cantar Preterite Conjugation
cantar — to sing
The preterite of cantar is regular: canté, cantaste, cantó, cantamos, cantasteis, cantaron.
cantar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite to describe a specific singing event that happened once, like a concert last night or a song you finished at karaoke.
Notes on cantar in the Preterite
Cantar is fully regular in the preterite. Just remember to add the written accents on the 'yo' and 'él/ella/usted' forms to indicate stress.
Example Sentences
Ayer canté mi canción favorita en la fiesta.
Yesterday I sang my favorite song at the party.
yo
Él cantó el himno nacional ayer.
He sang the national anthem yesterday.
él/ella/usted
Nosotros cantamos juntos en el concierto.
We sang together at the concert.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Confusing 'cantó' with 'canto'.
Correct: cantó (past) vs canto (present)
Why: The accent on the 'ó' is crucial; without it, you are saying 'I sing' instead of 'He/She sang'.
Master Spanish verbs in context
Memorizing tables only gets you so far. Read 200+ illustrated and narrated Spanish stories to see verbs like 'cantar' used naturally — in the tenses you're learning.
Related Tenses
Present
yo: canto
Cantar is regular in the present: canto, cantas, canta, cantamos, cantáis, cantan.
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.