Huir Conjugation: Free Spanish Lesson, Exercises, and PDF

Don’t run away and stay to learn about the huir conjugation!

The huir meaning in English is “to run,” “to run away,” “to flee,” “to run off,” “to evade,” “to escape,” and “to avoid.” 

It can be used when someone: 

• Runs away from a place
• Avoids a person
• Escapes a situation like an uncomfortable chat
• Evades feelings like commitment, responsibility, and signs of affection 

The literal translation of “running” or “to run” is correr and while physically correr is the same as running away, it isn’t so in emotional or figurative forms.

Huir conjugation is mostly irregular, this means it changes completely depending on the pronoun and tense. 

Today, we’ll learn huir conjugation in three moods:

• indicative mood (present, past, past imperfect, conditional, and in future)
• subjunctive mood (present, present perfect, past, and past perfect)
• and the imperative mood. 

I added the pronoun vosotros for this huir conjugation in this Spanish guide. It is used exclusively in Spain but it is better to consider it just in case. You might use it on an upcoming trip to Europe or reading a Spanish book.

The Ultimate Guide to Huir Conjugation

There may be tenses you are not familiar with in this complete overview of the huir conjugation. But don’t you worry! With enough practice, you will be able to remember all of them. I included some exercises at the end of this post just for you! 

Huir Conjugation: Verbals

For these huir conjugations, there are two forms of the huir verb that you need to learn.

1. Conjugation of haber + huir in past participle
2. Conjugation of estar + huir in present progressive or gerund

The infinitive form of the verb is huir.
Huir in the past participle is huido.
Huir in present progressive or gerund is huyendo.

These compound tenses involve using the helping verbs haber and estar. The conjugation changes in these tenses happen within the helping verbs, while the form of the huir verb stays the same. 

Let’s see them in action…

No deberías huir. (In infinitive)
You shouldn’t run off.

¡Ella está huyendo! (In present progressive)
She is running away!

Todos ellos habían huido para entonces. (In past participle)
All of them had fled by then. 

Huir has a Reflexive Conjugation 

Huir has a reflexive conjugation, but it is rarely used. The words me, te, se, le, nos, os, les can be added to the huir verb like this: huirme, huirse, huirte, huiros, huirnos, huirle. 

They can also be placed before the verb which is more common: me huyen, nos huyen, te huyen, se huyen, os huyen, les huyen. We use them to indicate to whom the verb is happening. They also offer the possibility of taking away the pronoun without risking understandability. Here’s an example to show you this:

A mí me huyen.
They run from me.

Since you can deduce from whom it is running the word me, you can omit a mí:

Me huyen.
They run from me.

¡Conjuguemos!
Let’s conjugate!

Huir Conjugation: Indicative Mood

Present simple

In present tense, you are entailing that who or what is running away from you or others is currently happening. 

Notice in the chart below that I am adding the ustedes conjugation. This pronoun is used widely in Latinamerica and it replaces the pronoun vosotros that is used only in Spain. Unlike usted, ustedes is not necessarily formal, it can be used in both formal and informal or casual scenarios.

Yo huyo de casa cada vez que llega la boleta de calificaciones.
I run away from home every time the report card comes in.

¿Vosotros huis también?
Are you running away too?

Ellas huyen de las responsabilidades siempre.
They always escape from responsibilities.

Tú huyes del compromiso cuando te conviene.
You evade commitment whenever it suits you.

Usted huye siempre que se le necesita en casa.
You run away every time they need you at home. 

Past Simple

You will come across the words “preterite” or “preterite Spanish conjugation” quite often. It simply means past tense. You normally use it to describe something that has already happened. 

The word huis of the present tense and the word hui from the past tense used to have a written accent on the letter “i” and were considered to have two syllables. Today they are deemed monosyllabic and do not need the written accent.

Usted huyó sin decirme adiós.
You fled without saying goodbye.

Nosotros huimos tan pronto como pudimos.
We fled as soon as we could. 

Vosotros huisteis de mí cuando más los necesitaba.
You ran away from me when I needed you most.

Yo hui sin mirar atrás.
I fled without looking back.

Ustedes huyeron antes de que la ceremonia siquiera empezara.
You ran away before the ceremony even started.

Past Imperfect

The huir imperfect conjugation describes something that used to happen continuously and more than one time. It could happen sporadically or systematically.

