Cuidar conjugation
Table of Contents
Cuidar is a Spanish verb which translates into English as “to take care of, to look after”.
Below are all of the conjugations for cuidar in Spanish, in all three moods (indicative/indicativo, subjunctive/subjunctivo and imperative/imperativo) and all of the tenses, for each pronoun.
The vosotros pronoun is mainly used in mainland Spain, and is the informal second-person plural – it could be considered the Spanish version of “y’all”. It is rarely found in Latin America, where ustedes is used instead.
The vos form is used instead of tú in some Spanish speaking countries of South America, especially the Southern Cone (e.g. Argentina and Uruguay) and has a different conjugation.
Cuidar Infinitive
| English Infinitive | to take care of, to look after |
|---|---|
| Spanish Infinitive | cuidar |
Cuidar Gerund and Past Participle
The gerund (gerundio) is used with the continuous tenses, e.g. present continuous (está cuidando) and past continuous (estaba cuidando). The easiest way to think of it is the equivalent of english’s -ing form (e.g. taking care of).
The past participle (participio) is used with perfect tense ‘haber’ verbs, e.g. he cuidado and hubiera cuidado. These are the equivalent of English’s ‘have’ (e.g. have taken care of).
| Gerundio / Gerund | cuidando |
|---|---|
| Participio / Past Participle | cuidado |
Cuidar Indicative Conjugations
The basic form of speech, el indicativo is used for making statements, talking about facts, events and things that are certain and objective.
Cuidar Presente / Present
The present tense is as it sounds – it’s for talking about things that are currently going on, which are habitual, or which generally exist. In English, this would be “I take care of” or “they take care of”.
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | cuido |
| Tú | cuidas |
| Él / Ella / Usted | cuida |
| Nosotros / as | cuidamos |
| Vosotros / as | cuidáis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | cuidan |
| Vos | cuidás |
Cuidar Preterite / Pretérito Indefinido
Your simple past tense, e.g. “I took care of” or “she took care of” in English.
In Spanish, there are two past tenses where just one is used in English; the pretérite infefinido is typically used to refer to a concrete, specific moment in time.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | cuidé | I took care of |
| Tú | cuidaste | You took care of |
| Él / Ella / Usted | cuidó | He / she / you took care of |
| Nosotros / as | cuidamos | We took care of |
| Vosotros / as | cuidasteis | You took care of |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | cuidaron | They / you took care of |
| Vos | cuidaste | You took care of |
Cuidar Imperfect / Pretérito Imperfecto
The pretérito imperfecto roughly translates as “I was taking care of” or “she was taking care of” in English, and is typically used to describe things and set a scene, talk about events without a specific timeframe, or talk about habitual events or states in the past.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | cuidaba | I was taking care of |
| Tú | cuidabas | You were taking care of |
| Él / Ella / Usted | cuidaba | He was / she was / you were taking care of |
| Nosotros / as | cuidábamos | We were taking care of |
| Vosotros / as | cuidabais | You were taking care of |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | cuidaban | They / you were taking care of |
| Vos | cuidabas | You were taking care of |
Cuidar Perfect / Perfecto
The perfect tense is for talking about things which happened in the past but are still related to the present or continue into the present.
In English, these use the auxiliary verbs ‘have’ and ‘has’ – i.e. “I have taken care of” and “she has taken care of”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | he cuidado | I have taken care of |
| Tú | has cuidado | You have taken care of |
| Él / Ella / Usted | ha cuidado | He has / she has / you have taken care of |
| Nosotros / as | hemos cuidado | We have taken care of |
| Vosotros / as | habéis cuidado | You have taken care of |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | han cuidado | They / you have taken care of |
| Vos | has cuidado | You have taken care of |
Cuidar Conditional / Condicional
The conditional is used in place of the English modal verb “would”, i.e. “I would take care of” or “she would take care of”. It can be used to talk about hypothetical situations.
| Pronoun | Spanish | Englush |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | cuidaría | I would take care of |
| Tú | cuidarías | You would take care of |
| Él / Ella / Usted | cuidaría | He / she / you would take care of |
| Nosotros / as | cuidaríamos | We would take care of |
| Vosotros / as | cuidaríais | You would take care of |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | cuidarían | They / you would take care of |
| Vos | cuidarías | You would take care of |
Cuidar Future / Futuro
The future tense, simply put, replaces the English modal verb “will” – i.e. “I will take care of” or “they will take care of”.
It is more commonly used for making a hypothesis about the present. To talk about the future, Spanish speakers frequently use “ir + a + infinivo”, e.g. “van a cuidar” means “They are going to take care of”.
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | cuidaré | I will take care of |
| Tú | cuidarás | You will take care of |
| Él / Ella / Usted | cuidará | He / she / you will take care of |
| Nosotros / as | cuidaremos | We will take care of |
| Vosotros / as | cuidaréis | You will take care of |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | cuidarán | They / you will take care of |
| Vos | cuidarás | You will take care of |
Cuidar Subjunctive Conjugations
Cuidar Present Subjunctive / Presente de Subjuntivo
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | cuide |
| Tú | cuides |
| Él / Ella / Usted | cuide |
| Nosotros / as | cuidemos |
| Vosotros / as | cuidéis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | cuiden |
| Vos | cuides |
Cuidar Past Subjunctive / Imperfecto de Subjuntivo
There are two ways to form the imperfect subjunctive.
