Morir Conjugation: Free Spanish Lesson, Quiz, and PDF

Are you just dying to learn about morir conjugation? In all seriousness, death is an inevitable part of life, so it’s useful to know how to talk about it as part of your ever-growing Spanish knowledge.

Morir is an irregular Spanish -IR verb that means “to die”—either literally or figuratively. In this lesson, we’ll examine morir conjugation and learn multiple forms, encompassing three moods: 

• Indicative (present, past, conditional, and future)
• Subjunctive (present and past)
• Imperative 

The Ultimate Guide to Morir Conjugation

Because this is a complete guide to morir conjugation, you may not be familiar with all the tenses and forms shown. However, with consistent practice, you’ll soon be an expert at using Spanish verbs.

Be sure to try out your fresh morir conjugation skills with the pop quiz at the end of this article!

Morir Conjugation: Verbals

For our first morir conjugations, you need to learn the following two verb forms:

1. Conjugation of haber + past participle of morir
2. Conjugation of estar + gerund form of morir

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 morir stays the same. 

The infinitive form of the verb is morir.

Hay tantos libros que hay que leer antes de morir.
There are so many books that one must read before dying.

Muchas personas van a morir por culpa de este virus.
Many people are going to die as a result of this virus.

The past participle of morir is muerto.

Un niño adolescente ha muerto. 
A teenage boy has died.

El pasado no está muerto.
The past is not dead.

The gerund form of morir is muriendo.

(Nos) estamos muriendo de hambre. 
We’re starving. 

Ellos están muriendo por no comer. 
They are dying of starvation.

A Note on Morir vs Morirse

Although some verbs, such as caer, are used in the reflexive form to indicate an unexpected action, that isn’t the case with morir. 

You’ll hear the pronominal form of the verb, morirse, when someone is speaking about a natural death or when referring to the death of friends or family members. It’s also used when using the term “dying to” in a figurative sense, as in “I’m dying to go there!” (¡Me estoy muriendo para ir allá!).

Using morirse is always optional. It sounds slightly less formal, softer, and less serious than morir. If you’re unsure about which one to use, go with morir.

Morir Conjugation: Indicative Mood

Present simple

Me muero de envidia.
I’m dying of envy.

A diferencia de la abeja, la avispa no muere al picar.
Unlike bees, wasps do not die when they sting.

Mi madre y mi hermano casi se mueren en un accidente de tránsito.
My mother and brother almost died in a car accident.

Past Simple

Mi abuelita murió en febrero. 
My grandma died in February.

Lola tenía cinco años cuando su padre murió.
Lola was five years old when her father died.

En el accidente murieron 345 personas. 
345 people died in the accident.

Past Imperfect

Una mujer moría cada minuto por complicaciones durante el embarazo o el parto.
One woman died every minute of complications during pregnancy and childbirth.

Muchos niños morían a causa de enfermedades curables.
Many children were dying of curable diseases.

Conditional

Sin ella, Jorge moriría.
Without her, Jorge would die.

Si Elizabeth moría, la magia moriría con ella.
If Elizabeth died, the magic would die with her.

Future Simple

Me moriré de preocupación.
I will die of worry.

Si no le hacemos un trasplante de pulmón, ella morirá.
If we don’t perform a liver transplant, she will die.

Morir Conjugation: Subjunctive Mood

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

Present Subjunctive

Puede ser que se muera el perro. 
The dog may die.

¡Esta dieta va a hacer que yo me muera de hambre!
I’ll starve to death on this diet!

Past Subjunctive

¿Te importaría si uno de tus amigos muriera?
Would you care if one of your friends passed away?

Siguió diciendo que no podía esperar hasta que se muriera.
He kept saying he couldn’t wait till she was gone.

Nos casamos seis meses después de que mi madre muriese.
We got married six months after my mother passed away.

Morir conjugation in the past subjunctive mood can either end in –era or -ese. Both ways are accepted, although -era is more common and informal. When writing a formal letter, I suggest you use the verb ending -ese. This also applies to the next tense.

