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SPANISH VERB

colocar

to place

  • #161 most used
  • Regular -ar verb
  • Gerund: colocando
  • Past participle: colocado

Conjugation

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

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

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

Imperfect

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

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Past subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

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

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

How to use colocar

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

  1. Present

    Mi madre coloca las llaves siempre en el mismo lugar.

    My mother always puts the keys in the same place.

  2. Past

    Coloqué las flores en la mesa de la entrada.

    I placed the flowers on the table by the entrance.

  3. Imperfect

    Cada diciembre colocábamos las luces en el balcón.

    Every December we used to put up the lights on the balcony.

  4. Future

    El técnico colocará la antena el martes.

    The technician will install the antenna on Tuesday.

  5. Conditional

    Yo colocaría el espejo frente a la ventana.

    I'd put the mirror across from the window.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Te pido que coloques los zapatos en su sitio.

    Please put the shoes in their place.

  7. Past subjunctive

    El doctor me pidió que colocara el brazo así.

    The doctor asked me to place my arm like this.

  8. Imperative

    ¡Coloca la maleta arriba, que estorba en el pasillo!

    Put the suitcase up top, it's in the way in the aisle!

Good to know

  • "Colocar" is to put something in its place; "poner" is the everyday word for to put.

Verbs like this one

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