Conjugating the Spanish Verb Cantar (to Sing)

Spanish verbs fall into different groups, and each group is conjugated a little differently. If you’re going to master Spanish verbs like cantar, you need to be able to identify which group a verb belongs to: regular (follows regular conjugation rules for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs), stem-changing (morphs depending on how you use it in a sentence), spelling-changing (has consonant-spelling changes in some forms to follow pronunciation rules), or reflexive (reflects the action back on the subject of the sentence).


Cantar (kahn-tahr) (to sing) is a regular -ar verb, so its conjugation is pretty straightforward. Here it is in the present tense:









































The Present Tense of Cantar
ConjugationTranslation
yo cantoI sing
tú cantasYou (informal) sing
él/ella/ello/uno cantaHe/she/one sings
usted cantaYou (formal) sing
nosotros cantamosWe sing
vosotros cantáisYou all (informal) sing
ellos/ellas cantanThey sing
ustedes cantanYou all (formal) sing

The following examples show you cantar in action:



  • Ella canta en la escuela todos los días. (She sings at school every day.)



  • Canto y canto y no me canso. (I sing and sing and I don’t get tired.)




Need to know how to conjugate cantar in another tense? The following tables show you the preterit, imperfect, and future forms.









































The Preterit Tense of Cantar
ConjugationTranslation
yo cantéI sang
tú cantasteYou (informal) sang
él/ella/ello/uno cantóHe/she/one sang
usted cantoYou (formal) sang
nosotros cantamosWe sang
vosotros cantasteisYou all (informal) sang
ellos/ellas cantaronThey sang
ustedes cantaronYou all (formal) sang

You use the preterit tense like this:



  • Cantamos el himno nacional esta mañana. (We sang the National Anthem this morning.)



  • ¿Cantaron tus padres cuando te casaste? (Did your parents sing when you got married?)











































The Imperfect Tense of Cantar
ConjugationTranslation
yo cantabaI used to sing
tú cantabasYou (informal) used to sing
él/ella/ello/uno cantabaHe/she/one used to sing
usted cantabaYou (formal) used to sing
nosotros cantábamosWe used to sing
vosotros cantabaisYou all (informal) used to sing
ellos/ellas cantabanThey used to sing
ustedes cantabanYou all (formal) used to sing

Here are some examples of the imperfect tense:



  • María cantaba siempre en la ducha. (Mary used to always sing in the shower.)



  • ¿Cantaban ustedes cuando subían a las montañas? (Did you sing when you used to climb mountains?)











































The Future Tense of Cantar
ConjugationTranslation
yo cantaréI will sing
tú cantarásYou (informal) will sing
él/ella/ello/uno cantaráHe/she/one will sing
usted cantaráYou (formal) will sing
nosotros cantaremosWe will sing
vosotros cantaréisYou all (informal) will sing
ellos/ellas cantaránThey will sing
ustedes cantaránYou all (formal) will sing

The following samples put the future tense to work:



  • Jorge cantará en la boda este otoño. (Jorge will sing at the wedding this fall.)



  • Cantaré en el coro este domingo. (I will sing in the choir this Sunday.)






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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/conjugating-the-spanish-verb-cantar-to-sing.html

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