Cuidar Conjugation | How to Conjugate Cuidar in Spanish

Cuidar means “to take care of,” “to look after,” or “to protect.” You will learn its fully regular -AR conjugation and the main person, health, object, and safety patterns.

Cuidar conjugation at a glance

Verb type: Regular AR. RAE gives cuido, cuidas / cuidás, cuida, cuidamos, cuidáis, cuidan, with regular gerund cuidando and participle cuidado.

Cuidar gerund, past participle, and infinitive

The infinitive names the verb, the gerund supports progressive constructions, and the past participle combines with haber in compound forms. The participle cuidado remains invariant in those compounds.

Form	Spanish	Natural English guide
Infinitive	cuidar	to take care of / look after
Gerund	cuidando	taking care of / looking after
Past participle	cuidado	taken care of / looked after

Cuidar meaning and essential uses

RAE records cuidar for putting diligence, attention, or care into something and for attending, assisting, guarding, or protecting someone or something: Cuido a mi abuelo. — “I look after my grandfather.”

The verb commonly takes a direct object: cuidar a una persona, cuidar un jardín, cuidar la salud. With a specific person, Spanish normally uses personal a.

Cuidar regular conjugation pattern

The stem cuid- remains unchanged throughout the core paradigm. Forms such as cuido, cuidé, and cuide take ordinary -AR endings.

There is no stem change, spelling alternation, irregular preterite stem, irregular future stem, irregular gerund, or irregular participle.

Cuidar indicative and periphrastic conjugations

Cuidar present tense conjugation

Present indicative (el presente de indicativo) — Use it for current situations, habits, facts, and contextually near-future reference. The table uses the verified paradigm.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	cuido	I take care of / look after
Tú — you, singular informal	cuidas	you take care of / look after
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cuida	he / she takes care of / looks after; you take care of / look after (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	cuidamos	we take care of / look after
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cuidáis	you take care of / look after (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cuidan	they take care of / look after; you take care of / look after (plural)

• Cuido a mi abuelo los fines de semana. — I look after my grandfather on weekends.

Cuidar preterite conjugation

Preterite (el pretérito perfecto simple / pretérito indefinido) — Use it for completed or bounded past events. The table uses the verified paradigm.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	cuidé	I took care of / looked after
Tú — you, singular informal	cuidaste	you took care of / looked after
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cuidó	he / she took care of / looked after; you took care of / looked after (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	cuidamos	we took care of / looked after
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cuidasteis	you took care of / looked after (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cuidaron	they took care of / looked after; you took care of / looked after (plural)

• Ayer cuidé a los niños. — Yesterday I looked after the children.

Cuidar imperfect conjugation

Imperfect (el pretérito imperfecto) — Use it for habitual, descriptive, background, or ongoing past situations. Form it with the appropriate form of haber plus invariant cuidado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	cuidaba	I used to take care of / look after / was taking care of / looking after
Tú — you, singular informal	cuidabas	you used to take care of / look after / were taking care of / looking after
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cuidaba	he / she used to take care of / look after / was taking care of / looking after; you used to take care of / look after / were taking care of / looking after (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	cuidábamos	we used to take care of / look after / were taking care of / looking after
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cuidabais	you used to take care of / look after / were taking care of / looking after (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cuidaban	they used to take care of / look after / were taking care of / looking after; you used to take care of / look after / were taking care of / looking after (plural)

• Antes cuidábamos un jardín grande. — We used to take care of a large garden.

Cuidar present progressive

Present progressive — This verbal periphrasis focuses on an action or process in progress. Form it with present estar plus cuidando.

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

• Estoy cuidando al perro de Marta. — I am looking after Marta’s dog.

Cuidar near future conjugation

Near future — This verbal periphrasis expresses an intention, plan, or expected event. Form it with present ir + a + cuidar.

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

• Voy a cuidar la casa durante el viaje. — I am going to look after the house during the trip.

Cuidar future tense conjugation

Simple future (el futuro simple) — Use it for future reference and, where useful, probability. The table uses the verified paradigm.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	cuidaré	I will take care of / look after
Tú — you, singular informal	cuidarás	you will take care of / look after
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cuidará	he / she will take care of / look after; you will take care of / look after (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	cuidaremos	we will take care of / look after
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cuidaréis	you will take care of / look after (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cuidarán	they will take care of / look after; you will take care of / look after (plural)

• Cuidaremos a los niños esta tarde. — We will look after the children this afternoon.

Cuidar conditional conjugation

Conditional (el condicional simple) — Use it for hypothetical outcomes, softened statements, or related conditional meanings. The table uses the verified paradigm.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	cuidaría	I would take care of / look after
Tú — you, singular informal	cuidarías	you would take care of / look after
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cuidaría	he / she would take care of / look after; you would take care of / look after (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	cuidaríamos	we would take care of / look after
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cuidaríais	you would take care of / look after (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cuidarían	they would take care of / look after; you would take care of / look after (plural)

• Cuidaría mejor ese equipo. — I would take better care of that equipment.

Cuidar present perfect conjugation

Present perfect (el pretérito perfecto compuesto) — Use it for completed events connected to a present reference frame; regional distribution varies. Form it with the appropriate form of haber plus invariant cuidado.

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

• He cuidado mucho mi salud este año. — I have taken good care of my health this year.

Cuidar past perfect conjugation

Past perfect (el pretérito pluscuamperfecto) — Use it for an event completed before another past reference point. Form it with the appropriate form of haber plus invariant cuidado.

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

• Ya habíamos cuidado a ese perro antes. — We had already looked after that dog before.

Cuidar future perfect conjugation

Future perfect (el futuro perfecto) — Use it for an event expected to be completed before a future reference point. Form it with the appropriate form of haber plus invariant cuidado.

