The Spanish verb contar means "to count, tell". Below are its 8 tenses as tables, with the irregular forms marked, 4 example sentences and answers to 3 common questions. Press play next to a present tense form or an example to hear it.
The present tense of contar is yo cuento, tú cuentas, él/ella/usted cuenta, nosotros contamos, vosotros contáis, ellos/ellas/ustedes cuentan. It is irregular: 4 of its 6 present forms break the regular -ar pattern. The tables below cover 8 tenses, from the present to the present perfect. Every present form and 4 example sentences have a listen button.
Forms in orange break the regular -ar pattern.
| yo | cuento (irregular) | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | cuentas (irregular) | |
| él/ | cuenta (irregular) | |
| nosotros | contamos | |
| vosotros | contáis | |
| ellos/ | cuentan (irregular) |
| yo | conté |
|---|---|
| tú | contaste |
| él/ | contó |
| nosotros | contamos |
| vosotros | contasteis |
| ellos/ | contaron |
| yo | contaba |
|---|---|
| tú | contabas |
| él/ | contaba |
| nosotros | contábamos |
| vosotros | contabais |
| ellos/ | contaban |
| yo | contaré |
|---|---|
| tú | contarás |
| él/ | contará |
| nosotros | contaremos |
| vosotros | contaréis |
| ellos/ | contarán |
| yo | contaría |
|---|---|
| tú | contarías |
| él/ | contaría |
| nosotros | contaríamos |
| vosotros | contaríais |
| ellos/ | contarían |
| yo | cuente (irregular) |
|---|---|
| tú | cuentes (irregular) |
| él/ | cuente (irregular) |
| nosotros | contemos |
| vosotros | contéis |
| ellos/ | cuenten (irregular) |
| tú | cuenta (irregular) |
|---|---|
| usted | cuente (irregular) |
| nosotros | contemos |
| vosotros | contad |
| ustedes | cuenten (irregular) |
| yo | he contado |
|---|---|
| tú | has contado |
| él/ | ha contado |
| nosotros | hemos contado |
| vosotros | habéis contado |
| ellos/ | han contado |
Contar is irregular. The stem changes from cont to cuent in present forms such as cuento, cuentas and cuentan, and in present subjunctive forms such as cuente and cuenten. The nosotros present forms contamos and contemos keep cont.
Lingo7 is an app for reading books in Spanish with a translation under every sentence and audio, so the forms in these tables come back in context.
No. Contar is irregular because several present and present subjunctive forms use cuent instead of cont.
The stem changes from cont to cuent in cuento, cuentas, cuenta and cuentan. The nosotros form is contamos and keeps cont.
They are cuente, cuentes, cuente, contemos, contéis and cuenten. The nosotros and vosotros forms are contemos and contéis, while the other forms use cuent.