Yo huía de las relaciones amorosas pero ya no.
I used to avoid romantic relationships but not anymore.

Nosotros huíamos del doctor cada que podíamos.
We used to avoid going to the doctor whenever we could.

Él huía de las tormentas, incluso se llegó a mudar de ciudad.
He ran away from storms, he even moved to another city.

Vosotros huíais de mí cuando eran chicos.
You guys used to avoid me when you were kids.

Tu huías de casa todos los viernes sólo para regresar en lunes. 
You used to run away every Friday only to come back on Monday.

Conditional

The conditional tense is used to talk about probabilities or hypotheses. This means that we are unsure of the outcome or of the likelihood of something happening. It can also be used to ask what the other person would do in a specific case and to make requests politely. 

The word sí -with a written accent- means “yes”, but the word si -with no written accent and in a hypothetical context- means “if”. The si clause is very commonly used in conditional sentences, so it is habitual to find it in conditional tense sentences too. 

Ellos huirían si pudieran.
They would run off if they could. 

Yo huiría si tuviera coche.
I would flee if I had a car.

Tú huirías de esta empresa si te dejaran de pagar.
You would run away from this company if they stopped paying you. 

Huiríamos del país si tuviéramos pasaportes
We would flee the country if we had passports.

¿Huirías conmigo si te lo pidiera?
Would you run away with me if I asked you to?

¿Huirías si pudieras?
Would you run away if you could?

Future Simple

Huir in future simple tense almost looks like a regular conjugation. As you can see in the next chart, the first four words -huir- happen to be always the same, and what changes is the second part. 

Huiré cuando me den luz verde.
I will run when they give me the green light.

¿Vosotros huiréis de España?.
Will you flee from Spain?

Usted huirá cuando reuna el dinero.
You will run away when you collect the money.

Ustedes huirán del amor.
You will run away from love.

Tú huirás cuando te des cuenta de que no tienes otra salida.
You will escape when you notice you have no other way out.

Huir Conjugation: Subjunctive Mood

We use the subjunctive conjugation to talk about hypotheses, hopes, wishes, or uncertainty.

Present Subjunctive

The present tense of the subjunctive, as other tenses of this mood, is dependent on clauses that indicate uncertainty, doubt, desire, and someone’s opinion or judgment. 

The word que means “what” or “that” and el que means “the fact that”. You can easily find these terms in the present tense of the subjunctive mood, since it is employed as part of the formula to express a belief or perception.

Que yo huya no afecta a nadie.
That I flee doesn’t affect anyone.

Que vosotros huyáis no es gran cosa.
That you guys run away is not a big deal.

El que yo huya a ti te conviene.
The fact that I flee is convenient for you.

Ojalá que huyamos antes del amanecer.
I hope we flee before sunrise. 

Que tú huyas de aquí, sería bueno para tu salud.
That you run away from here would be good for your health.

Past Subjunctive

The past subjunctive is also known as the preterite imperfect tense of the subjunctive mood. Remember that the subjunctive indicates a point of view or reveals an opinion of the speaker, only that this tense is in the past. 

Intenté que él no huyera, pero no lo logré.
I tried to keep him from running away, but I couldn’t

Si no huyeses cada que te digo la verdad, yo sería feliz.
If you didn’t run away every time I tell you the truth, I would be happy. 

Quise que no huyeran pero tenían buenos motivos.
I wanted them not to run away but they had good reasons.

¿Me extrañarías si yo huyese?
Would you miss me if I ran away?

Si nosotros huyéramos, no tendríamos donde vivir.
If we ran away we wouldn’t have a place to live.

Past Perfect Subjunctive

The past perfect subjunctive is better known as el pluscuamperfecto del subjuntivo (pluperfect subjunctive) in Spanish, believe it or not. And it is used to explain past hypothetical situations that precede hypothetical outcomes. They often sound like a form of regret or scolding. 

For the past perfect subjunctive tense, we use the auxiliary verb haber and the past participle of the huir verb.

Si yo hubiese huido, nadie se habría dado cuenta.
If I had fled, no one would have noticed.

Si ellos hubieran huido, nada de esto hubiera pasado.
If they had fled, none of this would have happened.

Si no hubiéramos huido entonces, seríamos infelices ahora.
If we had not run away back then, we would be unhappy now. .

Si tú hubieses huido ayer, te habrías perdido de mi fiesta.
If you had run away yesterday, you would have missed my party.

