by out the window.

Future Indicative

In the future indicative tense, notice that all of the conjugations have an accent mark except the first person plural (nosotros).

Yo	miraré	Yo miraré al niño bailar.	I will watch the boy dance.
Tú	mirarás	Tú mirarás las pinturas en el museo.	You will look at the paintings in the museum.
Usted/él/ella	mirará	Ella mirará el reloj para saber la hora.	She will look at the clock to tell the time.
Nosotros	miraremos	Nosotros miraremos las noticias en la televisión.	We will watch the news on the television.
Vosotros	miraréis	Vosotros miraréis una película en el cine.	You will watch a movie at the movie theater.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas	mirarán	Ellas mirarán los carros pasar por la ventana.	They will watch the cars go by out the window.

Periphrastic Future Indicative

The periphrastic future is usually translated to English as "going to watch."

Yo	voy a mirar	Yo voy a mirar al niño bailar.	I am going to watch the boy dance.
Tú	vas a mirar	Tú vas a mirar las pinturas en el museo.	You are going to look at the paintings in the museum.
Usted/él/ella	va a mirar	Ella va a mirar el reloj para saber la hora.	She is going to look at the clock to tell the time.
Nosotros	vamos a mirar	Nosotros vamos a mirar las noticias en la televisión.	We are going to watch the news on the television.
Vosotros	vais a mirar	Vosotros vais a mirar una película en el cine.	You are going to watch a movie at the movie theater.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas	van a mirar	Ellas van a mirar los carros pasar por la ventana.	They are going to watch the cars go by out the window.

Present Progressive/Gerund Form

The present progressive can be used to talk about ongoing actions in the present. To form this verb tense you need the verb estar plus the present participle, also called the gerund.

Present Progressive of Mirar

está mirando

Ella está mirando el reloj para saber la hora.

She is looking at the clock to tell the time.

Past Participle

There are several perfect tenses, such as the present perfect. To form all of the perfect tenses you need the verb haber plus the past participle.

Present Perfect of Mirar

ha mirado

Ella ha mirado el reloj para saber la hora.

She has watched the clock to tell the time.

Conditional Indicative

Yo	miraría	Yo miraría al niño bailar, pero estoy ocupada.	I would watch the boy dance, but I am busy.
Tú	mirarías	Tú mirarías las pinturas en el museo si te gustaran.	You would look at the paintings in the museum if you liked them.
Usted/él/ella	miraría	Ella miraría el reloj para saber la hora, pero no le interesa.	She would look at the clock to tell the time, but she doesn't care.
Nosotros	miraríamos	Nosotros miraríamos las noticias en la televisión si tuviéramos tiempo.	We would watch the news on the television if we had time.
Vosotros	miraríais	Vosotros miraríais una película en el cine si pudierais.	You would watch a movie at the movie theater if you could.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas	mirarían	Ellas mirarían los carros pasar por la ventana si estuvieran aburridas.	They would watch the cars go by out the window if they were bored.

Present Subjunctive

Que yo	mire	La maestra sugiere que yo mire al niño bailar.	The teacher suggests that I watch the boy dance.
Que tú	mires	La curadora espera que tú mires las pinturas en el museo.	The curator hopes that you look at the paintings in the museum.
Que usted/él/ella	mire	La secretaria recomienda que ella mire el reloj para saber la hora.	The secretary recommends that she look at the clock to tell the time.
Que nosotros	miremos	El profesor espera que nosotros miremos las noticias en la televisión.	The professor hopes that we watch the news on the television.
Que vosotros	miréis	Marta recomienda que vosotros miréis una película en el cine.	Marta recommends that you watch a movie at the movie theater.
Que ustedes/ellos/ellas	miren	Eric sugiere que ellas miren los carros pasar por la ventana.	Eric suggests that they watch the cars go by out the window.

Imperfect Subjunctive

There are two options for conjugating the imperfect subjunctive:

Option 1

Que yo	mirara	La maestra sugería que yo mirara al niño bailar.	The teacher suggested that I watch the boy dance.
Que tú	miraras	La curadora esperaba que tú miraras las pinturas en el museo.	The curator hoped that you would look at the paintings in the museum.
Que usted/él/ella	mirara	La secretaria recomendaba que ella mirara el reloj para saber la hora.	The secretary recommended that she look at the clock to tell the time.
Que nosotros	miráramos	El profesor esperaba que nosotros miráramos las noticias en la televisión.	The professor hoped that we would watch the news on the television.
Que vosotros	mirarais	Marta recomendaba que vosotros mirarais una película en el cine.	Marta recommended that you watch a movie at the movie theater.
Que ustedes/ellos/ellas	miraran	Eric sugirió que ellas miraran los carros pasar por la ventana.	Eric suggested that they watch the cars go by out the window.

Option 2

Que yo	mirase	La maestra sugería que yo mirase al niño bailar.	The teacher suggested that I watch the boy dance.
Que tú	mirases	La curadora esperaba que tú mirases las pinturas en el museo.	The curator hoped that you would look at the paintings in the museum.
Que usted/él/ella	mirase	La secretaria recomendaba que ella mirase el reloj para saber la hora.	The secretary recommended that she look at the clock to tell the time.
Que nosotros	mirásemos	El profesor esperaba que nosotros mirásemos las noticias en la televisión.	The professor hoped that we would watch the news on the television.
Que vosotros	miraseis	Marta recomendaba que vosotros miraseis una película en el cine.	Marta recommended that you watch a movie at the movie theater.
Que ustedes/ellos/ellas	mirasen	Eric sugirió que ellas mirasen los carros pasar por la ventana.	Eric suggested that they watch the cars go by out the window.

Imperative

The imperative mood consists of positive and negative commands.

Positive Commands

Tú	mira	¡Mira las pinturas en el museo!	Look at the paintings in the museum!
Usted	mire	¡Mire el reloj para saber la hora!	Watch the clock to tell the time!
Nosotros	miremos	¡Miremos las noticias en la televisión!	Let's watch the news on the television!
Vosotros	mirad	¡Mirad una película en el cine!	Watch a movie at the movie theater!
Ustedes	miren	¡Miren los carros pasar por la ventana!	Look at the cars drive by out the window!

Negative Commands

Tú	no mires	¡No mires las pinturas en el museo!	Don't look at the paintings in the museum!
Usted	no mire	¡No mire el reloj para saber la hora!	Don't watch the clock to tell the time!
Nosotros	no miremos	¡No miremos las noticias en la televisión!	Let's not watch the news on the television!
Vosotros	no miréis	¡No miréis una película en el cine!	Don't watch a movie at the movie theater!
Ustedes	no miren	¡No miren los carros pasar por la ventana!	Don't look at the cars drive by out the window!

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Meiners, Jocelly. "Spanish Verb Mirar Conjugation, Usage, and Examples." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/mirar-conjugation-in-spanish-translation-and-examples-4797511. Meiners, Jocelly. (2023, April 5). Spanish Verb Mirar Conjugation, Usage, and Examples. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/mirar-conjugation-in-spanish-translation-and-examples-4797511 Meiners, Jocelly. "Spanish Verb Mirar Conjugation, Usage, and Examples." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/mirar-conjugation-in-spanish-translation-and-examples-4797511 (accessed May 29, 2023).