Spanish Verb – Perder Conjugation

I Don’t Lose my Hopes

Every day when learning a language as a native speaker, and without even thinking about it, verbs are used. Children have a special and sometimes funny way of conjugating them. However, they are corrected by their parents so that they learn the correct use in such a way that it flows in their language. One of the most used is the verb Perder. We hear it from our parents in phrases such as: “¿Perdiste el juguete?” (Did you lose the toy?), “¿Se te volvió a perder el lápiz?” (Did you lose your pencil again?), “¡Ya perdí la paciencia!” (I’ve lost my patience!) or, as today’s title says; “No pierdo mis esperanzas” (I don´t lose my hopes). 

Perder (to lose or to miss) is an irregular and pronominal verb, that is to say that it can be conjugated in a reflexive way, but there is no need to be alarmed, later on, you will have examples that will make it easier to understand. This verb has different uses, such as:

• Stop having: perdí peso (I lost weight).
• Not finding something you had: se perdieron las llaves (keys were lost).
• Waste: no pierdas tiempo (don’t waste time).
• Failure to obtain what is disputed in a competition: perdiste el primer lugar (you lost the first place).
• Missing an opportunity: perdí el tren (I missed the train).
• Not finding the way or the course: Estoy perdido (I am lost).

Verbals of Perder

As I mentioned, the verb perder has different uses, and some of them are not as a verb. The infinitive, gerund and participle are verbals, words that take the form of adjectives, adverbs or nouns. They need another verb to help them in order to use them. The following chart will give you a clearer idea.

	Verbal	Common use	Example	English
Infinitive	perder (to lose / losing)	Non conjugated / Noun	Se dedicó a perder su dinero.	He dedicated himself to losing his money.
Gerund	perdiendo (losing)	Adverb/verbal periphrasis	Me estoy perdiendo el partido	I'm losing the game
Participle	perdido (lost)	Adjective	Los viajeros se habían perdido en el camino.	The travelers were lost on the way.

Conjugate Perder

To conjugate this verb is extremely simple, put it into practice and no pierdas las esperanzas (don’t lose your hopes) of learning it so that you have a command when speaking and writing. It is more a matter of memory than of wisdom. You just have to have the skill to place the verb in the context of the conversation.

Perder Conjugation: Indicative Mood

This first mood is used to talk about reality, concrete events, to inform, to indicate when something is happening in a certain period of time (present, past, future). They are Simple Tenses of the Indicative Mood

Subject	Present	Preterite	Imperfect	Conditional	Future
	(lose)	(lost)	(lost)	(would lose)	(will lose)
yo	pierdo	perdí	perdía	perdería	perderé
tú	pierdes	perdiste	perdías	perderías	perderás
él/ella/ usted	pierde	perdió	perdía	perdería	perderá
nosotros	perdemos	perdimos	perdíamos	perderíamos	perderemos
ellos/ella/ ustedes	pierden	perdieron	perdían	perderían	perderán

Examples:

• Jhon perdía su dinero en apuestas. – Jhon lost his money on gambling.
• Ellos perderán el juego. – They will lose the game.

Compound Tenses of the Indicative Mood

Subject	Preterite Perfect	Past Perfect (Pluperfect)	Conditional Perfect	Future Perfect
	(had started)	(had started)	(would have started)	(will have started)
yo	he perdido	había perdido	habría perdido	habré perdido
tú	has perdido	habías perdido	habrías perdido	habrás perdido
él/ella/usted	ha perdido	había perdido	habría perdido	habrá perdido
nosotros	hemos perdido	habíamos perdido	habríamos perdido	habremos perdido
ellos/ellas/ustedes	han perdido	habían perdido	habrían perdido	habrán perdido

Perder Conjugation: Subjunctive Mood

The subjunctive mood is a world of suppositions, hypotheses, doubts and imaginations, which can merge with longings, aspirations and desires. Conjugating is definitely playing with words!

Simple Tenses of the Subjunctive Mood

Subject	Present	Imperfect	Imperfect 2	Future
yo	pierda	perdiera	perdiese	perdiere
tú	pierdas	perdieras	perdieses	perdieres
él/ella/usted	pierda	perdiera	perdiese	perdiere
nosotros	perdamos	perdiéramos	perdiésemos	perdiéremos
ellos/ellas/ ustedes	pierdan	perdierais	perdieseis	perdiereis

Examples:

• Que perdieses las maletas te hizo pasar un mal rato. – Losing your bags gave you a hard time.
• Cuando yo pierda el temor, seré victoriosa. – When I lose my fear, I will be victorious.

Compound Tenses of the Subjunctive Mood

Subject	Present Perfect	Past Perfect (Pluperfect)	Past Perfect 2 (Pluperfect 2)	Future Perfect
yo	haya perdido	hubiera perdido	hubiese perdido	hubiere perdido
tú	hayas perdido	hubieras perdido	hubieses perdido	hubieres perdido
él/ella/usted	haya perdido	hubiera perdido	hubiese perdido	hubiere perdido
nosotros	hayamos perdido	hubiéramos perdido	hubiésemos perdido	hubiéremos perdido
ellos/ellas/ustedes	hayan perdido	hubieran perdido	hubiesen perdido	hubieren perdido

Perder Conjugation: Imperative Mood

One way to remember this mood is to think of it as the military mood, since it involves giving orders. Only if it were a monologue could one give orders to oneself, however, grammatically it is not accepted; so in the picture you will not find the subject in the first-person singular (yo).

Imperative Mood’s Conjugations

Subject	Affirmative	Negative
	(lose / let’s lose)	(don’t lose / let’s not lose)
tú	pierde	no pierdas
nosotros	perdamos	no perdamos
ustedes	pierdan	no pierdan
vosotros	perded	no perdáis

Examples:

• Pierde hoy, pierde mañana, pero al final igual serás un campeón. – Lose today, lose tomorrow, but in the end you will still be a champion.
• No pierdan el recibo de pago, lo necesitarán mañana. – Do not lose your payment receipt, you will need it tomorrow.

Perder – Quiz/Worksheet

It is important that you find someone to practice with, as only this will give you mastery and fluency. Below, you will find sentences in which you must fill in the blanks with the correct conjugation of the verb Perder.

1. No conozco muy bien ésta ciudad, estoy ___ – I don’t know this city very well, I’m lost

2. Muchas veces se ___, pero también se gana – Many times you lose but you also win

3. Si no hubiese sido por tu consejo, hubiese ___ el avión. – Had it not been for your advice I would have missed the plane.

4. No ___ la meta que nos fijamos al iniciar el año. – Let’s not lose the goal we set at the beginning of the year.

5. No quisiera que te ___ el estreno de la película. – I wouldn’t want you to miss the premiere of the film.

The Answers

I invite you to have courage and perseverance, if you have some mistakes; it does not mean that you are going to perder your life because of that.

1. perdido

2. pierde

3. perdido

4. perdamos

5. perdieras