Contar Conjugation | How to Conjugate Contar in Spanish

Contar means “to count” and also “to tell.” You will learn its o-to-ue present change, its regular past families, and the common patterns for counting, narrating, and relying on someone.

Contar conjugation at a glance

Verb type: Irregular. Linguistically, contar is an -AR stem-changing verb. In stressed present forms, o changes to ue: cuento — “I count / tell,” cuentas — “you count / tell,” and cuentan — “they count / tell.” Nosotros/nosotras contamos — “we count / tell” — and vosotros/vosotras contáis — “you all count / tell” — keep o. The preterite, imperfect, future, conditional, gerund, and participle are regular.

Contar gerund, past participle, and infinitive

The infinitive names the verb, the gerund supports progressive constructions, and the past participle combines with haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — in compound forms. With haber, the participle does not agree with the subject.

Form	Spanish	Natural English guide
Infinitive	contar	to count, to tell
Gerund	contando	counting / telling
Past participle	contado	counted / told

Contar meaning and essential uses

Contar can mean “to count,” as in Cuento las monedas. — “I count the coins.” It can also mean “to tell” or “to narrate,” as in Cuenta una historia. — “He / she tells a story.”

A common governed construction is contar con — “to count on / to have available.” For example, Contamos con tu ayuda. — “We count on your help.” The preposition con is part of that construction.

Contar irregular conjugation patterns

The main irregularity is o → ue when the stem vowel is stressed in the present family: cuento — “I count / tell,” cuentas — “you count / tell,” cuenta — “he / she counts / tells,” and cuentan — “they count / tell.” The present subjunctive likewise has cuente — “that I count / tell” — and cuenten — “that they count / tell,” but nosotros/nosotras contemos — “that we count / tell” — and vosotros/vosotras contéis — “that you all count / tell” — keep o. Other core simple tense families use cont- regularly.

Contar indicative and periphrastic conjugations

Contar present tense conjugation

Present indicative (el presente de indicativo) — Use it for current actions, habits, and general statements. The stressed stem changes o → ue in cuento — “I count / tell,” cuentas — “you count / tell,” cuenta — “he / she counts / tells,” and cuentan — “they count / tell,” but not in contamos — “we count / tell” — or contáis — “you all count / tell.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	cuento	I count / tell
Tú — you, singular informal	cuentas	you count / tell
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cuenta	he / she counts / tells; you count / tell (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	contamos	we count / tell
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	contáis	you count / tell (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cuentan	they count / tell; you count / tell (plural)

• Cuento veinte personas en la sala. — I count twenty people in the room.

Contar preterite conjugation

Preterite (el pretérito perfecto simple / pretérito indefinido) — Use it for completed or bounded past actions. Contar does not use the present stem change here: conté — “I counted / told,” contó — “he / she counted / told,” and contaron — “they counted / told” — follow the regular -AR preterite.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	conté	I counted / told
Tú — you, singular informal	contaste	you counted / told
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	contó	he / she counted / told; you counted / told (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	contamos	we counted / told
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	contasteis	you counted / told (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	contaron	they counted / told; you counted / told (plural)

• Ayer conté toda la historia. — Yesterday I told the whole story.

Contar imperfect conjugation

Imperfect (el pretérito imperfecto) — Use it for past habits, background descriptions, or situations viewed as ongoing. Contar uses the regular imperfect ending pattern in this system.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	contaba	I used to count / tell; I was counting / telling
Tú — you, singular informal	contabas	you used to count / tell; you were counting / telling
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	contaba	he / she used to count / tell; he / she was counting / telling; you used to count / tell; you were counting / telling (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	contábamos	we used to count / tell; we were counting / telling
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	contabais	you used to count / tell; you were counting / telling (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	contaban	they used to count / tell; they were counting / telling; you used to count / tell; you were counting / telling (plural)

• Antes contábamos las cajas a mano. — We used to count the boxes by hand.

