What does ayudar mean in English?

Ayudar means "to help" in English.

How do you conjugate ayudar in Spanish?

Ayudar is conjugated across all Spanish tenses including present, preterite, imperfect, future, conditional, subjunctive, and more. Each tense has specific conjugations for yo, tú, él/ella/usted, nosotros, vosotros, and ellos/ustedes. You can see complete conjugation tables with audio pronunciations on this page.

What are common idiomatic expressions with ayudar?

Common idiomatic expressions using ayudar include: "ayudar a" (to help (to do something)). These expressions are frequently used in everyday Spanish conversation.

How do you use ayudar in a sentence?

Example: "Te ayudé con la tarea." which means "I helped you with the homework." in English.

Ayudar

to help

🎯

Infinitive (infinitivo)

Base form of the verb

ayudar

🏃

Gerund (gerundio)

Present participle (-ing form)

ayudando

📋

Past Participle

Used in compound tenses

ayudado

Simple Tenses

⚡

Present Indicative (presente de indicativo)

Present actions and habitual activities

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	ayudo I help	I help
tú	ayudas you help	you help
él/ella/usted	ayuda he/she/you helps	he/she/you helps
nosotros	ayudamos we help	we help
vosotros	ayudáis you all help	you all help
ellos/ustedes	ayudan they/you all help	they/you all help

🕰️

Imperfect Indicative (imperfecto de indicativo)

Ongoing past actions and descriptions

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	ayudaba I used to help	I used to help
tú	ayudabas you used to help	you used to help
él/ella/usted	ayudaba he/she/you used to help	he/she/you used to help
nosotros	ayudábamos we used to help	we used to help
vosotros	ayudabais you all used to help	you all used to help
ellos/ustedes	ayudaban they/you all used to help	they/you all used to help

📅

Preterit (pretérito)

Completed past actions

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	ayudé I helped	I helped
tú	ayudaste you helped	you helped
él/ella/usted	ayudó he/she/you helped	he/she/you helped
nosotros	ayudamos we helped	we helped
vosotros	ayudasteis you all helped	you all helped
ellos/ustedes	ayudaron they/you all helped	they/you all helped

🔮

Future (futuro)

Future actions and intentions

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	ayudaré I will help	I will help
tú	ayudarás you will help	you will help
él/ella/usted	ayudará he/she/you will help	he/she/you will help
nosotros	ayudaremos we will help	we will help
vosotros	ayudaréis you all will help	you all will help
ellos/ustedes	ayudarán they/you all will help	they/you all will help

🎯

Conditional (potencial simple)

Hypothetical and conditional actions

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	ayudaría I would help	I would help
tú	ayudarías you would help	you would help
él/ella/usted	ayudaría he/she/you would help	he/she/you would help
nosotros	ayudaríamos we would help	we would help
vosotros	ayudaríais you all would help	you all would help
ellos/ustedes	ayudarían they/you all would help	they/you all would help

💭

Present Subjunctive (presente de subjuntivo)

Subjective present actions and desires

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	ayude that I help	that I help
tú	ayudes that you help	that you help
él/ella/usted	ayude that he/she/you help	that he/she/you help
nosotros	ayudemos that we help	that we help
vosotros	ayudéis that you all help	that you all help
ellos/ustedes	ayuden that they/you all help	that they/you all help

🌙

Imperfect Subjunctive (imperfecto de subjuntivo)

Subjective past actions and hypothetical situations

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	ayudara or ayudase that I helped	that I helped
tú	ayudaras or ayudases that you helped	that you helped
él/ella/usted	ayudara or ayudase that he/she/you helped	that he/she/you helped
nosotros	ayudáramos or ayudásemos that we helped	that we helped
vosotros	ayudarais or ayudaseis that you all helped	that you all helped
ellos/ustedes	ayudaran or ayudasen that they/you all helped	that they/you all helped

Compound Tenses

✅

Present Perfect (perfecto de indicativo)

Actions completed recently or with present relevance

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	he ayudado I have helped	I have helped
tú	has ayudado you have helped	you have helped
él/ella/usted	ha ayudado he/she/you have helped	he/she/you have helped
nosotros	hemos ayudado we have helped	we have helped
vosotros	habéis ayudado you all have helped	you all have helped
ellos/ustedes	han ayudado they/you all have helped	they/you all have helped

