The verb despertarse is reflexive and means “to wake oneself up” in English. It is a common and frequently used verb in both its reflexive and non-reflexive forms. Despertarse is an irregular verb.
Conjugations
The verb despertarse is irregular in the present tense. It’s stem changes from e → ie in all conjugations except for the nosotros and vosotros forms. Apart from these modifications in the present tense, despertarse is conjugated regularly in all other indicative forms.
Present
|
Yo |
me despierto |
Nosotros/as |
nos despertamos |
|
Tu |
te despiertas |
Vosotros/as |
os despertáis |
|
El/Ella/Ud. |
se despierta |
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. |
se despiertan |
Example Sentence:
- Normalmente, me despierto a las 6:00 am. → I normally wake up at 6:00 am.
Imperfect
|
Yo |
me despertaba |
Nosotros/as |
nos despertábamos |
|
Tu |
te despertabas |
Vosotros/as |
os despertabais |
|
El/Ella/Ud. |
se despertaba |
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. |
se despertaban |
Example Sentence:
- Siempre te despertabas muy temprano. → You always used to wake up really early.
Preterite
|
Yo |
me desperté |
Nosotros/as |
nos despertamos |
|
Tu |
te despertaste |
Vosotros/as |
os despertabais |
|
El/Ella/Ud. |
se despertó |
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. |
se despertaron |
Example Sentence:
El bebé se despertó cinco veces durante la noche. → The baby woke up five times last night.
Future
|
Yo |
me despertaré |
Nosotros/as |
nos despertaremos |
|
Tu |
te despertarás |
Vosotros/as |
os despertaréis |
|
El/Ella/Ud. |
se despertará |
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. |
se despertarán |
Example Sentence:
- Durante las vacaciones, nos despertaremos cuando queramos. → During vacation, we will wake up when we feel like it.
Conditional
|
Yo |
me despertaría |
Nosotros/as |
nos despertaríamos |
|
Tu |
te despertarías |
Vosotros/as |
os despertaríais |
|
El/Ella/Ud. |
se despertaría |
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. |
se despertarían |
Example Sentence:
- Si pudiera, me despertaría a las 9:00 am cada día. → If I could, I would wake up at 9:00 am every day.
Non-Reflexive Form
When it is not used reflexively despertar a alguien means to “wake someone up” and follows all the same conjugation rules as the reflexive form. For example:
- Cada mañana despierto a los niños las 7:00 am. → Every morning I wake up the children at 7:00 am.
The non-reflexive form can also mean that something woke you up, like a loud noise. For example:
- Esta mañana, me despertaron los perros de mi vecino. → My neighbor’s dogs woke me up this morning.
Idioms With Despertarse
A common idiom used with the verb despertarse is acabar de despertarse which mean “to just have woken up.” Here is an example:
- Dame unos minutos para tomar mi café, me acabo de despertar y sigo con sueño. → Give me a couple minutes to drink my coffee, I just woke up and I’m still tired.
Since waking up is something we do every day, make sure to add despertarse to your list of basic verbs to learn. You will definitely impress your friends with you ability to effortlessly conjugate this popular verb.