Cuidarse Conjugation | How to Conjugate Cuidarse in Spanish

Cuidarse means “to take care of oneself,” “to look after one’s health,” or “to be careful.” You will learn its regular pronominal -AR conjugation, clitics, de, and commands.

Cuidarse conjugation at a glance

Verb type: Regular AR. Linguistically, cuidarse is pronominal and uses regular -AR verbal morphology with person-matched clitics. Ella Verbs confirms me cuido, te cuidas, se cuida, nos cuidamos, os cuidáis, se cuidan.

Cuidarse gerund, past participle, and infinitive

The pronominal infinitive keeps se. The gerund can carry an attached clitic, and compound non-finite forms combine the clitic with haber. The participle cuidado remains invariant in compound forms.

Form	Spanish	Natural English guide
Infinitive	cuidarse	to take care of oneself / be careful
Gerund	cuidándose	taking care of oneself / being careful
Past participle	cuidado	taken care of / cared for
Compound infinitive	haberse cuidado	to have taken care of oneself
Compound gerund	habiéndose cuidado	having taken care of oneself

Cuidarse meaning and essential uses

RAE records cuidarse for looking after one’s own health or well-being: Me cuido mucho. — “I take good care of myself.”

It also records cuidarse de algo for being cautious about or guarding oneself against something: Cuídate del hielo. — “Be careful of the ice.”

Cuidarse conjugation pattern and pronoun placement

Cuidarse follows regular -AR verbal morphology. Add the matching clitic before finite forms: me cuido, te cuidaste, se cuidará, nos cuidemos.

Affirmative commands attach the clitic: cuídate, cuídese, cuidémonos, cuidaos, cuídense. Negative commands keep the clitic before the verb: no te cuides....

Cuidarse indicative and periphrastic conjugations

Cuidarse 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	me cuido	I take care of myself / be careful
Tú — you, singular informal	te cuidas	you take care of yourself / be careful
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se cuida	he / she takes care of himself / herself; you take care of yourself / be careful (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos cuidamos	we take care of ourselves / be careful
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os cuidáis	you take care of yourselves / be careful (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se cuidan	they take care of themselves / be careful; you take care of yourselves / be careful (plural)

• Me cuido haciendo ejercicio. — I take care of myself by exercising.

Cuidarse 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	me cuidé	I took care of myself / was careful
Tú — you, singular informal	te cuidaste	you took care of yourself / was careful
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se cuidó	he / she took care of himself / herself / was careful; you took care of yourself / was careful (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos cuidamos	we took care of ourselves / was careful
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os cuidasteis	you took care of yourselves / was careful (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se cuidaron	they took care of themselves / was careful; you took care of yourselves / was careful (plural)

• Ayer me cuidé y descansé en casa. — Yesterday I took care of myself and rested at home.

Cuidarse imperfect conjugation

Imperfect (el pretérito imperfecto) — Use it for habitual, descriptive, background, or ongoing past situations. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by invariant cuidado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me cuidaba	I used to take care of myself / be careful / was taking care of myself / being careful
Tú — you, singular informal	te cuidabas	you used to take care of yourself / be careful / were taking care of yourself / being careful
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se cuidaba	he / she used to take care of himself / herself / be careful / was taking care of himself / herself / being careful; you used to take care of yourself / be careful / were taking care of yourself / being careful (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos cuidábamos	we used to take care of ourselves / be careful / were taking care of ourselves / being careful
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os cuidabais	you used to take care of yourselves / be careful / were taking care of yourselves / being careful (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se cuidaban	they used to take care of themselves / be careful / were taking care of themselves / being careful; you used to take care of yourselves / be careful / were taking care of yourselves / being careful (plural)

• Antes nos cuidábamos menos. — We used to take less care of ourselves.

Cuidarse present progressive

Present progressive — This verbal periphrasis focuses on an action or process in progress. The main table places the clitic before estar. Attaching it to the gerund is also standard: estoy cuidándome.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me estoy cuidando	I am taking care of myself / being careful
Tú — you, singular informal	te estás cuidando	you are taking care of yourself / being careful
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se está cuidando	he / she is taking care of himself / herself / being careful; you are taking care of yourself / being careful (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos estamos cuidando	we are taking care of ourselves / being careful
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os estáis cuidando	you are taking care of yourselves / being careful (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se están cuidando	they are taking care of themselves / being careful; you are taking care of yourselves / being careful (plural)

• Me estoy cuidando mucho este mes. — I am taking good care of myself this month.

Cuidarse near future conjugation

Near future — This verbal periphrasis expresses an intention, plan, or expected event. The main table places the clitic before ir. Attaching it to the infinitive is also standard: voy a cuidarme.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me voy a cuidar	I am going to take care of myself / be careful
Tú — you, singular informal	te vas a cuidar	you are going to take care of yourself / be careful
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se va a cuidar	he / she is going to take care of himself / herself / be careful; you are going to take care of yourself / be careful (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos vamos a cuidar	we are going to take care of ourselves / be careful
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os vais a cuidar	you are going to take care of yourselves / be careful (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se van a cuidar	they are going to take care of themselves / be careful; you are going to take care of yourselves / be careful (plural)

• Me voy a cuidar mejor. — I am going to take better care of myself.