Contar present progressive

Present progressive — This verbal periphrasis focuses on an action or process in progress. Form it with a present form of estar — “to be” — plus contando — “counting / telling.”

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

• Está contando los billetes ahora. — He is counting the bills now.

Contar near future conjugation

Near future — This verbal periphrasis expresses plans or expected future events. Form it with a present form of ir — “to go” — followed by a and contar — “to count, to tell.”

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

• Te voy a contar una noticia importante. — I am going to tell you some important news.

Contar future tense conjugation

Simple future (el futuro simple) — Use it for future reference and, where context supports it, probability. The endings attach to the full infinitive contar — “to count, to tell.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	contaré	I will count / tell
Tú — you, singular informal	contarás	you will count / tell
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	contará	he / she will count / tell; you will count / tell (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	contaremos	we will count / tell
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	contaréis	you will count / tell (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	contarán	they will count / tell; you will count / tell (plural)

• Contaremos los votos esta noche. — We will count the votes tonight.

Contar conditional conjugation

Simple conditional (el condicional simple) — Use it for hypothetical results, polite softening, and other conditional meanings. The endings attach to the full infinitive contar — “to count, to tell.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	contaría	I would count / tell
Tú — you, singular informal	contarías	you would count / tell
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	contaría	he / she would count / tell; you would count / tell (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	contaríamos	we would count / tell
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	contaríais	you would count / tell (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	contarían	they would count / tell; you would count / tell (plural)

• Contaría la verdad si me preguntaran. — I would tell the truth if they asked me.

Contar present perfect conjugation

Present perfect (el pretérito perfecto compuesto) — Use it for completed events connected to the present; its regional distribution varies. Form it with the corresponding finite form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus contado — “counted / told.”

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

• Ya hemos contado todas las piezas. — We have already counted all the pieces.

Contar past perfect conjugation

Past perfect / pluperfect (el pretérito pluscuamperfecto) — Use it for an event completed before another past reference point. Form it with the corresponding finite form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus contado — “counted / told.”

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

• Había contado la misma historia antes. — He had told the same story before.

Contar future perfect conjugation

Future perfect (el futuro perfecto) — Use it for something expected to be completed by a future reference point. Form it with the corresponding finite form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus contado — “counted / told.”

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

• Para entonces habrán contado todos los votos. — By then they will have counted all the votes.

Contar conditional perfect conjugation

Conditional perfect (el condicional compuesto) — Use it for hypothetical completed results or unreal past outcomes. Form it with the corresponding finite form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus contado — “counted / told.”

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

• Habría contado contigo si hubieras estado disponible. — I would have counted on you if you had been available.

Contar subjunctive conjugations

Contar present subjunctive conjugation

Present subjunctive (el presente de subjuntivo) — Use it in subordinate environments involving wishes, influence, emotion, doubt, evaluation, necessity, or possibility. Stressed forms use cuent-, as in cuente — “that I count / tell,” while contemos — “that we count / tell” — and contéis — “that you all count / tell” — keep o.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	cuente	that I count / tell
Tú — you, singular informal	cuentes	that you count / tell
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cuente	that he / she count / tell; that you count / tell (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	contemos	that we count / tell
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	contéis	that you count / tell (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cuenten	that they count / tell; that you count / tell (plural)

• Quiero que cuentes lo que viste. — I want you to tell what you saw.

Contar 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 second example demonstrates it without claiming that the two series are mechanically interchangeable in every construction.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	contara	that I counted / told
Tú — you, singular informal	contaras	that you counted / told
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	contara	that he / she counted / told; that you counted / told (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	contáramos	that we counted / told
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	contarais	that you counted / told (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	contaran	that they counted / told; that you counted / told (plural)

• Nos pidieron que contáramos las cajas. — They asked us to count the boxes.
• Prefería que contases la historia tú. — She preferred that you tell the story.

