Skip to content
fluentbyear

SPANISH VERB

cenar

to have dinner

  • #321 most used
  • Regular -ar verb
  • Gerund: cenando
  • Past participle: cenado

Conjugation

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

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

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

Imperfect

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

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Past subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

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

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

How to use cenar

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

  1. Present

    Cenamos tarde, como a las nueve.

    We have dinner late, around nine.

  2. Past

    Anoche cené unos tamales con atole.

    Last night I had tamales with atole for dinner.

  3. Imperfect

    Los viernes cenábamos pizza en familia.

    On Fridays we had pizza for dinner as a family.

  4. Future

    ¿Cenarás con nosotros o tienes planes?

    Will you have dinner with us or do you have plans?

  5. Conditional

    Cenaría contigo con mucho gusto.

    I would love to have dinner with you.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Prefiero que cenemos algo ligero.

    I would rather we have something light for dinner.

  7. Past subjunctive

    Me pidió que cenara con su familia el sábado.

    He asked me to have dinner with his family on Saturday.

  8. Imperative

    Cenen sin mí, llegaré tarde.

    Have dinner without me, I will be late.

Good to know

  • In Mexico la cena is a light meal at night; the big meal is la comida.

Where you hear cenar

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

Spanish · Beginner Level 1

  • Siempre ceno muy tarde. I always have dinner very late.
  • Anoche cené pescado en la playa. Last night I had fish for dinner on the beach.
  • El sábado vamos a cenar juntas. On Saturday we're going to have dinner together.

Spanish · Beginner Level 2

  • Mamá, ¿qué cenamos? Mom, what's for dinner?
  • ¡Hija! ¿Ya cenaste? Dear! Have you had dinner yet?
  • Hoy voy a cenar tarde. Today I'm going to have dinner late.
21
What Are You Going to Do?

Beginner Level 1 · cenar · cenamos

Needs a subscription 10
What Did You Do This Week?

Beginner Level 2 · cenaste

Needs a subscription 17
The Lights Go Out

Beginner Level 3 · estábamos cenando

Needs a subscription 23
Plans for Christmas

Beginner Level 3 · cenan · cenemos · cenamos

Needs a subscription 2
Telling the Story

Intermediate Level 2 · cené

Free 12
How Much Longer?

Advanced Level 1 · has cenado

Needs a subscription 24
When Are You Due?

Advanced Level 1 · cenaron

Needs a subscription

Verbs like this one

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