Cocinar Conjugation | How to Conjugate Cocinar in Spanish

Cocinar means “to cook.” You will learn its fully regular -AR conjugation and how it works both with a direct object and without one when the activity of cooking itself is the focus.

Cocinar conjugation at a glance

Verb type: Regular AR. Linguistically, cocinar is a fully regular -AR verb with the stable stem cocin-. Its gerund cocinando — “cooking” — and participle cocinado — “cooked” — are regular, and its finite forms and commands follow the standard -AR patterns.

Cocinar 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	cocinar	to cook
Gerund	cocinando	cooking
Past participle	cocinado	cooked

Cocinar meaning and essential uses

Cocinar — “to cook” — can be transitive: Cocino la cena. — “I cook dinner.” It can also be intransitive when the activity itself is the focus: Me gusta cocinar. — “I like to cook.”

Useful complements include cocinar para alguien — “to cook for someone” and manner phrases such as cocinar a fuego lento — “to cook over low heat / simmer.”

Cocinar conjugation pattern

Cocinar is fully regular. The stem cocin- stays unchanged in the core paradigm, and standard -AR endings form the simple indicative, subjunctive, and command forms. Its gerund cocinando means “cooking,” and its participle cocinado means “cooked.”

Cocinar indicative and periphrastic conjugations

Cocinar 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	cocino	I cook
Tú — you, singular informal	cocinas	you cook
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cocina	he / she cooks; you cook (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	cocinamos	we cook
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cocináis	you cook (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cocinan	they cook; you cook (plural)

• Cocino la cena a las siete. — I cook dinner at seven.

Cocinar 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	cociné	I cooked
Tú — you, singular informal	cocinaste	you cooked
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cocinó	he / she cooked; you cooked (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	cocinamos	we cooked
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cocinasteis	you cooked (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cocinaron	they cooked; you cooked (plural)

• Ayer cocinamos pescado. — Yesterday we cooked fish.

Cocinar 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	cocinaba	I was cooking
Tú — you, singular informal	cocinabas	you were cooking
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cocinaba	he / she was cooking; you were cooking (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	cocinábamos	we were cooking
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cocinabais	you were cooking (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cocinaban	they were cooking; you were cooking (plural)

• Antes cocinaba con mi abuela los domingos. — I used to cook with my grandmother on Sundays.

Cocinar 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 cocinando — “cooking.”

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

• Estoy cocinando una sopa. — I am cooking a soup.

Cocinar 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 + cocinar — “to cook.”

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

• Vamos a cocinar para diez personas. — We are going to cook for ten people.

Cocinar 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 cocinar — “to cook”.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	cocinaré	I will cook
Tú — you, singular informal	cocinarás	you will cook
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cocinará	he / she will cook; you will cook (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	cocinaremos	we will cook
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cocinaréis	you will cook (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cocinarán	they will cook; you will cook (plural)

• Cocinaré algo sencillo esta noche. — I will cook something simple tonight.

Cocinar 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 cocinar — “to cook”.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	cocinaría	I would cook
Tú — you, singular informal	cocinarías	you would cook
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cocinaría	he / she would cook; you would cook (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	cocinaríamos	we would cook
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cocinaríais	you would cook (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cocinarían	they would cook; you would cook (plural)

• Cocinaría más si tuviera una cocina grande. — I would cook more if I had a large kitchen.

Cocinar 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 cocinado — the target verb’s past participle.

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

• Hoy he cocinado dos platos nuevos. — Today I have cooked two new dishes.

Cocinar 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 cocinado — the target verb’s past participle.

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

• Ya habíamos cocinado cuando llegaron los invitados. — We had already cooked when the guests arrived.

Cocinar 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 cocinado — the target verb’s past participle.

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

• Para las ocho habremos cocinado toda la cena. — By eight we will have cooked the entire dinner.

Cocinar 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 cocinado — the target verb’s past participle.

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

• Habría cocinado en casa, pero no tenía ingredientes. — I would have cooked at home, but I had no ingredients.