Contar 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 included here as a reference system.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	contare	if / when I should count / tell
Tú — you, singular informal	contares	if / when you should count / tell
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	contare	if / when he / she should count / tell; if / when you should count / tell (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	contáremos	if / when we should count / tell
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	contareis	if / when you should count / tell (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	contaren	if / when they should count / tell; if / when you should count / tell (plural)

• Quien contare los votos deberá firmar el acta. — Whoever should count the votes must sign the record.

Contar present perfect subjunctive conjugation

Present perfect subjunctive (el pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo) — Use it when a completed event appears inside a present- or future-oriented subjunctive environment. Form it with the corresponding subjunctive form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus contado — “counted / told.”

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

• Dudo que hayan contado todas las cajas. — I doubt that they have counted all the boxes.

Contar 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 hubiera — “had” in this subjunctive construction; hubiese — “had” — is an accepted auxiliary alternative in many contexts. Form it with the corresponding subjunctive form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus contado — “counted / told.”

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

• Si hubiéramos contado bien, no faltaría nada. — If we had counted correctly, nothing would be missing.
• Ojalá hubieses contado conmigo desde el principio. — I wish you had counted on me from the beginning.

Contar future perfect subjunctive conjugation

Future perfect subjunctive (el futuro perfecto de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. It is a reference form used mainly in formal, legal, literary, or historical contexts. Form it with the corresponding subjunctive form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus contado — “counted / told.”

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

• Si hubieren contado los votos, deberán registrar el resultado. — If they should have counted the votes, they must record the result.

Contar imperative and commands

Commands address another person directly. Spanish draws command forms from different morphological sources depending on person and polarity; the nosotros/nosotras row is a present-subjunctive form used with exhortative “let’s…” value.

Contar affirmative commands

Use affirmative commands for either counting or telling when the context makes the intended meaning clear. The tú form cuenta — “count / tell” — shows o → ue; nosotros/nosotras contemos — “let’s count / tell” — and vosotros/vosotras contad — “count / tell” — do not.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	cuenta	count / tell
Usted — you, singular formal	cuente	count / tell (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	contemos	let’s count / tell
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	contad	count / tell (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	cuenten	count / tell (plural)

• Cuenta las cajas antes de cerrar. — Count the boxes before closing.

Contar negative commands

Negative commands use subjunctive-based forms. The negative particle no — “not / do not” — precedes the command form.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	no cuentes	do not count / tell
Usted — you, singular formal	no cuente	do not count / tell (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	no contemos	let’s not count / tell
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	no contéis	do not count / tell (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	no cuenten	do not count / tell (plural)

• No cuentes la noticia todavía. — Do not tell the news yet.

Common constructions with Contar

These target-verb patterns are useful because they show the complements or sentence frames that commonly accompany the conjugated verb.

• Contar números. — To count numbers.
• Contar una historia. — To tell a story.
• Contar con alguien. — To count on someone.

Example sentences with Contar

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

• Cuento el dinero antes de guardarlo. — I count the money before putting it away.
• Ayer contó una historia divertida. — Yesterday she told a funny story.
• De niño contaba los días hasta las vacaciones. — As a child I used to count the days until vacation.
• Espero que cuentes conmigo. — I hope you count on me.
• Ya hemos contado todos los votos. — We have already counted all the votes.
• Cuenta lo que pasó con calma. — Tell what happened calmly.

Regional and usage notes for Contar

The core tables retain tú, usted, vosotros/vosotras, and ustedes for project comparability. In voseo regions, present-indicative and affirmative-command forms may differ from the core tú forms; the regional examples below do not replace the main paradigm.

• Vos contás historias muy bien. — You tell stories very well. (voseo)
• Contá hasta diez. — Count to ten. (affirmative vos command)

With contar, keep the present stem change limited to stressed forms: cuento and cuente contrast with contamos and contemos. The other major tense families return to the stable cont- stem.