cantar Present Conjugation
cantar — to sing
Cantar is regular in the present: canto, cantas, canta, cantamos, cantáis, cantan.
cantar Present Forms
When to Use the Present
Use the present tense to talk about singing habits, current actions, or general facts about someone's voice. It's perfect for describing a hobby or a professional singer's routine.
Notes on cantar in the Present
Cantar is a perfectly regular -ar verb in the present tense. It follows the standard pattern without any stem changes or spelling shifts.
Example Sentences
Yo canto en un coro los fines de semana.
I sing in a choir on weekends.
yo
Ella canta muy bien las canciones de pop.
She sings pop songs very well.
él/ella/usted
¿Tú cantas en la ducha?
Do you sing in the shower?
tú
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using 'yo canta' instead of 'yo canto'.
Correct: yo canto
Why: Learners sometimes forget that the first person singular ending for -ar verbs is -o.
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Related Tenses
Preterite
yo: canté
The preterite of cantar is regular: canté, cantaste, cantó, cantamos, cantasteis, cantaron.
Imperfect
yo: cantaba
The imperfect of cantar follows the regular -aba pattern: cantaba, cantabas, cantaba, cantábamos, cantabais, cantaban.
Future
yo: cantaré
The future of cantar uses the infinitive as the stem: cantaré, cantarás, cantará, cantaremos, cantaréis, cantarán.
Conditional
yo: cantaría
The conditional of cantar is regular: cantaría, cantarías, cantaría, cantaríamos, cantaríais, cantarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: cante
The present subjunctive of cantar uses -e endings: cante, cantes, cante, cantemos, cantéis, canten.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: cantara
The imperfect subjunctive of cantar is based on the 'ellos' preterite: cantara, cantaras, cantara, cantáramos, cantarais, cantaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: canta
The imperative of cantar gives commands: canta (tú), cantad (vosotros), cante (usted).
Negative Imperative
yo: no cantes
The negative imperative of cantar uses the present subjunctive: no cantes, no cante, no cantemos, no cantéis, no canten.