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importar

eem-por-tarim.poɾˈtaɾ

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

to matter, to be important

Also: 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 import

Also: 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

🔄 Conjugations

indicative

present

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

imperfect

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

preterite

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

subjunctive

present

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

imperfect

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

🔀 Commonly Confused With

Translate to Spanish

Words that translate to "importar" in Spanish:

to care→to import→to 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▼
📚 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.