The first option sees verbs ending in -era (for -er and -ir verbs) and -ara (for -ar verbs), while the second sees verbs ending in -ese (for -er and -ir verbs) and -ase (for -ar verbs).
There is no difference between these two forms, and Spanish speakers use them interchangeably.
| Pronoun | Spanish era/ara | Spanish ese/ase |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | cuidara | cuidase |
| Tú | cuidaras | cuidase |
| Él / Ella / Usted | cuidara | cuidase |
| Nosotros / as | cuidáramos | cuidásemos |
| Vosotros / as | cuidarais | cuidaseis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | cuidaran | cuidasen |
| Vos | cuidaras | cuidase |
Cuidar Future Subjunctive / Futuro de Subjuntivo
The future subjunctive is no longer used in modern-day Spanish, apart from in literary and legal contexts, and there is no need to learn it.
It is formed the same as the past/imperfect subjunctive, but with -e endings instead of -a endings.
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | cuidare |
| Tú | cuidares |
| Él / Ella / Usted | cuidare |
| Nosotros / as | cuidáremos |
| Vosotros / as | cuidareis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | cuidaren |
| Vos | cuidares |
Cuidar Imperative Conjugations
Used for forming positive and negative commands, e.g. “take care of!” and “don’t take care of!”.
| Pronoun | Spanish Affirmative | Spanish Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Tú | cuida | no cuides |
| Él / Ella / Usted | cuide | no cuide |
| Nosotros / as | cuidemos | no cuidemos |
| Vosotros / as | cuidad | no cuidéis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | cuiden | no cuiden |
| Vos | cuidá | no cuides |
Cuidar Compound Subjunctive Tenses
Cuidar Subjunctive Perfect
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | haya cuidado |
| Tú | hayas cuidado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | haya cuidado |
| Nosotros / as | hayamos cuidado |
| Vosotros / as | hayáis cuidado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hayan cuidado |
| Vos | hayas cuidado |
Cuidar Subjunctive Past Perfect
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera cuidado / hubiese cuidado |
| Tú | hubieras cuidado / hubieses cuidado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiera cuidado / hubiese cuidado |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéramos cuidado / hubiésemos cuidado |
| Vosotros / as | hubierais cuidado / hubieseis cuidado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieran cuidado / hubiesen cuidado |
| Vos | hubieras cuidado / hubieses cuidado |
Cuidar Subjunctive Future Perfect
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere cuidado |
| Tú | hubieres cuidado |
| Él / Ella / Usted | hubiere cuidado |
| Nosotros / as | hubiéremos cuidado |
| Vosotros / as | hubiereis cuidado |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | hubieren cuidado |
| Vos | hubieres cuidado |
Cuidar Subjective Progressive Perfect
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | esté cuidando |
| Tú | estés cuidando |
| Él / Ella / Usted | esté cuidando |
| Nosotros / as | estemos cuidando |
| Vosotros / as | estéis cuidando |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estén cuidando |
| Vos | estés cuidando |
Cuidar Subjunctive Past Progressive
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviera cuidando / estuviese cuidando |
| Tú | estuvieras cuidando / estuvieses cuidando |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviera cuidando / estuviese cuidando |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéramos cuidando / estuviésamos cuidando |
| Vosotros / as | estuvierais cuidando / estuvieseis cuidando |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviera cuidando / estuviese cuidando |
| Vos | estuvieras cuidando / estuvieses cuidando |
Cuidar Subjunctive Future Progressive
| Pronoun | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Yo | estuviere cuidando |
| Tú | estuvieres cuidando |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estuviere cuidando |
| Nosotros / as | estuviéremos cuidando |
| Vosotros / as | estuviereis cuidando |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estuviere cuidando |
| Vos | estuvieres cuidando |
Cuidar Vos Conjugation
Voseo is the practice of using ‘vos’ instead of ‘tú’ as the second-person singular pronoun, and is common throughout much of South America.
There are various versions of ‘voseo’ used throughout the Spanish-speaking world. The conjugations for the most common type – used throughout Argentina, parts of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguya and Uruguay are below.
The present indicative (presente de indicativo) and affirmative imperative (imperativo) have different conjugations from the tú form, while all other tenses generally use the tú form.
| Tense | Vos Conjugation |
|---|---|
| Present Indicative Presente de Indicativo | Vos cuidás |
| Simle Past / Preterite Preterite de Indicativo | Vos cuidaste |
| Imperfect Past Preterite Imperfecto de Indicativo | Vos cuidabas |
| Conditional Condicional | Vos cuidarías |
| Future Futuro de Indicativo | Vos cuidarás |
| Present Subjunctive Presente de Subjunctivo | Vos cuides |
| Imperfect Subjunctive Imperfecto de Subjunctivo | Vos cuidaras / Vos cuidase |
| Affirmative Imperative Imperativo | Vos cuidá |
| Negative Imperative Imperativo Negativo | Vos no cuides |