Past Perfect Subjunctive

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

Este hombre hubiera muerto por mí.
This man would’ve taken a bullet for me.

Me pregunto qué hubiera pasado si Susana no hubiese muerto.
I wonder what would have happened if Susana had lived.

Present Perfect Subjunctive

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

No me puedo creer que haya muerto.
I can’t believe he’s gone.

Es probable que hayan muerto.
It is likely that they have died.

¡No estarán contentos hasta que hayamos muerto todos nosotros!
They won’t be happy until all of us are gone.

(Note: the future subjunctive tense exists is rarely used, so I’m not including it in this lesson.)

Morir Conjugation: Imperative Mood

The imperative mood is used to give commands. These tenses don’t include most of the subject pronouns since you can’t give commands in the first person singular (yo) or plural (nosotros) or the third person (él, ella, ellos, ellas). 

No mueras, iré por ayuda.
Stay alive, I’m getting help.

No muramos de hambre.
Let’s not starve.

Morir Conjugation Quiz

The best way to solidify your morir conjugation knowledge is by practicing! Check your understanding by completing the following quiz. (See the answer key at the end of the post.)

Exercise 1

Identify the tense and pronoun of each morir conjugation.

1. Moriría

2. Muero

3. Murieron

4. Moríamos

5. Mueras

Exercise 2

Conjugate morir in the tense given.

1. yo – present simple subjunctive

2. tú – imperative, negative

3. usted – present simple indicative

4. ellos – conditional indicative

5. nosotros – future simple

Exercise 3

Fill in the blank with the correct form of morir.

1. Mi abuelo __________ en Panamá y no pude ir a su funeral. (past simple)

2. Cada año en África millones de personas _________ de hambre. (present simple) 

3. ___________ de ganas de comer un helado de chocolate. (present simple) 

4. Dos personas  __________ en el accidente de tráfico. (past simple) 

5. Se ____________ el vecino de mis padres. (past perfect) 

Exercise 4

Translate the following sentences to English.

1. Si elegimos no hacer nada, entonces la esperanza morirá. 

2. Muere de cáncer la abogada inglesa. 

3. Al menos dos soldados murieron y diez resultaron heridos. 

4. Los dinosaurios no se murieron de frío. 

5. Yo me moriré sin tu amistad. 

Click here to see the answer key!

Discover a New Level of Spanish 

Congratulations! You’ve just learned a lot about morir conjugation in Spanish. The next step is to develop a speaking practice to solidify your new knowledge. A terrific way to make it happen is by talking about life and death with one of our native Spanish-speaking teachers from Guatemala. Engage in meaningful real-life conversations and improve your Spanish skills today by signing up for a free trial class at Homeschool Spanish Academy!

Ready to learn more Spanish grammar? Check these out!

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Answer Key

Exercise 1

1. yo/él, ella, usted – conditional

2. yo – simple present indicative

3.  ellos, ellas, ustedes – simple past indicative 

4. nosotros – past imperfect

5. tú – present subjunctive

Exercise 2

1. Muera

2. No mueras

3. Muere

4. Morirían

5. Morirémos

Exercise 3

1. (se) murió

2. (se) mueren

3. Me muero

4. murieron

5. ha muerto

Exercise 4 

1. If we choose to do nothing, then hope will die.

2. The English lawyer is dying of cancer.

3. At least two soldiers died and ten were injured.

4. The dinosaurs didn’t die of cold.

5. I will die without your friendship.

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Michelle Margaret Fajkus

Editor & Writer at Homeschool Spanish Academy

Michelle Margaret Fajkus is a bilingual writer and longtime yoga teacher. A former advertising copywriter turned bilingual elementary school teacher, she is now a freelance writer, editor and translator. A native Texan, Michelle has Mexican roots and learned Spanish in middle and high school. She has become more fluent thanks to living as an expat in Guatemala. She lives with her family on beautiful Lake Atitlan.

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