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SPANISH VERB

calentar

to heat, to warm up

  • #329 most used
  • Irregular -ar verb
  • Gerund: calentando
  • Past participle: calentado

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

  1. yo I heat
  2. tú you heat
  3. usted, él, ella he/she heats
  4. nosotros we heat
  5. vosotros Spain you all heat
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they heat

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

  1. yo I heated
  2. tú you heated
  3. usted, él, ella he/she heated
  4. nosotros we heated
  5. vosotros Spain you all heated
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they heated

Imperfect

Pretérito imperfecto · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. yo I used to heat
  2. tú you used to heat
  3. usted, él, ella he/she used to heat
  4. nosotros we used to heat
  5. vosotros Spain you all used to heat
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they used to heat

Future

Futuro · plans and promises; in speech, “voy a hablar” is just as common

  1. yo I will heat
  2. tú you will heat
  3. usted, él, ella he/she will heat
  4. nosotros we will heat
  5. vosotros Spain you all will heat
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they will heat

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

  1. yo I would heat
  2. tú you would heat
  3. usted, él, ella he/she would heat
  4. nosotros we would heat
  5. vosotros Spain you all would heat
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they would heat

Present subjunctive

Presente de subjuntivo · wishes, doubts, “que …”

  1. yo (that) I heat
  2. tú (that) you heat
  3. usted, él, ella (that) he/she heat
  4. nosotros (that) we heat
  5. vosotros Spain (that) you all heat
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas (that) they heat

Past subjunctive

Imperfecto de subjuntivo · “if I were”, “si …”

  1. yo (if) I heated
  2. tú (if) you heated
  3. usted, él, ella (if) he/she heated
  4. nosotros (if) we heated
  5. vosotros Spain (if) you all heated
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas (if) they heated

Imperative

Imperativo · requests and orders; a negative one uses the subjunctive (no hables)

  1. tú heat!
  2. usted heat! (formal)
  3. nosotros heat! (let’s)
  4. vosotros Spain heat! (all of you)
  5. ustedes heat! (all of you)

How to use calentar

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Caliento la comida en el microondas en dos minutos.

    I heat up the food in the microwave in two minutes.

  2. Past

    Calenté agua para el café de todos.

    I heated water for everyone's coffee.

  3. Imperfect

    Mi mamá calentaba las tortillas en el comal.

    My mom used to heat the tortillas on the comal.

  4. Future

    Calentaré la sopa mientras pones la mesa.

    I'll heat the soup while you set the table.

  5. Conditional

    Yo calentaría el carro antes de salir, está helando.

    I'd warm up the car before leaving, it's freezing.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Espera a que caliente el horno antes de meter el pan.

    Wait for the oven to heat up before putting in the bread.

  7. Past subjunctive

    Si calentaras la leche, el bebé dormiría mejor.

    If you warmed the milk, the baby would sleep better.

  8. Imperative

    ¡Calienta las tortillas, ya vamos a comer!

    Heat up the tortillas, we're about to eat!

Good to know

  • "Calentarse" is to warm up before exercise or to get hot.

Where you hear calentar

The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.

Spanish · Beginner Level 3

  • Siempre caliento las tortillas en el comal. I always heat the tortillas on the griddle.
  • Calenté el ponche para todos. I heated the punch for everyone.
  • Calentaré la cena en diez minutos. I'll heat up dinner in ten minutes.
22
Don't Touch Them!

Beginner Level 3 · calienta el sartén

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Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: irregular -ar verb.