Spanish Verb Despedir Conjugation

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Anabella Macario – Spanish Tutor. “Spanish Verb Despedir Conjugation.” Lingua Linkup, 10 Oct. 2022, lingualinkup.com/spanish-verb-despedir.

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Anabella Macario – Spanish Tutor. (2022, October 10). Spanish Verb Despedir Conjugation. Lingua Linkup. https://lingualinkup.com/spanish-verb-despedir/

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Anabella Macario – Spanish Tutor. “Spanish Verb Despedir Conjugation.” Lingua Linkup, October 10, 2022. https://lingualinkup.com/spanish-verb-despedir/.

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Es Mejor Despedirse que ser Despedido

Maybe you once said goodbye, but you did not use the correct pronoun before the verb, then it is possible that the face of the person you’re talking to had an expression of doubt. It is because in a reflexive way you say “see you later” and in a normal form of the verb you say “don’t come back”. In Spanish, sometimes the difference between a verb and the same verb accompanied by a reflexive pronoun can change your idea, and potentially, your day.

The verb to say goodbye / to be fired is this type of versatile verb that can change its meaning as a regular verb or as a reflexive verb. The thing is to use it depending on the idea that you want to convey.

Verb Despedir (to be fired): this is a transitive verb in its natural form, which is why we can use it with direct and indirect objects. It is the most common and normal thing that can happen in a place with an influx of workers, with this verb we usually refer to ending an employment relationship:

• I fired Helena, I fired her for being late. (Despedí a Helena, la despedí por llegar tarde.)
• The company fired Luis, they fired him for not doing his job. (La empresa despidió a Luis, lo despidieron por no hacer su trabajo.)

As we see, the structure with Indirect Objects needs a preposition “a” to refer to whom receives the action; the preposition “por” explains the reason for that decision.

Subject + verb to fire + a + person who ends their employment relationship.

This would be the kindest and respectful description in general terms, some people compare this verb to “echar”; however, this term has a rude or unexpected connotation for some reason.

Verb Despedirse (to say goodbye): when our concept is different, and we only refer to saying goodbye, the form changes, and we must use the verb pronominally with reflexive pronouns. Then it refers to an action that the subject decides, executes and receives himself.

So, we use the structure:

Personal pronoun (optional) + reflexive pronoun (obligatory) + verb according to the subject.

So:

• I say goodbye to my friends. (Me despido de mis amigos.)
• Ana said goodbye to us. (Ana se despidió de nosotros.)

Reflexives Pronouns

It is necessary to remember the position of the pronouns when using the infinitive or gerund periphrasis. It is possible to use it like:

Pronoun separately + the conjugation of the person referred to + an infinitive/gerund verb or conjugated verb + pronoun added to the end of the verb/gerund.

Infinitive Periphrasis:

• I want to say goodbye to you. (Quiero despedirme de ti.)
• I want to say goodbye to your family. (Quiero despedirme de tu familia.)

Gerund

• You’re saying goodbye to everyone very early. (Te estás despidiendo de todos muy pronto.)
• Why are your friends saying goodbye to you again? (¿Por qué tus amigos se están despidiendo de ti otra vez?)

Each Other: It is important to remember that with the pronouns Nos & Se – we can express that this action is shared between two or more people.

• Ellos se despidieron con un beso. They said goodbye with a kiss.
• Nos despedimos dándonos la mano. We said goodbye to each other shaking hands.

We Make the Conjugation

We must take into account that the root of this verb has an irregular change in the present, preterite, gerund, present subjunctive and imperfect subjunctive in both forms.

Simple Tenses of the Indicative Mood

Examples:

• Su jefe la despidió y ahora no sabe qué hacer. Her boss fired her and now she doesn’t know what to do.
• Me despedí de todos y me fui porque yo estaba cansada. I said goodbye to everyone and left because I was tired.
• Se despidieron con un abrazo y nunca se volvieron a ver. They said goodbye to each other with a hug and never saw each other again.

Compound Tenses of the Indicative Mood

Examples:

• Ellos habrían despedido a su jugador, si hubieran tenido toda la información. They would have fired their player if they had all the information.
• ¿Por qué has despedido a tu mejor empleado? Why have you fired your best employee?
• Me habría gustado despedirme de tu hermana. I would have liked to say goodbye to your sister.

Despedir/Despedirse Conjugation: Subjunctive Mood

Let us remember that the subjunctive mood will always serve to express an idea of person A so that an action is carried out by person B or +. Of course, we also describe wishes, hopes, or desires.

Simple Tenses of the Subjunctive Mood

Examples:

• Cuando ella te despida, no volverás a trabajar. When she fires you, you won’t work again.
• Si nos despidiéramos peleando, sería terrible para nuestra amistad. If we were to say goodbye to each other in a fight, it would be terrible for our friendship.

Compound Tenses of the Subjunctive Mood

Examples:

• Espero que no nos hayan despedido por las ventas tan bajas. I hope we haven’t been fired because of low sales.
• Si me hubiera despedido de mi novio, habría estado más triste. If I had said goodbye to my boyfriend, I would have been sadder.

Imperative Mood

It is important to recognize that the imperative form is usual in Spanish to express normal situations, we give more emphasis to our tone of voice to make it more bossy or ask for it as a favour or a request.

Imperative Mood’s Conjugations

Examples:

• No despidas a Raúl todavía. Don’t fire Raúl yet.
• Despídanse que es hora de ir a casa. Say goodbye, it’s time to go home.

Despedir – Quiz/Worksheet

Practice produces perfection, that is why it is necessary to review the different projections of the verb Despedir/Despedirse, remember what we have reviewed.

1.Tú ¿______ ____________ de beso o abrazo en tu cultura? Do you say goodbye with a kiss or a hug in your culture?

2.Hemos _______________ al arquitecto por no tener los planos a tiempo. We have fired the architect for not having the plans on time.

3.Espero que _____ ____________ despedido de tu mejor amiga. I hope you said goodbye to your best friend.

4.Nos abrazamos y luego ____ __________ con un beso. We hugged each other and then with a kiss we said goodbye to each other.

5._________ a tu secretaria, nunca viene a tiempo y siempre está en otra oficina. Fire your secretary, she never comes on time and is always in another office.

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The answers

1.Te despides

2.Despedido

3.Te hayas

4.Nos despedimos

5.Despide

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