Existir conjugation Spanish verb

How existir conjugates

Existir follows the regular -ir pattern in every tense: existo, existe, existimos, existen; existió; existía; existirá; exista. In practice, the third person forms (existe, existen, existía, exista) are by far the most common. Unlike hay, existir agrees with its subject: "Existen muchos riesgos." The past participle existido is regular.

Existir in example sentences

• Present

  Existen varias formas de reducir los costos de envío.

  There are several ways to reduce shipping costs.

• Present

  No existe una solución perfecta para este problema.

  There is no perfect solution to this problem.

• Preterite

  Esa empresa existió solo cinco años.

  That company only existed for five years.

• Imperfect

  Cuando empecé, no existían las videollamadas.

  When I started, video calls didn't exist.

• Future

  Siempre existirán riesgos en un proyecto de este tamaño.

  There will always be risks in a project of this size.

• Present subjunctive

  Es posible que exista un error en la base de datos.

  There may be an error in the database.

• Conditional

  Sin el apoyo de los clientes, la empresa no existiría.

  Without our clients' support, the company wouldn't exist.

• Present perfect

  Siempre ha existido competencia entre las dos sucursales.

  There has always been competition between the two branches.

Common phrases with existir

dejar de existir

to cease to exist

no existe

there's no such thing; it doesn't exist

existir la posibilidad de

for there to be a possibility of

existe el riesgo de

there is a risk of

Mistakes to avoid

• Using "existen" with hay-style singular agreement: "Existen muchos problemas," not "Existe muchos problemas."
• Overusing existir in conversation: "Hay una farmacia cerca" is more natural than "Existe una farmacia cerca."
• Spelling it with an extra s: "existir," not "exsistir."

Existir tense by tense

• Existir present
• Existir preterite
• Existir imperfect
• Existir future
• Existir conditional
• Existir present subjunctive
• Existir affirmative commands

Related verbs

• vivir to live
• haber to have (auxiliary); there is / there are
• ser to be (identity, origin, time, characteristics)
• ocurrir to happen, to occur; to occur to (someone)

Most common Spanish verbs

• ser
• estar
• tener
• haber
• hacer
• ir
• poder
• decir
• dar
• ver
• saber
• querer

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