calentar — Spanish conjugation

to heat

Frequency#695Irregular

Indicative

Present (Presente) Irregular

The present tense is the most versatile tense in Spanish. It covers actions happening right now, habitual actions, and even near-future plans. One form does the work of three English constructions.

Ella habla inglés — She speaks / is speaking English

PronounSpanishEnglish
yocalientoI heat
calientasyou heat
voscalentásyou heat
él/ella/Ud.calientahe/she/it heats
nosotroscalentamoswe heat
vosotroscalentáisyou (pl.) heat
ellos/ellas/Uds.calientanthey heat

Preterite (Pretérito indefinido) Regular

Used for completed past actions with a defined endpoint — a single event, a series of events, or an action that interrupted another. Common with time expressions like ayer, el lunes, una vez.

Ella habló de ti ayer — She spoke about you yesterday

PronounSpanishEnglish
yocalentéI heated
calentasteyou heated
voscalentasteyou heated
él/ella/Ud.calentóhe/she/it heated
nosotroscalentamoswe heated
vosotroscalentasteisyou (pl.) heated
ellos/ellas/Uds.calentaronthey heated

Imperfect (Pretérito imperfecto) Regular

Describes ongoing or habitual past states — what things were like, background context, what used to happen. Contrasts with the preterite which marks completed events.

Cuando era niño vivía en Valencia — When I was a child I lived in Valencia

PronounSpanish
yocalentaba
calentabas
voscalentabas
él/ella/Ud.calentaba
nosotroscalentábamos
vosotroscalentabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.calentaban

Conditional (Condicional) Regular

Expresses hypothetical actions, polite requests, and what would happen under certain conditions. Also used for reported speech about the future from a past perspective.

¿Podrías ayudarme? — Could you help me?

PronounSpanishEnglish
yocalentaríaI would heat
calentaríasyou would heat
voscalentaríasyou would heat
él/ella/Ud.calentaríahe/she/it would heat
nosotroscalentaríamoswe would heat
vosotroscalentaríaisyou (pl.) would heat
ellos/ellas/Uds.calentaríanthey would heat

Future (Futuro) Regular

Expresses future actions, predictions, and probability about the present. Formed with the full infinitive as stem for most verbs. In spoken Spanish, ir a + infinitive is often preferred for near future.

Ella hablará en conferencia mañana — She will speak at the conference tomorrow

PronounSpanishEnglish
yocalentaréI will heat
calentarásyou will heat
voscalentarásyou will heat
él/ella/Ud.calentaráhe/she/it will heat
nosotroscalentaremoswe will heat
vosotroscalentaréisyou (pl.) will heat
ellos/ellas/Uds.calentaránthey will heat

Present perfect (Pretérito perfecto) Regular

A compound past tense linking a past action to the present moment — something that has happened and still feels recent or relevant. More common in Spain than Latin America where preterite is preferred.

Hoy he hablado con el jefe — Today I have spoken with the boss

PronounSpanishEnglish
yohe calentadoI have heated
has calentadoyou have heated
voshas calentadoyou have heated
él/ella/Ud.ha calentadohe/she/it has heated
nosotroshemos calentadowe have heated
vosotroshabéis calentadoyou (pl.) have heated
ellos/ellas/Uds.han calentadothey have heated

Pluperfect (Pretérito pluscuamperfecto) Regular

The past of the past — describes an action that was already completed before another past event happened. Always implies a reference point in the past.

Ya había hablado cuando llegaste — She had already spoken when you arrived

PronounSpanishEnglish
yohabía calentadoI had heated
habías calentadoyou had heated
voshabías calentadoyou had heated
él/ella/Ud.había calentadohe/she/it had heated
nosotroshabíamos calentadowe had heated
vosotroshabíais calentadoyou (pl.) had heated
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían calentadothey had heated

Conditional perfect (Condicional perfecto) Regular

Expresses what would have happened — actions that were possible but did not occur, or regrets about the past. Formed with conditional of haber + past participle.

Habría hablado, pero no me dejaron — I would have spoken, but they did not let me

PronounSpanish
yohabría calentado
habrías calentado
voshabrías calentado
él/ella/Ud.habría calentado
nosotroshabríamos calentado
vosotroshabríais calentado
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrían calentado

Future perfect (Futuro perfecto) Regular

Describes an action that will have been completed by a certain point in the future, or expresses probability about a recent past action.

Para el lunes habré terminado — By Monday I will have finished

PronounSpanishEnglish
yohabré calentadoI will have heated
habrás calentadoyou will have heated
voshabrás calentadoyou will have heated
él/ella/Ud.habrá calentadohe/she/it will have heated
nosotroshabremos calentadowe will have heated
vosotroshabréis calentadoyou (pl.) will have heated
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán calentadothey will have heated

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjuntivo presente) Irregular

Used in subordinate clauses after expressions of desire, doubt, emotion, necessity, or impersonal statements. Triggered by a change of subject between the main and subordinate clause.

