masticar Present Conjugation
masticar — to chew
Masticar is a completely regular -ar verb in the present tense: mastico, masticas, mastica, masticamos, masticáis, mastican.
masticar Present Forms
When to Use the Present
Use this for current habits or facts, such as how someone typically chews or the fact that cows chew cud.
Notes on masticar in the Present
Masticar is fully regular in the present indicative. No spelling changes are needed here because the 'c' is followed by 'o' or 'a', which naturally produces the hard 'k' sound.
Example Sentences
Yo siempre mastico chicle sin azúcar.
I always chew sugar-free gum.
yo
Ella mastica muy ruidosamente.
She chews very noisily.
él/ella/usted
Los bebés no mastican bien todavía.
Babies don't chew well yet.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: mastiquo
Correct: mastico
Why: Learners often over-apply the 'qu' change. In the present tense, 'c' before 'o' already sounds like 'k', so no change is needed.
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Related Tenses
Preterite
yo: mastiqué
Masticar is regular except for the 'yo' form, which changes to mastiqué to keep the hard 'k' sound.
Imperfect
yo: masticaba
The imperfect of masticar is regular: masticaba, masticabas, masticaba, masticábamos, masticabais, masticaban.
Future
yo: masticaré
The future of masticar is regular: masticaré, masticarás, masticará, masticaremos, masticaréis, masticarán.
Conditional
yo: masticaría
The conditional of masticar is regular: masticaría, masticarías, masticaría, masticaríamos, masticaríais, masticarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: mastique
Masticar undergoes a spelling change from 'c' to 'qu' in all present subjunctive forms: mastique, mastiques, mastique, mastiquemos, mastiquéis, mastiquen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: masticara
The imperfect subjunctive of masticar is regular: masticara, masticaras, masticara, masticáramos, masticarais, masticaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: mastica
The imperative forms are: mastica (tú), mastique (usted), mastiquemos (nosotros), masticad (vosotros), mastiquen (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no mastiques
The negative imperative uses the present subjunctive: no mastiques (tú), no mastique (usted), no mastiquemos (nosotros), no mastiquéis (vosotros), no mastiquen (ustedes).