No pain, no gain: Conjugation of the verb Doler
OUCH! (“¡Au!” or “¡Ay!” in Spanish): this is the classic sound to recognize pain, but are you able to recognize the forms in which the verb “doler” is presented? If you can’t, don’t worry, you’ve come to the right place to learn!
In Italian they call it “dolore”, in Spanish “dolor” and in English: “pain” (although it can also be translated as “to hurt,” “to grieve,” and “to ache.”). In any language, it’s a feeling that we wouldn’t want to be a part of everyday life, but it is, and the least we want is to be traveling in a Spanish speaking country, feeling bad and not knowing how to express quickly and correctly that somethinghurts. So, let’s go, let’s get familiar with the conjugations of the verb doler.
Like some pains, the verb doler is irregular.
Not all pains are the same, some come in different ways, shapes and sizes, and so does their conjugation. The verb doler changes according to tenses and persons, therefore, it belongs to the irregular verbs. The best thing to do is to identify each change when using the verb, apply a little memorization, and then use it as much as you can to learn it! And a quick tip, the verb Doler and the verb Mover are conjugated the same way (you’re welcome 😉!).
One thing you may notice throughout today, which we already briefly mentioned to you a moment ago, is that the verb Doler is used in various contexts, but when taken to English this can change depending on the usage, so don’t panic if you see that we suddenly use to pain (or any variant) instead of to hurt!
Not so painful verbals.
Not everything that looks like the word “doler” is a verb that can be conjugated, we call some of those cases: verbals; it is something like a phantom pain, you feel it is there, but in reality, it turns out to be a false alarm.
Verbals will always need another verb that is conjugated in order to be used. Let’s look at some examples so you can tell the difference between a verbal and a verb. If you are the type of person who prefers to talk about things by their name, in Spanish we have three types of verbals:
| Verbal | Common Use | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | Doler (to pain) Non conjugated/Noun | Mi dolor es más grande de lo que podría describir | My pain is greater than I could ever describe |
| Gerund | Doliendo (hurting) gerundio | Me ha estado doliendo mucho la cabeza | My head has been hurting a lot |
| Participle | Dolido (pained/hurted) Adjective | Parecía dolido con la decisión que tomó | He looked hurted by the decision he made |
Doler, a reflexive verb
These words are: me (yo), te (tú), le (él/ella/usted), nos (nosotros), les (ellos/ellas/ustedes).
When you are going to use it you must keep in mind that you will always use the verb in the conjugation that you would use for the third person, regardless of the verb tense and person, and it will look like this:
| Spanish | English | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | Me duele mucho el estómago luego de esos nachos picantes. | My stomach hurts a lot after those spicy nachos. |
| Preterite: | A todos nos dolió que Messi se fuese del Barcelona. | We all hurt when Messi left Barcelona |
– Preterite:
Doler Conjugation: Indicative Mood
The indicative mode is one of the simplest versions in which verbs are presented to us, they are sentences where the action is being said in a precise tense (present, past, future)
Simple Tenses of the Indicative Mood
| Subject | Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Conditional | Future |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | duelo | dolí | dolía | dolería | doleré |
| tú | dueles | doliste | dolías | dolerías | dolerás |
| él/ella/usted | duele | dolió | dolía | dolería | dolerá |
| nosotros | dolemos | dolimos | dolíamos | doleríamos | doleremos |
| ellos/ellasduelen | duelen | dolieron | dolían | dolerían | dolerán |
| Ustedes | duelen | dolieron | dolían | dolerían | dolerán |
Examples:
A ustedes les duelen los pies de tanto caminar – Your feet hurt from so much walking.
Te dolerán las manos con ese ejercicio – Your hands will hurt with that exercise.
Haber Conjugation: Compound Tenses of the Indicative Mood
| Subject | Preterite Perfect | Preterite pluperfect | Conditional perfect | Future perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | he dolido | había dolido | habría dolido | habré dolido |
| tú | has dolido | habías dolido | habrías dolido | habrás dolido |
| él/ella/usted | había dolido | había dolido | habría dolido | habrá dolido |
| nosotros | habíamos dolido | habíamos dolido | habríamos dolido | habremos dolido |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | habían dolido | habían dolido | habrían dolido | habrán dolido |
Doler Conjugation: Subjunctive Mood
The subjunctive mood, unlike the indicative, deals with more abstract things, such as desires and hypotheses. It is less common in Spanish, but as you increase your level, you will find occasions to use it.
Simple Tenses of the Subjunctive Mood
| Subject | Present | Imperfect | Imperfect 2 | Future |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | duela | doliera | doliese | doliere |
| tú | duelas | dolieras | dolieses | dolieres |
| él/ella/usted | duela | doliera | doliese | doliere |
| nosotros | dolamos | doliéramos | doliésemos | doliéremos |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | duelan | dolieran | doliesen | dolieren |
Other examples:
Si le doliese la cabeza, no querría ir a una fiesta – If she had a headache, she wouldn’t want to go to a party.
Que nos doliésemos por Sense8 no la trajo de regreso – That we grieved for Sense8 did not bring it back.
Compound Tenses of the Subjunctive Mood
| Subject | Present perfect | Past Perfect (Pluperfect) | Past Perfect 2 (Pluperfect 2) | Future perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | haya dolido | hubiera dolido | hubiese dolido | hubiere dolido |
| tú | hayas dolido | hubieras dolido | hubieses dolido | hubieres dolido |
| él/ella/usted | haya dolido | hubiera dolido | hubiese dolido | hubiere dolido |
| nosotros | hayamos dolido | hubiéramos dolido | hubiésemos dolido | hubiéremos dolido |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | hayan dolido | hubieran dolido | hubiesen dolido | hubieren dolido |
Doler Conjugation: Imperative Mood
This is the command mode, but we know, it’s rare to order someone to feel pain, but let’s see some uses:
Imperative Mood’s Conjugations
| Subject | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| (pain / let's pain) | (don't pain / let's not pain) | |
| tú | duela | no duelas |
| nosotros | dolamos | no dolamos |
| ustedes | duelan | no duelan |
Last examples:
¡Dolamos sin verguenza, amigos! – (Let’s) Pain without shame, folks!
Estómago, hoy es un mal día, no duelas, ¡por favor! – Stomach, today is a bad day, don’t hurt, please!
Let’s practice!
Let’s go through a couple of exercises so that you can keep your memory fresh and know what to answer with the theory close at hand:
1. Si me _____________ la cabeza no podría ir a nadar – If I had a headache I couldn’t go swimming.
2. A ella le hubiese _____________ mucho si su equipo perdía el mundial – She would have been very hurt if her team had lost the World Cup.
3. ¡Que no te _____________ las manos justo cuando te digo que barras! – Don’t let your hands hurt just when I tell you to sweep!
4. Me _____________ lo que dijiste de mí – I was hurt by what you said about me
5. Tu traición me _____________ pero ya sabía qué estaba pasando – Your betrayal would hurt me but I already knew it was happening
Answers
There is a saying in Spanish that goes “No hay mal que por bien no venga” (Every cloud has a silver lining), in this case, if you made a mistake, no duelas, from the mistake the master is born!
1. doliera
2. dolido
3. duelan
4. dolió
5. dolería
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