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

• Para entonces habrán cuidado todas las plantas. — By then they will have taken care of all the plants.

Cuidar conditional perfect conjugation

Conditional perfect (el condicional compuesto) — Use it for a hypothetical completed outcome. Form it with the appropriate form of haber plus invariant cuidado.

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

• Habría cuidado la casa con más tiempo. — I would have taken care of the house with more time.

Cuidar subjunctive conjugations

Cuidar present subjunctive conjugation

Present subjunctive (el presente de subjuntivo) — Use it in subordinate environments involving wishes, influence, emotion, doubt or denial, evaluation, necessity, possibility, or non-specific reference. The table uses the verified paradigm.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	cuide	that I take care of / look after
Tú — you, singular informal	cuides	that you take care of / look after
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cuide	that he / she take care of / look after; that you take care of / look after (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	cuidemos	that we take care of / look after
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cuidéis	that you take care of / look after (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cuiden	that they take care of / look after; that you take care of / look after (plural)

• Quiero que cuides a los niños. — I want you to look after the children.

Cuidar imperfect subjunctive conjugation

Imperfect subjunctive (el imperfecto de subjuntivo) — The main table uses the -ra series. The accepted -se series is also valid in many contexts and is demonstrated after the table. Form it with the appropriate form of haber plus invariant cuidado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	cuidara	that I took care of / looked after
Tú — you, singular informal	cuidaras	that you took care of / looked after
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cuidara	that he / she took care of / looked after; that you took care of / looked after (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	cuidáramos	that we took care of / looked after
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cuidarais	that you took care of / looked after (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cuidaran	that they took care of / looked after; that you took care of / looked after (plural)

• Preferían que cuidáramos el jardín juntos. — They preferred that we take care of the garden together.
• Era mejor que cuidases el equipo con más atención. — It was better for you to take better care of the equipment.

Cuidar 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. These rare reference forms belong mainly to formal, legal, proverbial, literary, or historical registers.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	cuidare	if / when I should take care of / look after
Tú — you, singular informal	cuidares	if / when you should take care of / look after
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	cuidare	if / when he / she should take care of / look after; if / when you should take care of / look after (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	cuidáremos	if / when we should take care of / look after
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cuidareis	if / when you should take care of / look after (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	cuidaren	if / when they should take care of / look after; if / when you should take care of / look after (plural)

• Quien cuidare a menores deberá seguir las normas de seguridad. — Whoever should look after minors must follow the safety rules.

Cuidar 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 appropriate form of haber plus invariant cuidado.

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

• Me alegra que hayas cuidado a Marta. — I am glad that you looked after Marta.

Cuidar past perfect subjunctive conjugation

Past perfect subjunctive (el pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo) — The main table uses hubiera; hubiese is an accepted auxiliary alternative in many contexts and is demonstrated after the table. Form it with the appropriate form of haber plus invariant cuidado.

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

• Si hubiera cuidado mejor mi salud, me sentiría mejor. — If I had taken better care of my health, I would feel better.
• Si hubieses cuidado el equipo, no se habría dañado. — If you had taken care of the equipment, it would not have been damaged.

Cuidar future perfect subjunctive conjugation

Future perfect subjunctive (el futuro perfecto de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. Treat it as a formal or historical reference form, not an everyday conversational target. Form it with the appropriate form of haber plus invariant cuidado.

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

• Si hubieren cuidado animales adicionales, deberán registrarlos. — If they should have looked after additional animals, they must register them.

Cuidar imperative and commands

Commands address another person directly. The nosotros/nosotras row is a present-subjunctive form used with exhortative “let’s…” value.

Cuidar affirmative commands

Use the verified affirmative command forms for direct instructions when the target meaning supports them naturally.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	cuida	take care of
Usted — you, singular formal	cuide	take care of (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	cuidemos	let’s take care of
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cuidad	take care of (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	cuiden	take care of (plural)

• Cuida a los niños mientras salgo. — Look after the children while I go out.

Cuidar negative commands

Negative commands use subjunctive-based forms, with no before the verb.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	no cuides	do not take care of
Usted — you, singular formal	no cuide	do not take care of (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	no cuidemos	let’s not take care of
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	no cuidéis	do not take care of (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	no cuiden	do not take care of (plural)

• No cuides el equipo de forma improvisada. — Do not take care of the equipment in an improvised way.

Common constructions with Cuidar

These patterns show sentence frames that materially affect how the target verb is used.

• cuidar a alguien. — to look after / take care of someone.
• cuidar algo. — to look after / protect / maintain something.
• cuidar la salud / alimentación / higiene. — to take care of health, diet, or hygiene.

Example sentences with Cuidar

These examples reinforce useful forms and contexts already taught in the lesson.

• Cuida bien tus plantas. — Take good care of your plants.
• ¿Puedes cuidar al perro mañana? — Can you look after the dog tomorrow?
• Tenemos que cuidar mejor el medio ambiente. — We need to take better care of the environment.
• Espero que cuides tu salud. — I hope you take care of your health.
• Han cuidado muy bien la casa. — They have taken very good care of the house.
• Cuida los detalles importantes. — Pay attention to the important details.

Regional and usage notes for Cuidar

The core tables retain tú, usted, vosotros/vosotras, and ustedes. Voseo changes some second-person singular forms where vos is used.

• Vos cuidás a los niños por la tarde. — You look after the children in the afternoon. (voseo)
• Cuidá bien el equipo. — Take good care of the equipment. (affirmative vos command)

Cuidar is fully regular. Focus on the object being cared for: a person commonly takes personal a, while things, health, plants, animals, and responsibilities appear as ordinary direct objects.