colocar Present Conjugation
colocar — to place
The present tense of colocar is completely regular: coloco, colocas, coloca, colocamos, colocáis, colocan.
colocar Present Forms
When to Use the Present
Use the present to talk about where you usually place things or your current job/positioning of items.
Notes on colocar in the Present
Colocar is regular in the present indicative. No spelling changes are needed here because the 'c' is followed by 'o' or 'a', which keeps the 'k' sound naturally.
Example Sentences
Siempre coloco mi ropa en el armario.
I always place my clothes in the closet.
yo
Él coloca las sillas para la fiesta.
He is placing the chairs for the party.
él/ella/usted
Nosotros colocamos los productos en los estantes.
We place the products on the shelves.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: colouco
Correct: coloco
Why: Learners sometimes confuse -ar verbs with stem-changing verbs like 'dormir' or 'poder', but colocar does not change its stem.
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Related Tenses
Preterite
yo: coloqué
The preterite of colocar features a spelling change in the first person: coloqué, colocaste, colocó, colocamos, colocasteis, colocaron.
Imperfect
yo: colocaba
The imperfect of colocar is regular: colocaba, colocabas, colocaba, colocábamos, colocabais, colocaban.
Future
yo: colocaré
The future tense of colocar is regular: colocaré, colocarás, colocará, colocaremos, colocaréis, colocarán.
Conditional
yo: colocaría
The conditional of colocar is regular: colocaría, colocarías, colocaría, colocaríamos, colocaríais, colocarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: coloque
The present subjunctive of colocar uses 'qu' in all forms: coloque, coloques, coloque, coloquemos, coloquéis, coloquen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: colocara
The imperfect subjunctive of colocar is regular: colocara, colocaras, colocara, colocáramos, colocarais, colocaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: coloca
The imperative of colocar gives commands: coloca (tú), coloque (usted), coloquemos (nosotros), colocad (vosotros), coloquen (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no coloques
The negative imperative of colocar uses 'qu' throughout: no coloques, no coloque, no coloquemos, no coloquéis, no coloquen.