How do you say “I see” in Spanish?
“I see” in Spanish is veo, the first-person singular (yo) present tense form of the verb ver (to see).
- Veo el mar desde mi ventana. (I see the sea from my window.)
- Veo a mi hermana todos los domingos. (I see my sister every Sunday.)
Ver is irregular in the yo form: it adds an e to the stem (ve- + -o = veo) rather than following the regular -er pattern. The rest of the present tense is nearly regular.
“I see” can also mean “I understand.” In that sense Spanish speakers often say ya veo (I see, I get it) or entiendo (I understand).
Present tense of ver
| Subject | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| yo | veo | Veo la televisión. (I watch television.) |
| tú | ves | ¿Ves ese edificio? (Do you see that building?) |
| él/ella/usted | ve | Ella ve a sus amigos. (She sees her friends.) |
| nosotros/nosotras | vemos | Vemos una película. (We are watching a film.) |
| vosotros/vosotras | veis | ¿Veis el partido? (Are you all watching the match?) |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | ven | Ellos ven el problema. (They see the problem.) |
Notes:
- Vosotros is used mainly in Spain. In Latin America, ustedes ven is used instead.
- Ve and veis have no written accent, because they are one-syllable words or follow the standard stress rules.
Past tense of ver
There are several ways to say “I saw,” depending on what you mean.
Preterite: a completed event
| Subject | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | vi |
| tú | viste |
| él/ella/usted | vio |
| nosotros/nosotras | vimos |
| vosotros/vosotras | visteis |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | vieron |
Ayer vi a Carmen en el supermercado. (Yesterday I saw Carmen at the supermarket.)
Note that vi and vio have no accent mark, since they are one-syllable words.
Imperfect: ongoing or repeated actions
| Subject | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | veía |
| tú | veías |
| él/ella/usted | veía |
| nosotros/nosotras | veíamos |
| vosotros/vosotras | veíais |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | veían |
Cuando era niño, veía dibujos animados cada mañana. (When I was a child, I used to watch cartoons every morning.)
Ver is one of only three verbs that are irregular in the imperfect. The other two are ser (era) and ir (iba). The imperfect of ver keeps the e of the stem and adds the regular endings, so it is written veía with an accent on the í.
Present perfect
The present perfect uses haber plus the past participle visto:
He visto esa serie tres veces. (I have seen that series three times.)
| Subject | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he visto |
| tú | has visto |
| él/ella/usted | ha visto |
| nosotros/nosotras | hemos visto |
| vosotros/vosotras | habéis visto |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | han visto |
Other tenses and forms
| Tense | yo | tú | él/ella/usted | nosotros | ellos/ellas/ustedes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Future | veré | verás | verá | veremos | verán |
| Conditional | vería | verías | vería | veríamos | verían |
| Present subjunctive | vea | veas | vea | veamos | vean |
- Gerund: viendo (seeing). Estoy viendo una película. (I am watching a film.)
- Past participle: visto (seen).
- Command (tú): ve (see). Ve esto. (Look at this.)
- Command (usted): vea. Vea la página 5. (See page 5.)
Be careful with the tú command. The affirmative command of ver (ve) is identical to the tú command of ir (ve, “go”). Context tells you which one is meant. You can read more about command forms in our Spanish imperative exercises.
Ver versus mirar
Both can be translated as “to look” or “to watch,” but they are not the same.
- Ver means to see or perceive with your eyes, often without effort. It is also used for watching television or films: ver la tele, ver una película.
- Mirar means to look at something on purpose: Mira esto. (Look at this.) Miro por la ventana. (I look out of the window.)
Useful expressions with ver
- a ver: let’s see
- nos vemos: see you
- hasta que nos veamos: until we see each other
- ya veremos: we will see
- no tiene nada que ver con…: it has nothing to do with…
- verse: to see oneself, to look (Te ves muy bien., You look great.)
Personal “a” with ver
When the thing you see is a specific person, Spanish usually adds the word a before it: Veo a María. (I see María.) You do not use it for things: Veo la casa.
Common mistakes and the “fui or estuve” question
- Using ser or ir forms by mistake. Fui, fue and fueron belong to ser (to be) and ir (to go). The preterite of ver is vi, viste, vio. Anoche fui al cine means “Last night I went to the cinema,” while Anoche vi una película means “Last night I saw a film.”
- Choosing between fui and estuve. Both can translate as past forms of “to be”, but fui is from ser or ir and estuve is from estar. Use estuve for being somewhere: Estuve en casa (I was at home). Use fui for “I went” or for a characteristic: Fui a casa (I went home).
- Adding an accent to vi or vio. Do not write ví or vió.
- Confusing the stem. The stem of ver is ve-, so the imperfect is veía, not vea (which is the subjunctive).
Is “ver” reflexive?
Ver is not a reflexive verb by default, but it has a reflexive form, verse, used for seeing yourself (Me veo en el espejo., I see myself in the mirror) or for describing how someone looks. A reflexive verb is one where the subject does the action to itself, using a pronoun such as me, te or se. In many dictionaries it appears with -se on the infinitive, such as lavarse.
Quick practice
Fill in the correct form of ver.
- Yo ___ el mar. (present)
- Ellos ___ la película ayer. (preterite)
- Nosotros ___ televisión por la noche cuando éramos pequeños. (imperfect)
- Ella ya ___ esa serie. (present perfect, ha visto)
Answers: 1. veo, 2. vieron, 3. veíamos, 4. ha visto.
For more irregular verbs, see our guide to the most common irregular verbs in Spanish.
FAQ
What is the yo form of ver? Veo.
How do you conjugate ver in the present tense? Veo, ves, ve, vemos, veis, ven.
What is the past tense of “I see”? The preterite is vi (I saw), the imperfect is veía (I used to see or I was seeing), and the present perfect is he visto (I have seen).
What is the Spanish verb “to walk”? The most common choices are caminar and andar. They are different verbs from ver.