cargar — Spanish conjugation

to load

Frequency#182Irregular

Indicative

Present (Presente) Regular

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
yocargoI load
cargasyou load
voscargásyou load
él/ella/Ud.cargahe/she/it loads
nosotroscargamoswe load
vosotroscargáisyou (pl.) load
ellos/ellas/Uds.carganthey load

Preterite (Pretérito indefinido) Irregular

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
yocarguéI loaded
cargasteyou loaded
voscargasteyou loaded
él/ella/Ud.cargóhe/she/it loaded
nosotroscargamoswe loaded
vosotroscargasteisyou (pl.) loaded
ellos/ellas/Uds.cargaronthey loaded

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
yocargaba
cargabas
voscargabas
él/ella/Ud.cargaba
nosotroscargábamos
vosotroscargabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.cargaban

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
yocargaríaI would load
cargaríasyou would load
voscargaríasyou would load
él/ella/Ud.cargaríahe/she/it would load
nosotroscargaríamoswe would load
vosotroscargaríaisyou (pl.) would load
ellos/ellas/Uds.cargaríanthey would load

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
yocargaréI will load
cargarásyou will load
voscargarásyou will load
él/ella/Ud.cargaráhe/she/it will load
nosotroscargaremoswe will load
vosotroscargaréisyou (pl.) will load
ellos/ellas/Uds.cargaránthey will load

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 cargadoI have loaded
has cargadoyou have loaded
voshas cargadoyou have loaded
él/ella/Ud.ha cargadohe/she/it has loaded
nosotroshemos cargadowe have loaded
vosotroshabéis cargadoyou (pl.) have loaded
ellos/ellas/Uds.han cargadothey have loaded

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 cargadoI had loaded
habías cargadoyou had loaded
voshabías cargadoyou had loaded
él/ella/Ud.había cargadohe/she/it had loaded
nosotroshabíamos cargadowe had loaded
vosotroshabíais cargadoyou (pl.) had loaded
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían cargadothey had loaded

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 cargado
habrías cargado
voshabrías cargado
él/ella/Ud.habría cargado
nosotroshabríamos cargado
vosotroshabríais cargado
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrían cargado

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 cargadoI will have loaded
habrás cargadoyou will have loaded
voshabrás cargadoyou will have loaded
él/ella/Ud.habrá cargadohe/she/it will have loaded
nosotroshabremos cargadowe will have loaded
vosotroshabréis cargadoyou (pl.) will have loaded
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán cargadothey will have loaded

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
yocargue
cargues
voscargues
él/ella/Ud.cargue
nosotroscarguemos
vosotroscarguéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.carguen

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
yocargara
cargaras
voscargaras
él/ella/Ud.cargara
nosotroscargáramos
vosotroscargarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.cargaran

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
yocargase
cargases
voscargases
él/ella/Ud.cargase
nosotroscargásemos
vosotroscargaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.cargasen

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 cargado
hayas cargado
voshayas cargado
él/ella/Ud.haya cargado
nosotroshayamos cargado
vosotroshayáis cargado
ellos/ellas/Uds.hayan cargado

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 cargado
hubieras cargado
voshubieras cargado
él/ella/Ud.hubiera cargado
nosotroshubiéramos cargado
vosotroshubierais cargado
ellos/ellas/Uds.hubieran cargado

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
carga
voscargá
él/ella/Ud.cargue
nosotroscarguemos
vosotroscargad
ustedescarguen

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 cargues
vosno cargues
él/ella/Ud.no cargue
nosotrosno carguemos
vosotrosno carguéis
ustedesno carguen

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 cargando
estás cargando
vosestás cargando
él/ella/Ud.está cargando
nosotrosestamos cargando
vosotrosestáis cargando
ellos/ellas/Uds.están cargando

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 cargando
estuviste cargando
vosestuviste cargando
él/ella/Ud.estuvo cargando
nosotrosestuvimos cargando
vosotrosestuvisteis cargando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estuvieron cargando

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 cargando
estabas cargando
vosestabas cargando
él/ella/Ud.estaba cargando
nosotrosestábamos cargando
vosotrosestabais cargando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estaban cargando

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 cargando
estarías cargando
vosestarías cargando
él/ella/Ud.estaría cargando
nosotrosestaríamos cargando
vosotrosestaríais cargando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estarían cargando

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 cargando
estarás cargando
vosestarás cargando
él/ella/Ud.estará cargando
nosotrosestaremos cargando
vosotrosestaréis cargando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estarán cargando