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SPANISH VERB

cargar el santo

to carry the saint, in a procession

  • Regular -ar verb
  • Gerund: cargando el santo
  • Past participle: cargado el santo

Conjugation

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

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

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

Imperfect

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

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Past subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

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

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

How to use cargar el santo

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

  1. Present

    Mi padre carga el santo desde los veinte años.

    My father has carried the saint since he was twenty.

  2. Past

    El año pasado cargaron el santo cuarenta hombres.

    Last year forty men carried the saint.

  3. Imperfect

    Mi abuelo cargaba el santo cada Semana Santa.

    My grandfather carried the saint every Holy Week.

  4. Future

    Este año cargarán el santo mis dos hijos.

    This year my two sons will carry the saint.

  5. Conditional

    Yo cargaría el santo si me dejaran.

    I'd carry the saint if they let me.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Ojalá cargue el santo algún año con mi padre.

    I hope one year I carry the saint with my father.

  7. Past subjunctive

    Su madre no quería que cargara el santo con la espalda así.

    His mother didn't want him carrying the saint with his back like that.

  8. Imperative

    Cargad el santo despacio, que la cuesta es larga.

    Carry the saint slowly, the hill is long.

Good to know

  • In Andalusia the "costaleros" carry the floats of a procession on their necks; "cargar con el santo" is also said, jokingly, of the one who ends up doing all the work.

Where you hear cargar el santo

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

Spanish · Fluency Level 3

  • Todos los años, en la fiesta del pueblo, seis hombres cargan el santo. Every year, at the village fiesta, six men carry the saint.
  • Mi marido cargó el santo cuarenta y dos años. Yo los conté. My husband carried the saint for forty-two years. I counted them.
  • Este año, en la fiesta, mis hijos van a cargar el santo. This year, at the fiesta, my sons are going to carry the saint.
14
A Family Visit

Fluency Level 3 · Tu abuelo cargaba el santo en la fiesta del pueblo.

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Verbs like this one

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