Contar Conjugation: all tenses with charts
contar — to count, to tell
Present tense
cuento, cuentas, cuenta, contamos, contáis, cuentan
Participle contado · gerund contando
contar — present
presente · What is true now, what happens regularly, and settled plans.
| yo | cuento |
| tú | cuentas |
| él / ella / usted | cuenta |
| nosotros | contamos |
| vosotros | contáis |
| ellos / ustedes | cuentan |
contar — preterite
pretérito indefinido · A finished event that moves the story forward.
| yo | conté |
| tú | contaste |
| él / ella / usted | contó |
| nosotros | contamos |
| vosotros | contasteis |
| ellos / ustedes | contaron |
contar — imperfect
pretérito imperfecto · Habits, background and description in the past.
| yo | contaba |
| tú | contabas |
| él / ella / usted | contaba |
| nosotros | contábamos |
| vosotros | contabais |
| ellos / ustedes | contaban |
contar — future
futuro simple · What will happen — and guesses about what is happening now.
| yo | contaré |
| tú | contarás |
| él / ella / usted | contará |
| nosotros | contaremos |
| vosotros | contaréis |
| ellos / ustedes | contarán |
contar — conditional
condicional simple · Would: polite requests and unreal situations.
| yo | contaría |
| tú | contarías |
| él / ella / usted | contaría |
| nosotros | contaríamos |
| vosotros | contaríais |
| ellos / ustedes | contarían |
contar — present subjunctive
presente de subjuntivo · After wish, doubt, emotion and necessity.
| yo | cuente |
| tú | cuentes |
| él / ella / usted | cuente |
| nosotros | contemos |
| vosotros | contéis |
| ellos / ustedes | cuenten |
contar — imperfect subjunctive
imperfecto de subjuntivo · Past-tense triggers and si clauses about the unreal.
| yo | contara |
| tú | contaras |
| él / ella / usted | contara |
| nosotros | contáramos |
| vosotros | contarais |
| ellos / ustedes | contaran |
The -se forms mean exactly the same: contase, contases, contase…
contar — commands
imperativo · the negative forms come from the subjunctive, which is why they never match the affirmative ones.
| Person | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| tú | cuenta | no cuentes |
| él / ella / usted | cuente | no cuente |
| nosotros | contemos | no contemos |
| vosotros | contad | no contéis |
| ellos / ustedes | cuenten | no cuenten |
contar — compound tenses
All of them are haber plus the participle contado — learn haber once and every compound tense comes free.
| Present perfect | he contado |
| Past perfect | había contado |
| Future perfect | habré contado |
| Conditional perfect | habría contado |
| Present perfect subjunctive | haya contado |
| Pluperfect subjunctive | hubiera contado |
Conjugate it yourself
Type the form — these are the cells people get wrong most often.
contar — yo · present
A chart you read once is a chart you forget
Trazo puts contar into spaced repetition and brings it back exactly when you are about to lose it — next to the grammar and the sentences from your own lessons.