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SPANISH VERB

hincar los codos

to knuckle down, to hit the books

  • Regular -ar verb
  • Gerund: hincando los codos
  • Past participle: hincado los codos

Conjugation

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

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

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

Imperfect

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

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Past subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

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

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

How to use hincar los codos

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

  1. Present

    En época de exámenes mi hijo hinca los codos de verdad.

    At exam time my son really knuckles down.

  2. Past

    Hinqué los codos todo el verano y aprobé en septiembre.

    I hit the books all summer and passed in September.

  3. Imperfect

    En la carrera hincaba los codos solo la última semana.

    At university I only knuckled down in the last week.

  4. Future

    Después de la Feria hincaré los codos, lo prometo.

    After the Fair I'll knuckle down, I promise.

  5. Conditional

    Con una beca así, cualquiera hincaría los codos.

    With a grant like that, anyone would knuckle down.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Tu madre quiere que hinques los codos este trimestre.

    Your mother wants you to knuckle down this term.

  7. Past subjunctive

    Si hincaras los codos, sacarías matrícula de honor.

    If you knuckled down, you'd get top marks.

  8. Imperative

    ¡Hinca los codos, que el examen es el lunes!

    Hit the books, the exam is on Monday!

Good to know

  • Elbows on the desk: "hincar los codos" is to sit down and study hard. In Mexico "hincarse" on its own is to kneel.

Where you hear hincar los codos

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

Spanish · Fluency Level 1

  • Cuando hay examen, hinco los codos hasta las doce. When there's an exam, I hit the books until midnight.
  • En el noventa, hinqué los codos todo el invierno. In ninety, I hit the books all winter.
  • Después de la boda de Lucía, voy a hincar los codos de verdad. After Lucia's wedding, I'm going to knuckle down for real.
11
Nothing's Going In

Fluency Level 1 · Por la mañana. Con café. Y hincando los codos.

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Verbs like this one

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