Espero que hable — I hope she speaks

PronounSpanish
yocaliente
calientes
voscalientes
él/ella/Ud.caliente
nosotroscalentemos
vosotroscalentéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.calienten

Imperfect subjunctive (-ra) (Subjuntivo imperfecto (-ra)) Regular

The past subjunctive used after past main verbs, in if-clauses with conditional, and for polite softening. The -ra form is more common in everyday speech than the -se form.

Si pudiera, lo haría — If I could, I would do it

PronounSpanish
yocalentara
calentaras
voscalentaras
él/ella/Ud.calentara
nosotroscalentáramos
vosotroscalentarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.calentaran

Imperfect subjunctive (-se) (Subjuntivo imperfecto (-se)) Regular

The alternative past subjunctive form. Interchangeable with -ra in most contexts but slightly more literary or formal. Both forms are grammatically correct in all regions.

Si pudiese, lo haría — If I could, I would do it

PronounSpanish
yocalentase
calentases
voscalentases
él/ella/Ud.calentase
nosotroscalentásemos
vosotroscalentaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.calentasen

Perfect subjunctive (Pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo) Regular

A compound subjunctive that expresses completed actions in a subjunctive context — used after present or future main verbs expressing doubt, emotion or desire.

Dudo que ya haya llegado — I doubt she has already arrived

PronounSpanish
yohaya calentado
hayas calentado
voshayas calentado
él/ella/Ud.haya calentado
nosotroshayamos calentado
vosotroshayáis calentado
ellos/ellas/Uds.hayan calentado

Pluperfect subjunctive (Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo) Regular

Expresses what had happened in hypothetical or unreal past contexts — the subjunctive equivalent of the pluperfect. Common in contrary-to-fact past conditions.

Si hubiera hablado, lo habrían creído — If she had spoken, they would have believed her

PronounSpanish
yohubiera calentado
hubieras calentado
voshubieras calentado
él/ella/Ud.hubiera calentado
nosotroshubiéramos calentado
vosotroshubierais calentado
ellos/ellas/Uds.hubieran calentado

Other forms

Imperative (affirmative) (Imperativo afirmativo) Irregular

Direct commands and instructions. The imperative only exists for tú, usted, nosotros, vosotros and ustedes — yo has no command form. Affirmative and negative forms use different conjugations.

Habla más despacio — Speak more slowly

PronounSpanish
calienta
voscalentá
él/ella/Ud.caliente
nosotroscalentemos
vosotroscalentad
ustedescalienten

Imperative (negative) (Imperativo negativo) Regular

Negative commands use the subjunctive forms for all persons. Formed with no + present subjunctive. This applies to all persons including tú where the affirmative uses a different form.

No hables tan rápido — Do not speak so fast

PronounSpanish
no calientes
vosno calientes
él/ella/Ud.no caliente
nosotrosno calentemos
vosotrosno calentéis
ustedesno calienten

Present progressive (Presente progresivo) Regular

Emphasises that an action is happening right now at this very moment. Less common than in English since the present tense already covers ongoing actions in Spanish.

Estoy hablando contigo — I am speaking with you

PronounSpanish
yoestoy calentando
estás calentando
vosestás calentando
él/ella/Ud.está calentando
nosotrosestamos calentando
vosotrosestáis calentando
ellos/ellas/Uds.están calentando

Preterite progressive (Pretérito indefinido progresivo) Regular

Describes an action that was in progress throughout a completed past period. Uses the preterite of estar + gerund to emphasise the ongoing nature within a defined timeframe.

Estuvo hablando toda la tarde — He was talking all afternoon

PronounSpanish
yoestuve calentando
estuviste calentando
vosestuviste calentando
él/ella/Ud.estuvo calentando
nosotrosestuvimos calentando
vosotrosestuvisteis calentando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estuvieron calentando

Imperfect progressive (Pretérito imperfecto progresivo) Regular

Emphasises an ongoing background action using the imperfect of estar + gerund. Layered on top of the imperfect which already conveys continuity — used for extra emphasis on the progressive nature.

Estaba hablando cuando entró — I was speaking when he came in

PronounSpanish
yoestaba calentando
estabas calentando
vosestabas calentando
él/ella/Ud.estaba calentando
nosotrosestábamos calentando
vosotrosestabais calentando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estaban calentando

Conditional progressive (Condicional progresivo) Regular

Expresses what would be in progress under hypothetical conditions. Uses the conditional of estar + gerund. Less common but used for emphasis on the ongoing nature of a hypothetical action.

Estaría hablando ahora si pudiera — I would be speaking now if I could

PronounSpanish
yoestaría calentando
estarías calentando
vosestarías calentando
él/ella/Ud.estaría calentando
nosotrosestaríamos calentando
vosotrosestaríais calentando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estarían calentando

Future progressive (Futuro progresivo) Regular

Describes an action that will be in progress at a future point, or expresses probability about an ongoing present action. Uses the future of estar + gerund.

Mañana a esta hora estaré viajando — At this time tomorrow I will be travelling

PronounSpanish
yoestaré calentando
estarás calentando
vosestarás calentando
él/ella/Ud.estará calentando
nosotrosestaremos calentando
vosotrosestaréis calentando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estarán calentando