Cobrar Conjugation | How to Conjugate Cobrar in Spanish

Cobrar means “to charge,” “to collect payment,” or “to get paid,” depending on the sentence. You will learn its fully regular -AR conjugation and how to express the amount charged, what a payment is for, and the person who is charged.

Cobrar conjugation at a glance

Verb type: Regular AR. Linguistically, cobrar is a regular -AR verb: the stem cobr- remains stable, the gerund cobrando means “charging / collecting payment,” and the participle cobrado means “charged / collected.” Meaning depends on whether the subject receives money, charges an amount, or collects payment.

Cobrar gerund, past participle, and infinitive

The infinitive names the verb, the gerund helps build progressive constructions, and the past participle is used with haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — in compound forms. With compound forms built with haber, the participle remains invariant.

Form	Spanish	Natural English guide
Infinitive	cobrar	to charge or collect payment
Gerund	cobrando	charging / collecting payment
Past participle	cobrado	charged / collected

Cobrar meaning and essential uses

Cobrar commonly means “to receive / collect money as payment”: Cobro a fin de mes. — “I get paid at the end of the month.” It can also mean “to charge”: Cobran diez euros. — “They charge ten euros.”

With a service or reason, cobrar por expresses what the payment is for: Cobra por hora. — “He charges by the hour.” A person paying can appear as an indirect object: Le cobraron veinte euros. — “They charged him/her twenty euros.”

Cobrar conjugation pattern

Cobrar is fully regular in the core paradigm. The stem cobr- remains stable, and standard -AR endings form the indicative, subjunctive, and commands. Its gerund cobrando means “charging / collecting payment,” and its participle cobrado means “charged / collected.”

Cobrar indicative and periphrastic conjugations

Cobrar present tense conjugation

Present indicative (el presente de indicativo) — Use the present indicative for current actions, habits, scheduled events, or general statements. This verb uses the regular -AR present endings with a stable stem.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	cobro	I charge
Tú — you, singular informal	cobras	you charge
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cobra	he / she charges; you charge (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	cobramos	we charge
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cobráis	you charge (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cobran	they charge; you charge (plural)

• Cobro por transferencia bancaria. — I get paid by bank transfer.

Cobrar preterite conjugation

Preterite (el pretérito perfecto simple / pretérito indefinido) — Use the preterite for completed or bounded past events. These forms follow the regular -AR preterite pattern.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	cobré	I charged
Tú — you, singular informal	cobraste	you charged
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cobró	he / she charged; you charged (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	cobramos	we charged
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cobrasteis	you charged (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cobraron	they charged; you charged (plural)

• Ayer cobraron la factura completa. — Yesterday they collected the full invoice payment.

Cobrar imperfect conjugation

Imperfect (el pretérito imperfecto) — Use the imperfect for past habits, background situations, descriptions, or an action viewed as ongoing. The target verb uses its regular imperfect pattern.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	cobraba	I was charging
Tú — you, singular informal	cobrabas	you were charging
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cobraba	he / she was charging; you were charging (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	cobrábamos	we were charging
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cobrabais	you were charging (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cobraban	they were charging; you were charging (plural)

• Antes cobraba por cada consulta. — I used to charge for each consultation.

Cobrar present progressive

Present progressive (el presente progresivo) — This verbal periphrasis presents the action as genuinely in progress. Form it with the present of estar — “to be” — plus cobrando — “charging.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	estoy cobrando	I am charging
Tú — you, singular informal	estás cobrando	you are charging
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	está cobrando	he / she is charging; you are charging (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	estamos cobrando	we are charging
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	estáis cobrando	you are charging (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	están cobrando	they are charging; you are charging (plural)

• Estamos cobrando las cuotas de septiembre. — We are collecting the September fees.

Cobrar near future conjugation

Near future (el futuro próximo) — This verbal periphrasis expresses plans, intentions, or expected future events. Form it with the present of ir — “to go” — plus a + cobrar — “to charge or collect payment.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	voy a cobrar	I am going to charge
Tú — you, singular informal	vas a cobrar	you are going to charge
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	va a cobrar	he / she is going to charge; you are going to charge (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	vamos a cobrar	we are going to charge
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	vais a cobrar	you are going to charge (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	van a cobrar	they are going to charge; you are going to charge (plural)

• Van a cobrar una tarifa adicional. — They are going to charge an additional fee.

Cobrar future tense conjugation

Simple future (el futuro simple) — Use the future for future reference and, when context supports it, probability. Add the future endings to the full infinitive cobrar — “to charge or collect payment”.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	cobraré	I will charge
Tú — you, singular informal	cobrarás	you will charge
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cobrará	he / she will charge; you will charge (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	cobraremos	we will charge
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cobraréis	you will charge (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cobrarán	they will charge; you will charge (plural)

• Cobraré cuando termine el trabajo. — I will get paid when the work is finished.

