Spanish Verb Soler Conjugation

Soler Conjugation, Usage, and Examples

Mexico City subway metro
Solemos viajar al trabajo por metro al centro de México. (We usually commute by subway to downtown Mexico City).

Eneas De Troya/Creative Commons.

Soler is a Spanish verb frequently used to indicate the action of doing something as a customary practice or that something usually happens. It has no direct English equivalent, but it can be translated as "tends to do something" or "usually does something."

This article includes soler conjugations in the present and imperfect indicative, the present and past subjunctive, and other verb forms such as the gerund and past participle.

Using the Verb Soler

Soler is a unique verb for three different reasons:

Soler Present Indicative

One of the most frequent uses of soler is in the present indicative tense. Notice that the stem changes from -o to -ue in all of the present tense conjugations except nosotros and vosotros.

Yo suelo Yo suelo hacer la tarea por la noche. I tend to do my homework at night.
sueles Tú sueles trabajar muy tarde. You tend to work very late.
Usted/él/ella suele Ella suele ir a la iglesia con su madre. She usually goes to church with her mother.
Nosotros solemos Nosotros solemos ver televisión por la noche. We usually watch television at night.
Vosotros soléis Vosotros soléis comer comida saludable. You tend to eat healthy food.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas suelen Ellos suelen ser muy responsables. They tend to be very responsible.

Imperfect Indicative

The imperfect is used to talk about ongoing or repeated actions in the past. Soler in the imperfect is usually translated as "used to do something."

Yo solía Yo solía hacer la tarea por la noche. I used to do my homework at night.
solías Tú solías trabajar muy tarde. You used to work very late.
Usted/él/ella solía Ella solía ir a la iglesia con su madre. She used to go to church with her mother.
Nosotros solíamos Nosotros solíamos ver televisión por la noche. We used to watch television at night.
Vosotros solíais Vosotros solíais comer comida saludable. You used to eat healthy food.
Ustedes/ellos/ellas solían Ellos solían ser muy responsables. They used to be very responsible.

Present Progressive/Gerund Form

The gerund verb form can be used as an adverb or to form progressive tenses. This verb form is not very frequently used for the verb soler.

Past Participle

The past participle can be used as an adjective or to form perfect tenses like the present perfect. Perfect tenses are formed with the auxiliary haber, plus the past participle.

Present Perfect of Soler ha solido Ella ha solido ir a la iglesia con su madre. She has tended to go to church with her mother.

Soler Present Subjunctive

In the present subjunctive there is also a stem change o to ue for all the conjugations except nosotros and vosotros, just like in the present indicative tense.

Que yo suela Mi profesor sugiere que yo suela hacer la tarea por la noche. My professor suggests that I tend to do my homework at night.
Que tú suelas La jefa pide que tú suelas trabajar muy tarde. The boss asks that you tend to work late.
Que usted/él/ella suela El padre espera que ella suela ir a la iglesia con su madre. The priest hopes that she tend to go to church with her mother.
Que nosotros solamos El niño espera que nosotros solamos ver televisión por la noche. The boy hopes that we tend to watch television at night.
Que vosotros soláis La doctora espera que vosotros soláis comer comida saludable. Your mother hopes that you tend to eat healthy food.
Que ustedes/ellos/ellas suelan La consejera recomienda que ellos suelan ser muy responsables. The counselor recommends that they tend to be very responsible.

Imperfect Subjunctive

The imperfect subjunctive is used in situations that happened in the past, but it has the same usage as the present subjunctive. The imperfect subjunctive has two different possible conjugations:

Option 1

Que yo soliera Mi profesor sugería que yo soliera hacer la tarea por la noche. My professor suggested that I tend to do my homework at night.
Que tú solieras La jefa pedía que tú solieras trabajar muy tarde. The boss asked that you tend to work late.
Que usted/él/ella soliera El padre esperaba que ella soliera ir a la iglesia con su madre. The priest hoped that she tend to go to church with her mother.
Que nosotros soliéramos El niño esperaba que nosotros soliéramos ver televisión por la noche. The boy hoped that we tend to watch television at night.
Que vosotros solierais La doctora esperaba que vosotros solierais comer comida saludable. Your mother hoped that you tend to eat healthy food.
Que ustedes/ellos/ellas solieran La consejera recomendaba que ellos solieran ser muy responsables. The counselor recommended that they tend to be very responsible.

Option 2

Que yo soliese Mi profesor sugería que yo soliese hacer la tarea por la noche. My professor suggested that I tend to do my homework at night.
Que tú solieses La jefa pedía que tú solieses trabajar muy tarde. The boss asked that you tend to work late.
Que usted/él/ella soliese El padre esperaba que ella soliese ir a la iglesia con su madre. The priest hoped that she tend to go to church with her mother.
Que nosotros soliésemos El niño esperaba que nosotros soliésemos ver televisión por la noche. The boy hoped that we tend to watch television at night.
Que vosotros solieseis La doctora esperaba que vosotros solieseis comer comida saludable. Your mother hoped that you tend to eat healthy food.
Que ustedes/ellos/ellas soliesen La consejera recomendaba que ellos soliesen ser muy responsables. The counselor recommended that they tend to be very responsible.
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Erichsen, Gerald. "Spanish Verb Soler Conjugation." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/using-the-verb-soler-3079781. Erichsen, Gerald. (2023, April 5). Spanish Verb Soler Conjugation. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/using-the-verb-soler-3079781 Erichsen, Gerald. "Spanish Verb Soler Conjugation." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/using-the-verb-soler-3079781 (accessed March 29, 2024).