Cuidarse 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	me cuidaré	I will take care of myself / be careful
Tú — you, singular informal	te cuidarás	you will take care of yourself / be careful
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se cuidará	he / she will take care of himself / herself / be careful; you will take care of yourself / be careful (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos cuidaremos	we will take care of ourselves / be careful
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os cuidaréis	you will take care of yourselves / be careful (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se cuidarán	they will take care of themselves / be careful; you will take care of yourselves / be careful (plural)

• Nos cuidaremos durante el viaje. — We will take care of ourselves during the trip.

Cuidarse 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	me cuidaría	I would take care of myself / be careful
Tú — you, singular informal	te cuidarías	you would take care of yourself / be careful
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se cuidaría	he / she would take care of himself / herself / be careful; you would take care of yourself / be careful (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos cuidaríamos	we would take care of ourselves / be careful
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os cuidaríais	you would take care of yourselves / be careful (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se cuidarían	they would take care of themselves / be careful; you would take care of yourselves / be careful (plural)

• Me cuidaría más si tuviera más tiempo. — I would take better care of myself if I had more time.

Cuidarse present perfect conjugation

Present perfect (el pretérito perfecto compuesto) — Use it for completed events connected to a present reference frame; regional distribution varies. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by invariant cuidado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me he cuidado	I have taken care of myself / been careful
Tú — you, singular informal	te has cuidado	you have taken care of yourself / been careful
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se ha cuidado	he / she has taken care of himself / herself / been careful; you have taken care of yourself / been careful (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos hemos cuidado	we have taken care of ourselves / been careful
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os habéis cuidado	you have taken care of yourselves / been careful (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se han cuidado	they have taken care of themselves / been careful; you have taken care of yourselves / been careful (plural)

• Me he cuidado bastante bien. — I have taken fairly good care of myself.

Cuidarse past perfect conjugation

Past perfect (el pretérito pluscuamperfecto) — Use it for an event completed before another past reference point. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by invariant cuidado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me había cuidado	I had taken care of myself / been careful
Tú — you, singular informal	te habías cuidado	you had taken care of yourself / been careful
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se había cuidado	he / she had taken care of himself / herself / been careful; you had taken care of yourself / been careful (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos habíamos cuidado	we had taken care of ourselves / been careful
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os habíais cuidado	you had taken care of yourselves / been careful (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se habían cuidado	they had taken care of themselves / been careful; you had taken care of yourselves / been careful (plural)

• Ya nos habíamos cuidado de ese riesgo. — We had already guarded ourselves against that risk.

Cuidarse future perfect conjugation

Future perfect (el futuro perfecto) — Use it for an event expected to be completed before a future reference point. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by invariant cuidado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me habré cuidado	I will have taken care of myself / been careful
Tú — you, singular informal	te habrás cuidado	you will have taken care of yourself / been careful
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se habrá cuidado	he / she will have taken care of himself / herself / been careful; you will have taken care of yourself / been careful (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos habremos cuidado	we will have taken care of ourselves / been careful
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os habréis cuidado	you will have taken care of yourselves / been careful (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se habrán cuidado	they will have taken care of themselves / been careful; you will have taken care of yourselves / been careful (plural)

• Para entonces se habrán cuidado mejor. — By then they will have taken better care of themselves.

Cuidarse conditional perfect conjugation

Conditional perfect (el condicional compuesto) — Use it for a hypothetical completed outcome. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by invariant cuidado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me habría cuidado	I would have taken care of myself / been careful
Tú — you, singular informal	te habrías cuidado	you would have taken care of yourself / been careful
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se habría cuidado	he / she would have taken care of himself / herself / been careful; you would have taken care of yourself / been careful (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos habríamos cuidado	we would have taken care of ourselves / been careful
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os habríais cuidado	you would have taken care of yourselves / been careful (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se habrían cuidado	they would have taken care of themselves / been careful; you would have taken care of yourselves / been careful (plural)

• Me habría cuidado más con esa advertencia. — I would have been more careful with that warning.

Cuidarse subjunctive conjugations

Cuidarse 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	me cuide	that I take care of myself / be careful
Tú — you, singular informal	te cuides	that you take care of yourself / be careful
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se cuide	that he / she take care of himself / herself / be careful; that you take care of yourself / be careful (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos cuidemos	that we take care of ourselves / be careful
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os cuidéis	that you take care of yourselves / be careful (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se cuiden	that they take care of themselves / be careful; that you take care of yourselves / be careful (plural)

• Quiero que te cuides mucho. — I want you to take good care of yourself.