Cobrar conditional conjugation

Simple conditional (el condicional simple) — Use the conditional for hypothetical results, polite softening, or other conditional meanings. Add the conditional endings to the full infinitive cobrar — “to charge or collect payment”.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	cobraría	I would charge
Tú — you, singular informal	cobrarías	you would charge
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cobraría	he / she would charge; you would charge (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	cobraríamos	we would charge
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cobraríais	you would charge (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cobrarían	they would charge; you would charge (plural)

• Cobraría menos por un proyecto pequeño. — I would charge less for a small project.

Cobrar present perfect conjugation

Present perfect (el pretérito perfecto compuesto) — Use the present perfect for completed events connected to the present; its distribution varies by region. Form it with present forms of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle cobrado — the target verb’s past participle.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	he cobrado	I have charged
Tú — you, singular informal	has cobrado	you have charged
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	ha cobrado	he / she has charged; you have charged (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hemos cobrado	we have charged
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habéis cobrado	you have charged (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	han cobrado	they have charged; you have charged (plural)

• Ya hemos cobrado el primer pago. — We have already received the first payment.

Cobrar past perfect conjugation

Past perfect / pluperfect (el pretérito pluscuamperfecto) — Use this form for an event completed before another past reference point. Form it with imperfect forms of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle cobrado — the target verb’s past participle.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	había cobrado	I had charged
Tú — you, singular informal	habías cobrado	you had charged
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	había cobrado	he / she had charged; you had charged (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habíamos cobrado	we had charged
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habíais cobrado	you had charged (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habían cobrado	they had charged; you had charged (plural)

• Habían cobrado antes de entregar el producto. — They had collected payment before delivering the product.

Cobrar future perfect conjugation

Future perfect (el futuro compuesto / antefuturo) — Use this form for something expected to be completed by a future point. Form it with future forms of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle cobrado — the target verb’s past participle.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	habré cobrado	I will have charged
Tú — you, singular informal	habrás cobrado	you will have charged
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	habrá cobrado	he / she will have charged; you will have charged (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habremos cobrado	we will have charged
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habréis cobrado	you will have charged (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habrán cobrado	they will have charged; you will have charged (plural)

• Para el viernes habremos cobrado todas las facturas. — By Friday we will have collected all the invoice payments.

Cobrar conditional perfect conjugation

Conditional perfect (el condicional compuesto / antepospretérito) — Use this form for a hypothetical completed result or unreal past outcome. Form it with conditional forms of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle cobrado — the target verb’s past participle.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	habría cobrado	I would have charged
Tú — you, singular informal	habrías cobrado	you would have charged
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	habría cobrado	he / she would have charged; you would have charged (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habríamos cobrado	we would have charged
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habríais cobrado	you would have charged (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habrían cobrado	they would have charged; you would have charged (plural)

• Habría cobrado más si el trabajo hubiera sido urgente. — I would have charged more if the work had been urgent.

Cobrar subjunctive conjugations

Cobrar present subjunctive conjugation

Present subjunctive (el presente de subjuntivo) — Use it in environments such as wishes, influence, emotion, doubt, evaluation, necessity, or non-specific reference. The target verb follows the regular -AR present-subjunctive pattern.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	cobre	that I charge
Tú — you, singular informal	cobres	that you charge
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cobre	that he / she charge; that you charge (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	cobremos	that we charge
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cobréis	that you charge (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cobren	that they charge; that you charge (plural)

• Es justo que cobres por tu trabajo. — It is fair that you charge for your work.

Cobrar imperfect subjunctive conjugation

Imperfect subjunctive (el imperfecto de subjuntivo) — Use it in subordinate clauses linked to past, hypothetical, or unreal contexts. The main table uses the accepted -ra series. The -se series is also accepted in many contexts; the example list includes a -se form without implying mechanical interchangeability everywhere.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	cobrara	that I charged / were to charge
Tú — you, singular informal	cobraras	that you charged / were to charge
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cobrara	that he / she charged / were to charge; that you charged / were to charge (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	cobráramos	that we charged / were to charge
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cobrarais	that you charged / were to charge (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cobraran	that they charged / were to charge; that you charged / were to charge (plural)

• Querían que cobráramos al final. — They wanted us to charge at the end.
• Prefería que cobraseis por transferencia. — She preferred that you all charge by bank transfer.

Cobrar future subjunctive conjugation

Future subjunctive (el futuro de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. It survives mainly in formal, legal, proverbial, literary, or historical contexts and is presented here as a reference system.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	cobrare	if / when I should charge
Tú — you, singular informal	cobrares	if / when you should charge
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cobrare	if / when he / she should charge; if / when you should charge (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	cobráremos	if / when we should charge
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cobrareis	if / when you should charge (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cobraren	if / when they should charge; if / when you should charge (plural)

• Quien cobrare una cantidad indebida deberá devolverla. — Whoever should collect an improper amount must return it.