Present Perfect Subjunctive

In the present perfect subjunctive or pretérito perfecto del subjuntivo, you can perceive connections from past actions to the present. They still have an effect today although they could have happened a long time ago.

For the perfect subjunctive tense, we use the auxiliary verb haber and the past participle of the huir verb.

No te importa que yo haya huido.
You don’t care that I ran away.

Me enoja que hayas huido.
I am angry that you ran away.

El que ustedes hayan huido es decepcionante.
The fact that you ran away is disappointing.

Ella duda que vosotros hayáis huido.
She doubts that you have fled.

El que nosotros hayamos huido no tiene que ver contigo.
The fact that we have fled has nothing to do with you.

There is a subjunctive tense in future, but since it is rarely used, I am not including it in this lesson. 

Huir Conjugation: Imperative Mood

The imperative mood is used to give commands. 

¡Huye lejos de aquí!
Run away from here!

¡Huyamos juntos antes de que sea demasiado tarde!
Let’s flee together before it is too late!

¡No huyan cobardes!
Don’t run away cowards!

¡Huid! ¡Yo cubriré vuestros pasos!
Run away! I will cover your steps!

¡No huya! ¡Con usted no es la pelea!
Don’t run away! The fight isn’t with you!

Let’s practice!

Huir Conjugation Exercises

Check your understanding of huir conjugation with the following exercises! Practice this lesson a couple of times before you dive in and be sure to check each answer with the answer key below. 

¡Buena suerte!

Good luck!

Exercise 1

Identify the tense of each huir conjugation.

1. Yo huía

2. Vosotros huis

3. Ellos huyesen

4. Vosotros huiréis

5. Nosotros hayamos huido

Exercise 2

Conjugate huir in the tense given.

1. Usted – Negative Imperative

2. Ellas – Conditional

3. Tú – Affirmative Imperative

4. Nosotros – Past Simple

5. Yo – Present Subjunctive

Exercise 3

Fill in the blank with the correct form of huir.

1. Yo ______de casa cada vez que llega la boleta de calificaciones. (present simple)

2. Todos ellos habían ________ para entonces. (past participle)

3. Ojalá que ________ antes del amanecer. (present subjunctive)

4. Ustedes ________ del amor. (future simple)

5. Vosotros ________de mí cuando eran chicos. (past imperfect)

Exercise 4

Translate the following sentences to English.

1. ¡Huyamos juntos antes de que sea demasiado tarde!

2. El que ustedes hayan huido fue decepcionante.

3. Si yo hubiese huido, nadie se habría dado cuenta.

4. Si no huyeses cada que te digo la verdad, yo sería feliz. 

5. Él huía de las tormentas, incluso se llegó a mudar de ciudad.

6. Vosotros huisteis de mí cuando más los necesitaba.

Click here to see the answer key!

Don’t Run Away From Speaking Spanish!

Congratulations! You’ve learned about the huir meaning and huir conjugation in Spanish as well as some examples of the huir verb. If you want to continue practicing, I suggest you take lessons from our native Spanish-speaking teachers that are here to help you. Ask them about when and how to use each huir conjugation, which tips are most important to memorize each tense, and how to best learn to speak Spanish fully. Boost your Spanish proficiency by engaging in real-life conversations of your choosing. Let’s tailor together a Spanish package just for you. Sign up today for a free class! 

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Answer Key

Exercise 1

1. Past Imperfect

2. Present simple

3. Past Subjunctive

4. Future Simple

5. Present Perfect Subjunctive 

Exercise 2

1. ¡No huya!

2. Hurían

3. ¡Huye!

4. Huimos

5. Huya

Exercise 3

1. Huyo

2. Huido 

3. Huyamos

4. Huirán 

5. Huíais 

Exercise 4 

1. Let’s flee together before it is too late!

2. The fact that you ran away was disappointing.

3. If I had fled, no one would have noticed.

4. If you didn’t run away everytime I tell you the truth, I would be happy. 

5. He ran away from storms, he even moved to another city.

6. You ran away from me when I needed you most.

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Nicole Canún

Freelance Writer at Homeschool Spanish Academy

Blogger, content creator, and marketer. Proudly Mexican. Been to 30 countries. I love learning from different cultures and trying their cuisines. Obsessed with Asia. Fluent in Spanish and English, not so much in French.

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