Inklingo
Dictionary

importar

eem-por-tarim.poɾˈtaɾ

“importar” means “to matter” in Spanish. It has 2 different meanings depending on context:

to matterA1Verb

to be important

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to importB1Verb

to bring goods or services into a country

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to matter, to be importantAlso: to care

VerbA1regular ar
A large, gentle hand carefully holding a small, shiny golden key, emphasizing the key's importance or value.
infinitiveimportar
gerundimportando
past Participleimportado

📝 In Action

¿Te importa si cierro la ventana?

A1

Does it matter to you if I close the window?

Su opinión no nos importa mucho.

A2

His opinion doesn't matter much to us.

Lo que realmente importa es tu salud.

B1

What really matters is your health.

Word Connections

Synonyms

Common Collocations

  • No importa – It doesn't matter
  • Lo que importa – What matters

Idioms & Expressions

  • ¡Qué más da! – What difference does it make? / Who cares?

to importAlso: to bring in

VerbB1regular arneutral/formal
A simplified cargo ship docked at a port, with colorful wooden crates being lifted by a crane from the ship onto the shore, illustrating the act of importing goods.
infinitiveimportar
gerundimportando
past Participleimportado

📝 In Action

México importa muchos vehículos de Japón.

B1

Mexico imports many vehicles from Japan.

La empresa importa las materias primas de China.

B2

The company imports the raw materials from China.

Si importamos menos, el precio subirá.

C1

If we import less, the price will go up.

Word Connections

Synonyms

Antonyms

Common Collocations

  • Importar productos – To import products
  • Importar tecnología – To import technology

Indicative

Present

yoimporto
túimportas
él/ella/ustedimporta
nosotrosimportamos
vosotrosimportáis
ellos/ellas/ustedesimportan

Imperfect

yoimportaba
túimportabas
él/ella/ustedimportaba
nosotrosimportábamos
vosotrosimportabais
ellos/ellas/ustedesimportaban

Preterite

yoimporté
túimportaste
él/ella/ustedimportó
nosotrosimportamos
vosotrosimportasteis
ellos/ellas/ustedesimportaron

Subjunctive

Present Subjunctive

yoimporte
túimportes
él/ella/ustedimporte
nosotrosimportemos
vosotrosimportéis
ellos/ellas/ustedesimporten

Imperfect Subjunctive

yoimportara
túimportaras
él/ella/ustedimportara
nosotrosimportáramos
vosotrosimportarais
ellos/ellas/ustedesimportaran
View All Tenses & Moods →

🔀 Commonly Confused With

Often confused with interesarverbs

Translate to Spanish

Words that translate to "importar" in Spanish:

to careto importto matter

✏️ Quick Practice

Quick Quiz: importar

Question 1 of 2

Which sentence uses 'importar' in the sense of 'to matter'?

📚 More Resources

👥 Word Family
la importancia(importance) — Noun
importante(important) — Adjective
la importación(import (the act of importing)) — Noun
el importador(importer) — Noun
🎵 Rhymes
cortarcantar
📚 Etymology

Comes from the Latin *importare*, meaning 'to carry into' or 'to bring in.' This root gives rise to both the modern meaning of bringing goods into a country (commerce) and the figurative sense of bringing significance or weight to a situation (to matter).

First recorded: 13th century

Cognates (Related words)

English: to importFrench: importer

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do I say 'I don't care' using importar?

The most common way is 'No me importa.' You are literally saying 'It doesn't matter to me.' You can also use 'No nos importa' (We don't care).

Is 'importar' irregular?

No, 'importar' is a perfectly regular -AR verb. You conjugate it just like 'hablar' or 'cantar' in all tenses, although you primarily use the third-person forms for the 'to matter' meaning.