Spanish verbs fall into different groups, and each group is conjugated a little differently. If you’re going to master Spanish verbs like probar, you need to be able to identify which group a verb belongs to: regular (follows regular conjugation rules for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs), stem-changing (morphs depending on how you use it in a sentence), spelling-changing (has consonant-spelling changes in some forms to follow pronunciation rules), or reflexive (reflects the action back on the subject of the sentence).
In the present tense, probar (proh-bvahr) (to try) has an o-to-ue stem change in all but the nosotros and vosotros forms. Here’s the present tense conjugation:
| Conjugation | Translation |
|---|---|
| yo pruebo | I try |
| tú pruebas | You (informal) try |
| él/ella/ello/uno prueba | He/she/one tries |
| usted prueba | You (formal) try |
| nosotros probamos | We try |
| vosotros probáis | You all (informal) try |
| ellos/ellas prueban | They try |
| ustedes prueban | You all (formal) try |
The following examples show you probar in action:
Ella se prueba los zapatos. (She is trying the shoes on.)
Yo me pruebo mi camisa. (I am trying my new shirt on.)
And that’s the end of probar’s stem change; it conjugates normally in the preterit, imperfect, and future tenses. Take a look at the following tables and examples:
| Conjugation | Translation |
|---|---|
| yo probé | I tried |
| tú probaste | You (informal) tried |
| él/ella/ello/uno probó | He/she/one tried |
| usted probó | You (formal) tried |
| nosotros probamos | We tried |
| vosotros probasteis | You all (informal) tried |
| ellos/ellas probaron | They tried |
| ustedes probaron | You all (formal) tried |
You use the preterit tense like this:
¿Se probaron ustedes los ternos? (Did you try the suits on?)
Sí. Nos probamos los ternos dos veces. (Yes. We tried the suits on twice.)
You’re off the hook with the stem change in the imperfect and future forms; probar conjugates normally in these tenses. Check out the following tables and examples.
| Conjugation | Translation |
|---|---|
| yo probaba | I used to try |
| tú probabas | You (informal) used to try |
| él/ella/ello/uno probaba | He/she/one used to try |
| usted probaba | You (formal) used to try |
| nosotros probábamos | We used to try |
| vosotros probabais | You all (informal) used to try |
| ellos/ellas probaban | They used to try |
| ustedes probaban | You all (formal) used to try |
Here are some examples of the imperfect tense:
La compañía probaba los programas. (The company used to test the programs.)
Probaban ustedes las cámaras antes de comprarlas? (Did you use to try the cameras before buying them?)
| Conjugation | Translation |
|---|---|
| yo probaré | I will try |
| tú probarás | You (informal) will try |
| él/ella/ello/uno probará | He/she/one will try |
| usted probará | You (formal) will try |
| nosotros probaremos | We will try |
| vosotros probaréis | You all (informal) will try |
| ellos/ellas probarán | They will try |
| ustedes probarán | You all (formal) will try |
The following samples put the future tense to work:
¿Probarán ustedes el vino antes de comprarlo? (Will you try the wine before buying it?)
Sí. Lo probaremos antes de comprarlo. (Yes. We will try it before buying it.)