Cocinar subjunctive conjugations

Cocinar 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	cocine	that I cook
Tú — you, singular informal	cocines	that you cook
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cocine	that he / she cook; that you cook (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	cocinemos	that we cook
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cocinéis	that you cook (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cocinen	that they cook; that you cook (plural)

• Espero que cocines algo saludable. — I hope you cook something healthy.

Cocinar 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	cocinara	that I cooked / were to cook
Tú — you, singular informal	cocinaras	that you cooked / were to cook
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cocinara	that he / she cooked / were to cook; that you cooked / were to cook (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	cocináramos	that we cooked / were to cook
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cocinarais	that you cooked / were to cook (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cocinaran	that they cooked / were to cook; that you cooked / were to cook (plural)

• Querían que cocináramos juntos. — They wanted us to cook together.
• Prefería que cocinaseis el arroz lentamente. — She preferred that you all cook the rice slowly.

Cocinar 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	cocinare	if / when I should cook
Tú — you, singular informal	cocinares	if / when you should cook
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cocinare	if / when he / she should cook; if / when you should cook (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	cocináremos	if / when we should cook
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cocinareis	if / when you should cook (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cocinaren	if / when they should cook; if / when you should cook (plural)

• Quien cocinare para el evento deberá cumplir las normas sanitarias. — Whoever should cook for the event must comply with the health regulations.

Cocinar 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 cocinado, the target verb’s past participle.

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

• Me alegra que hayas cocinado hoy. — I am glad that you have cooked today.

Cocinar 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 cocinado, 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 cocinado	that I had cooked
Tú — you, singular informal	hubieras cocinado	that you had cooked
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubiera cocinado	that he / she had cooked; that you had cooked (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubiéramos cocinado	that we had cooked
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubierais cocinado	that you had cooked (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieran cocinado	that they had cooked; that you had cooked (plural)

• Ojalá hubiéramos cocinado más comida. — I wish we had cooked more food.
• Si hubieses cocinado antes, ya habríamos cenado. — If you had cooked earlier, we would have eaten dinner already.

Cocinar 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 cocinado, the target verb’s past participle.

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

• Si hubieren cocinado los alimentos, deberán conservarlos correctamente. — If they should have cooked the food, they must store it correctly.

Cocinar 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.

Cocinar 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	cocina	cook
Usted — you, singular formal	cocine	cook (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	cocinemos	let’s cook
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cocinad	cook (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	cocinen	cook (plural)

• Cocina las verduras primero. — Cook the vegetables first.

Cocinar negative commands

Negative commands use subjunctive-based forms.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	no cocines	do not cook
Usted — you, singular formal	no cocine	do not cook (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	no cocinemos	let’s not cook
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	no cocinéis	do not cook (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	no cocinen	do not cook (plural)

• No cocines la carne a fuego demasiado alto. — Do not cook the meat over excessively high heat.

Common constructions with Cocinar

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

• Cocinar la cena. — To cook dinner.
• Cocinar para la familia. — To cook for the family.
• Cocinar a fuego lento. — To cook over low heat.

Example sentences with Cocinar

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

• Cocino en casa casi todos los días. — I cook at home almost every day.
• Ayer cocinamos una sopa. — Yesterday we cooked a soup.
• Mi abuelo cocinaba para toda la familia. — My grandfather used to cook for the whole family.
• Quiero que cocines las verduras primero. — I want you to cook the vegetables first.
• Hemos cocinado suficiente comida para todos. — We have cooked enough food for everyone.
• Cocina el arroz a fuego lento. — Cook the rice over low heat.

Regional and usage notes for Cocinar

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 cocinás muy bien. — You cook very well. (voseo)
• Cociná las verduras primero. — Cook the vegetables first. (affirmative vos command)

Cocinar is fully regular, so once the -AR endings are secure, focus on matching the tense to the time frame and using direct objects or complements naturally when you describe what, for whom, or how you cook.