Cobrar present perfect subjunctive conjugation

Present perfect subjunctive (el pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo) — Use it when a completed event is viewed through a present- or future-oriented subjunctive environment. Form it with present-subjunctive forms of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus cobrado, the target verb’s past participle.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	haya cobrado	that I have charged
Tú — you, singular informal	hayas cobrado	that you have charged
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	haya cobrado	that he / she has charged; that you have charged (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hayamos cobrado	that we have charged
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hayáis cobrado	that you have charged (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hayan cobrado	that they have charged; that you have charged (plural)

• Me alegra que hayas cobrado a tiempo. — I am glad that you have been paid on time.

Cobrar past perfect subjunctive conjugation

Past perfect subjunctive (el pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo) — Use it for earlier completed situations in unreal, counterfactual, or other subjunctive contexts. The main table uses the imperfect-subjunctive auxiliary hubiera — a form of haber — plus cobrado, the target verb’s past participle; hubiese is an accepted auxiliary alternative in many contexts.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	hubiera cobrado	that I had charged
Tú — you, singular informal	hubieras cobrado	that you had charged
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubiera cobrado	that he / she had charged; that you had charged (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubiéramos cobrado	that we had charged
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubierais cobrado	that you had charged (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieran cobrado	that they had charged; that you had charged (plural)

• Ojalá hubiéramos cobrado antes. — I wish we had collected payment earlier.
• Si hubieses cobrado la factura, ya aparecería registrada. — If you had collected the invoice payment, it would already appear as recorded.

Cobrar future perfect subjunctive conjugation

Future perfect subjunctive (el futuro perfecto de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. This reference form appears mainly in formal, legal, literary, or historical contexts. Form it with future-subjunctive forms of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus cobrado, the target verb’s past participle.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	hubiere cobrado	if / when I should have charged
Tú — you, singular informal	hubieres cobrado	if / when you should have charged
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubiere cobrado	if / when he / she should have charged; if / when you should have charged (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubiéremos cobrado	if / when we should have charged
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubiereis cobrado	if / when you should have charged (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieren cobrado	if / when they should have charged; if / when you should have charged (plural)

• Si hubieren cobrado el importe, deberán emitir el recibo. — If they should have collected the amount, they must issue the receipt.

Cobrar imperative and commands

Commands address another person directly. Spanish uses different morphological sources across persons and polarity; the nosotros/nosotras row is a present-subjunctive form used with exhortative “let’s…” value.

Cobrar affirmative commands

Use affirmative commands to tell someone directly to perform the action.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	cobra	charge
Usted — you, singular formal	cobre	charge (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	cobremos	let’s charge
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cobrad	charge (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	cobren	charge (plural)

• Cobra la tarifa acordada. — Charge the agreed fee.

Cobrar negative commands

Negative commands use subjunctive-based forms.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	no cobres	do not charge
Usted — you, singular formal	no cobre	do not charge (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	no cobremos	let’s not charge
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	no cobréis	do not charge (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	no cobren	do not charge (plural)

• No cobres más de lo acordado. — Do not charge more than agreed.

Common constructions with Cobrar

These patterns show common ways the target verb combines with its complements or develops its core meaning.

• Cobrar una cantidad. — To charge / collect an amount.
• Cobrar por un servicio. — To charge for a service.
• Cobrarle a alguien veinte euros. — To charge someone twenty euros.

Example sentences with Cobrar

These examples reinforce the target verb across useful forms and contexts already explained in the lesson.

• Cobro el sueldo el último día del mes. — I get paid on the last day of the month.
• Nos cobraron veinte euros por la entrega. — They charged us twenty euros for delivery.
• Antes cobraba por hora. — I used to charge by the hour.
• Espero que cobres lo acordado. — I hope you collect the agreed amount.
• Ya hemos cobrado la factura. — We have already collected the invoice payment.
• Cobra solo la cantidad indicada. — Charge only the stated amount.

Regional and usage notes for Cobrar

The core tables retain tú, usted, vosotros/vosotras, and ustedes for project comparability. Voseo can change the present indicative and affirmative command; the following forms are regional examples and do not replace the core paradigm.

• Vos cobrás por adelantado. — You charge in advance. (voseo)
• Cobrá la cantidad correcta. — Charge the correct amount. (affirmative vos command)

Cobrar is morphologically regular, so accuracy depends mainly on choosing the intended money-related meaning and building the right complement: an amount, a reason with por, or the person charged as an indirect object.