provocar Present Conjugation
provocar — to cause
The present tense of provocar is entirely regular: provoco, provocas, provoca, provocamos, provocáis, provocan.
provocar Present Forms
When to Use the Present
Use this to describe what usually causes a reaction or what is currently causing an effect.
Notes on provocar in the Present
This tense is completely regular. No spelling changes are needed because the endings (-o, -as, -a, etc.) do not change the pronunciation of the 'c'.
Example Sentences
Este medicamento provoca sueño.
This medicine causes sleepiness.
él/ella/usted
A veces yo provoco situaciones incómodas.
Sometimes I cause awkward situations.
yo
Las noticias provocan mucha preocupación.
The news causes a lot of worry.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using 'provoquo' for the yo form.
Correct: provoco
Why: The spelling change to 'qu' only happens before 'e' or 'i'. Before 'o', the 'c' already makes the hard 'k' sound.
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Related Tenses
Preterite
yo: provoqué
The preterite of provocar is regular except for the 'yo' form, which changes 'c' to 'qu': provoqué.
Imperfect
yo: provocaba
The imperfect of provocar is regular: provocaba, provocabas, provocaba, provocábamos, provocabais, provocaban.
Future
yo: provocaré
The future tense of provocar is regular: provocaré, provocarás, provocará, provocaremos, provocaréis, provocarán.
Conditional
yo: provocaría
The conditional of provocar is regular: provocaría, provocarías, provocaría, provocaríamos, provocaríais, provocarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: provoque
The present subjunctive of provocar requires a spelling change from 'c' to 'qu' in all forms: provoque, provoques, provoque, provoquemos, provoquéis, provoquen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: provocara
The imperfect subjunctive of provocar is formed from the third-person plural preterite: provocara, provocaras, provocara, provocáramos, provocarais, provocaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: provoca
The imperative of provocar uses the spelling change 'qu' for formal commands: provoca (tú), provoque (usted), provoquen (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no provoques
The negative imperative of provocar always uses the 'qu' spelling change: no provoques, no provoque, no provoquemos, no provoquen.