cazar — Spanish conjugation

to hunt

Frequency#497Irregular

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
yocazoI hunt
cazasyou hunt
voscazásyou hunt
él/ella/Ud.cazahe/she/it hunts
nosotroscazamoswe hunt
vosotroscazáisyou (pl.) hunt
ellos/ellas/Uds.cazanthey hunt

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
yocacéI hunted
cazasteyou hunted
voscazasteyou hunted
él/ella/Ud.cazóhe/she/it hunted
nosotroscazamoswe hunted
vosotroscazasteisyou (pl.) hunted
ellos/ellas/Uds.cazaronthey hunted

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
yocazaba
cazabas
voscazabas
él/ella/Ud.cazaba
nosotroscazábamos
vosotroscazabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.cazaban

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
yocazaríaI would hunt
cazaríasyou would hunt
voscazaríasyou would hunt
él/ella/Ud.cazaríahe/she/it would hunt
nosotroscazaríamoswe would hunt
vosotroscazaríaisyou (pl.) would hunt
ellos/ellas/Uds.cazaríanthey would hunt

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
yocazaréI will hunt
cazarásyou will hunt
voscazarásyou will hunt
él/ella/Ud.cazaráhe/she/it will hunt
nosotroscazaremoswe will hunt
vosotroscazaréisyou (pl.) will hunt
ellos/ellas/Uds.cazaránthey will hunt

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 cazadoI have hunted
has cazadoyou have hunted
voshas cazadoyou have hunted
él/ella/Ud.ha cazadohe/she/it has hunted
nosotroshemos cazadowe have hunted
vosotroshabéis cazadoyou (pl.) have hunted
ellos/ellas/Uds.han cazadothey have hunted

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 cazadoI had hunted
habías cazadoyou had hunted
voshabías cazadoyou had hunted
él/ella/Ud.había cazadohe/she/it had hunted
nosotroshabíamos cazadowe had hunted
vosotroshabíais cazadoyou (pl.) had hunted
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían cazadothey had hunted

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

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 cazadoI will have hunted
habrás cazadoyou will have hunted
voshabrás cazadoyou will have hunted
él/ella/Ud.habrá cazadohe/she/it will have hunted
nosotroshabremos cazadowe will have hunted
vosotroshabréis cazadoyou (pl.) will have hunted
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán cazadothey will have hunted

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
yocace
caces
voscaces
él/ella/Ud.cace
nosotroscacemos
vosotroscacéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.cacen

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
yocazara
cazaras
voscazaras
él/ella/Ud.cazara
nosotroscazáramos
vosotroscazarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.cazaran

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
yocazase
cazases
voscazases
él/ella/Ud.cazase
nosotroscazásemos
vosotroscazaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.cazasen

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

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

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
caza
voscazá
él/ella/Ud.cace
nosotroscacemos
vosotroscazad
ustedescacen

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 caces
vosno caces
él/ella/Ud.no cace
nosotrosno cacemos
vosotrosno cacéis
ustedesno cacen

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

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

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

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

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