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SPANISH VERB

empollar

to cram, in Spain

  • Regular -ar verb
  • Gerund: empollando
  • Past participle: empollado

Conjugation

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

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

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

Imperfect

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

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Past subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

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

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

How to use empollar

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

  1. Present

    Mi hermana empolla todas las noches hasta las tres.

    My sister crams every night until three.

  2. Past

    Empollé una semana entera para el examen de anatomía.

    I crammed for a whole week for the anatomy exam.

  3. Imperfect

    En la carrera empollábamos en la biblioteca hasta que cerraba.

    At university we used to cram in the library until it closed.

  4. Future

    ¿Empollaréis juntos o cada uno en su casa?

    Will you cram together or each at home?

  5. Conditional

    Yo empollaría menos y dormiría más antes de un examen.

    I'd cram less and sleep more before an exam.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Por mucho que empolles, sin dormir no retendrás nada.

    However much you cram, without sleep you won't retain anything.

  7. Past subjunctive

    Mis padres nunca me obligaron a que empollara.

    My parents never forced me to cram.

  8. Imperative

    ¡Empolla este fin de semana y el lunes lo bordas!

    Cram this weekend and on Monday you'll nail it!

Good to know

  • "Empollar" is Spain's word for cramming, and an "empollón" is a swot. A hen also "empolla" her eggs, which is where the word comes from.

Where you hear empollar

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

Spanish · Fluency Level 1

  • Los sábados por la tarde empollo en la biblioteca. On Saturday afternoons I cram in the library.
  • Ayer empollé tres temas seguidos, y hoy no me acuerdo de ninguno. Yesterday I crammed three topics in a row, and today I can't remember any of them.
  • En diciembre vamos a empollar de la mañana a la noche. In December we're going to cram from morning to night.
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Nothing's Going In

Fluency Level 1 · empollar · empollas de noche · empollo

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Verbs like this one

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