⏪

Pluperfect Indicative (pluscuamperfecto de indicativo)

Actions completed before another past action

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	había ayudado I had helped	I had helped
tú	habías ayudado you had helped	you had helped
él/ella/usted	había ayudado he/she/you had helped	he/she/you had helped
nosotros	habíamos ayudado we had helped	we had helped
vosotros	habíais ayudado you all had helped	you all had helped
ellos/ustedes	habían ayudado they/you all had helped	they/you all had helped

📍

Preterit Perfect (pretérito anterior)

Actions completed immediately before another past action

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	hube ayudado I had helped	I had helped
tú	hubiste ayudado you had helped	you had helped
él/ella/usted	hubo ayudado he/she/you had helped	he/she/you had helped
nosotros	hubimos ayudado we had helped	we had helped
vosotros	hubisteis ayudado you all had helped	you all had helped
ellos/ustedes	hubieron ayudado they/you all had helped	they/you all had helped

🎊

Future Perfect (futuro perfecto)

Actions that will be completed by a future time

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	habré ayudado I will have helped	I will have helped
tú	habrás ayudado you will have helped	you will have helped
él/ella/usted	habrá ayudado he/she/you will have helped	he/she/you will have helped
nosotros	habremos ayudado we will have helped	we will have helped
vosotros	habréis ayudado you all will have helped	you all will have helped
ellos/ustedes	habrán ayudado they/you all will have helped	they/you all will have helped

🔄

Conditional Perfect (potencial compuesto)

Actions that would have been completed under certain conditions

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	habría ayudado I would have helped	I would have helped
tú	habrías ayudado you would have helped	you would have helped
él/ella/usted	habría ayudado he/she/you would have helped	he/she/you would have helped
nosotros	habríamos ayudado we would have helped	we would have helped
vosotros	habríais ayudado you all would have helped	you all would have helped
ellos/ustedes	habrían ayudado they/you all would have helped	they/you all would have helped

💫

Subjunctive Present Perfect (perfecto de subjuntivo)

Subjective actions completed in relation to the present

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	haya ayudado that I have helped	that I have helped
tú	hayas ayudado that you have helped	that you have helped
él/ella/usted	haya ayudado that he/she/you have helped	that he/she/you have helped
nosotros	hayamos ayudado that we have helped	that we have helped
vosotros	hayáis ayudado that you all have helped	that you all have helped
ellos/ustedes	hayan ayudado that they/you all have helped	that they/you all have helped

🌌

Subjunctive Past Perfect (pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo)

Subjective actions completed before another past action

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	hubiera ayudado that I had helped	that I had helped
tú	hubieras ayudado that you had helped	that you had helped
él/ella/usted	hubiera ayudado that he/she/you had helped	that he/she/you had helped
nosotros	hubiéramos ayudado that we had helped	that we had helped
vosotros	hubierais ayudado that you all had helped	that you all had helped
ellos/ustedes	hubieran ayudado that they/you all had helped	that they/you all had helped

❗

Commands (imperativo)

Commands and direct orders

Person	Command	English
tú	ayuda	help! (you)
usted	ayude	help! (you formal)
nosotros	ayudemos	let's help!
vosotros	ayudad	help! (you all)
ustedes	ayuden	help! (you all)

🚫

Negative Commands (imperativo negativo)

Negative commands and prohibitions

Person	Command	English
tú	no ayudes	don't help! (you)
usted	no ayude	don't help! (you formal)
nosotros	no ayudemos	let's not help!
vosotros	no ayudéis	don't help! (you all)
ustedes	no ayuden	don't help! (you all)

More About "ayudar"

Idiomatic Expressions

ayudar a

to help (to do something)

💡 Assisting with an action

Examples in Context

Te ayudé con la tarea.

I helped you with the homework.

Preterite

Ayudo a mi madre en casa.

I help my mother at home.

Present

Me has ayudado mucho.

You have helped me a lot.

Present Perfect

Te ayudaré mañana.

I will help you tomorrow.

Future

Usage Notes

•Ayudar is a regular -ar verb
•Main meaning: to help
•Often followed by "a" + infinitive
•Related noun: la ayuda (help)

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