Cuidarse 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. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by invariant cuidado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me cuidara	that I took care of myself / was careful
Tú — you, singular informal	te cuidaras	that you took care of yourself / was careful
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se cuidara	that he / she took care of himself / herself / was careful; that you took care of yourself / was careful (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos cuidáramos	that we took care of ourselves / was careful
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os cuidarais	that you took care of yourselves / was careful (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se cuidaran	that they took care of themselves / was careful; that you took care of yourselves / was careful (plural)

• Preferían que nos cuidáramos durante el viaje. — They preferred that we take care of ourselves during the trip.
• Era mejor que te cuidases del hielo. — It was better for you to be careful of the ice.

Cuidarse 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	me cuidare	if / when I should take care of myself / be careful
Tú — you, singular informal	te cuidares	if / when you should take care of yourself / be careful
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se cuidare	if / when he / she should take care of himself / herself / be careful; if / when you should take care of yourself / be careful (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos cuidáremos	if / when we should take care of ourselves / be careful
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os cuidareis	if / when you should take care of yourselves / be careful (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se cuidaren	if / when they should take care of themselves / be careful; if / when you should take care of yourselves / be careful (plural)

• Quien se cuidare durante la recuperación deberá seguir las indicaciones médicas. — Whoever should take care of themselves during recovery must follow medical instructions.

Cuidarse 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. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by invariant cuidado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me haya cuidado	that I have taken care of myself / been careful
Tú — you, singular informal	te hayas cuidado	that you have taken care of yourself / been careful
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se haya cuidado	that he / she has taken care of himself / herself / been careful; that you have taken care of yourself / been careful (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos hayamos cuidado	that we have taken care of ourselves / been careful
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os hayáis cuidado	that you have taken care of yourselves / been careful (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se hayan cuidado	that they have taken care of themselves / been careful; that you have taken care of yourselves / been careful (plural)

• Me alegra que te hayas cuidado. — I am glad that you took care of yourself.

Cuidarse 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. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by invariant cuidado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me hubiera cuidado	that I had taken care of myself / been careful
Tú — you, singular informal	te hubieras cuidado	that you had taken care of yourself / been careful
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se hubiera cuidado	that he / she had taken care of himself / herself / been careful; that you had taken care of yourself / been careful (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos hubiéramos cuidado	that we had taken care of ourselves / been careful
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os hubierais cuidado	that you had taken care of yourselves / been careful (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se hubieran cuidado	that they had taken care of themselves / been careful; that you had taken care of yourselves / been careful (plural)

• Si me hubiera cuidado más, estaría menos cansado. — If I had taken better care of myself, I would be less tired.
• Si te hubieses cuidado del sol, no te habrías quemado. — If you had protected yourself from the sun, you would not have gotten sunburned.

Cuidarse 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. The clitic precedes the finite form of haber, followed by invariant cuidado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	me hubiere cuidado	if / when I should have taken care of myself / been careful
Tú — you, singular informal	te hubieres cuidado	if / when you should have taken care of yourself / been careful
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	se hubiere cuidado	if / when he / she should have taken care of himself / herself / been careful; if / when you should have taken care of yourself / been careful (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	nos hubiéremos cuidado	if / when we should have taken care of ourselves / been careful
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	os hubiereis cuidado	if / when you should have taken care of yourselves / been careful (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	se hubieren cuidado	if / when they should have taken care of themselves / been careful; if / when you should have taken care of yourselves / been careful (plural)

• Si se hubieren cuidado adecuadamente, deberán continuar con el mismo plan. — If they should have taken proper care of themselves, they must continue with the same plan.

Cuidarse imperative and commands

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

Cuidarse affirmative commands

In affirmative pronominal commands, attach the clitic and recompute accentuation. The nosotros/nosotras form loses final -s before nos, and the usual vosotros/vosotras form loses -d before os.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	cuídate	take care of yourself
Usted — you, singular formal	cuídese	take care of yourself (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	cuidémonos	let’s take care of ourselves
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	cuidaos	take care of yourselves (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	cuídense	take care of yourselves (plural)

• Cuídate mucho. — Take good care of yourself.

Cuidarse negative commands

Negative commands use subjunctive-based forms, with no before the person-matched clitic and the verb.

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

• No te cuides solo cuando estés enfermo. — Do not take care of yourself only when you are sick.

Common constructions with Cuidarse

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

• cuidarse. — to take care of oneself.
• cuidarse de + danger / risk / person / thing. — to be careful of / guard oneself against something.
• cuidarse mucho / bien. — to take good care of oneself.

Example sentences with Cuidarse

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

• Cuídate. — Take care.
• Voy a cuidarme más este año. — I am going to take better care of myself this year.
• Estoy cuidándome después de la operación. — I am taking care of myself after the operation.
• Espero que te cuides durante el viaje. — I hope you take care of yourself during the trip.
• Se han cuidado muy bien. — They have taken very good care of themselves.
• Cuídense del tráfico al cruzar. — Be careful of traffic when crossing.

Regional and usage notes for Cuidarse

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

• Vos te cuidás mucho. — You take good care of yourself. (voseo)
• Cuidate durante el viaje. — Take care during the trip. (affirmative vos command)

Cuidarse is morphologically regular. The key tasks are clitic placement and meaning: use it for self-care, and use cuidarse de when emphasizing caution or protection against a danger or risk.