colar Affirmative Imperative Conjugation
colar — to strain
The imperative uses 'cuela' (tú) and 'cuele' (usted), following the stem change.
colar Affirmative Imperative Forms
When to Use the Affirmative Imperative
Use this to give direct instructions in a recipe or to tell someone to 'cut it out' (if they are sneaking in).
Notes on colar in the Affirmative Imperative
The informal 'tú' and formal 'usted' forms use the stem change (o > ue). The 'vosotros' form (colad) is regular.
Example Sentences
¡Cuela los fideos ahora!
Strain the noodles now!
tú
Cuele el té antes de beberlo.
Strain the tea before drinking it.
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Saying 'cola' instead of 'cuela'.
Correct: cuela
Why: The imperative 'tú' form matches the present indicative third-person singular, which has the stem change.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: cuelo
Colar changes its stem from 'o' to 'ue' in the present tense, except for nosotros and vosotros.
Preterite
yo: colé
Colar is completely regular in the preterite: colé, colaste, coló, colamos, colasteis, colaron.
Imperfect
yo: colaba
Colar is regular in the imperfect: colaba, colabas, colaba, colábamos, colabais, colaban.
Future
yo: colaré
The future of colar is regular: colaré, colarás, colará, colaremos, colaréis, colarán.
Conditional
yo: colaría
The conditional of colar is regular: colaría, colarías, colaría, colaríamos, colaríais, colarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: cuele
The present subjunctive of colar follows the o > ue stem change: cuele, cueles, cuele, colemos, coléis, cuelen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: colara
The imperfect subjunctive of colar is regular: colara, colaras, colara, coláramos, colarais, colaran.
Negative Imperative
yo: no cueles
The negative imperative uses the present subjunctive forms: no cueles, no cuele, no colemos, no coléis, no cuelen.