What does intentar mean in English?

Intentar means "to try/attempt" in English.

How do you conjugate intentar in Spanish?

Intentar 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.

How do you use intentar in a sentence?

Example: "Intenté llamarte varias veces." which means "I tried to call you several times." in English.

What are synonyms for intentar?

Spanish synonyms for intentar include: tratar de, procurar. The exact synonym to use depends on the context and specific meaning intended.

Intentar

to try/attempt

🎯

Infinitive (infinitivo)

Base form of the verb

intentar

🏃

Gerund (gerundio)

Present participle (-ing form)

intentando

📋

Past Participle

Used in compound tenses

intentado

Simple Tenses

⚡

Present Indicative (presente de indicativo)

Present actions and habitual activities

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	intento I try/attempt	I try/attempt
tú	intentas you try/attempt	you try/attempt
él/ella/usted	intenta he/she/you try/attempts	he/she/you try/attempts
nosotros	intentamos we try/attempt	we try/attempt
vosotros	intentáis you all try/attempt	you all try/attempt
ellos/ustedes	intentan they/you all try/attempt	they/you all try/attempt

🕰️

Imperfect Indicative (imperfecto de indicativo)

Ongoing past actions and descriptions

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	intentaba I used to try/attempt	I used to try/attempt
tú	intentabas you used to try/attempt	you used to try/attempt
él/ella/usted	intentaba he/she/you used to try/attempt	he/she/you used to try/attempt
nosotros	intentábamos we used to try/attempt	we used to try/attempt
vosotros	intentabais you all used to try/attempt	you all used to try/attempt
ellos/ustedes	intentaban they/you all used to try/attempt	they/you all used to try/attempt

📅

Preterit (pretérito)

Completed past actions

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	intenté I try/attempted	I try/attempted
tú	intentaste you try/attempted	you try/attempted
él/ella/usted	intentó he/she/you try/attempted	he/she/you try/attempted
nosotros	intentamos we try/attempted	we try/attempted
vosotros	intentasteis you all try/attempted	you all try/attempted
ellos/ustedes	intentaron they/you all try/attempted	they/you all try/attempted

🔮

Future (futuro)

Future actions and intentions

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	intentaré I will try/attempt	I will try/attempt
tú	intentarás you will try/attempt	you will try/attempt
él/ella/usted	intentará he/she/you will try/attempt	he/she/you will try/attempt
nosotros	intentaremos we will try/attempt	we will try/attempt
vosotros	intentaréis you all will try/attempt	you all will try/attempt
ellos/ustedes	intentarán they/you all will try/attempt	they/you all will try/attempt

🎯

Conditional (potencial simple)

Hypothetical and conditional actions

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	intentaría I would try/attempt	I would try/attempt
tú	intentarías you would try/attempt	you would try/attempt
él/ella/usted	intentaría he/she/you would try/attempt	he/she/you would try/attempt
nosotros	intentaríamos we would try/attempt	we would try/attempt
vosotros	intentaríais you all would try/attempt	you all would try/attempt
ellos/ustedes	intentarían they/you all would try/attempt	they/you all would try/attempt

💭

Present Subjunctive (presente de subjuntivo)

Subjective present actions and desires

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	intente that I try/attempt	that I try/attempt
tú	intentes that you try/attempt	that you try/attempt
él/ella/usted	intente that he/she/you try/attempt	that he/she/you try/attempt
nosotros	intentemos that we try/attempt	that we try/attempt
vosotros	intentéis that you all try/attempt	that you all try/attempt
ellos/ustedes	intenten that they/you all try/attempt	that they/you all try/attempt

🌙

Imperfect Subjunctive (imperfecto de subjuntivo)

Subjective past actions and hypothetical situations

Person	Conjugation	English
yo	intentara or intentase that I try/attempted	that I try/attempted
tú	intentaras or intentases that you try/attempted	that you try/attempted
él/ella/usted	intentara or intentase that he/she/you try/attempted	that he/she/you try/attempted
nosotros	intentáramos or intentásemos that we try/attempted	that we try/attempted
vosotros	intentarais or intentaseis that you all try/attempted	that you all try/attempted
ellos/ustedes	intentaran or intentasen that they/you all try/attempted	that they/you all try/attempted

Compound Tenses

✅

Present Perfect (perfecto de indicativo)

Actions completed recently or with present relevance

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

⏪

Pluperfect Indicative (pluscuamperfecto de indicativo)

Actions completed before another past action

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

📍

Preterit Perfect (pretérito anterior)

Actions completed immediately before another past action

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

🎊

Future Perfect (futuro perfecto)

Actions that will be completed by a future time

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

🔄

Conditional Perfect (potencial compuesto)

Actions that would have been completed under certain conditions

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

💫

Subjunctive Present Perfect (perfecto de subjuntivo)

Subjective actions completed in relation to the present

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

🌌

Subjunctive Past Perfect (pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo)

Subjective actions completed before another past action

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

❗

Commands (imperativo)

Commands and direct orders

Person	Command	English
tú	intenta	try/attempt! (you)
usted	intente	try/attempt! (you formal)
nosotros	intentemos	let's try/attempt!
vosotros	intentad	try/attempt! (you all)
ustedes	intenten	try/attempt! (you all)

🚫

Negative Commands (imperativo negativo)

Negative commands and prohibitions

Person	Command	English
tú	no intentes	don't try/attempt! (you)
usted	no intente	don't try/attempt! (you formal)
nosotros	no intentemos	let's not try/attempt!
vosotros	no intentéis	don't try/attempt! (you all)
ustedes	no intenten	don't try/attempt! (you all)

More About "intentar"

Examples in Context

Intenté llamarte varias veces.

I tried to call you several times.

Preterite

Intento ser paciente.

I try to be patient.

Present

He intentado todo.

I have tried everything.

Present Perfect

Intentaré otra vez.

I will try again.

Future

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

tratar de(to try to)

Often interchangeable

procurar(to try)

More formal

Usage Notes

•Intentar is a regular -ar verb
•Main meaning: to try, to attempt
•Often followed by infinitive

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Intentar

Simple Tenses

Compound Tenses

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