Cocinar Conjugation: All Spanish Tenses

Cocinar (to cook, to prepare food) is one of the most used verbs in Spanish and it is completely regular: it follows the -ar verb pattern in every tense, so it is the perfect model verb to learn first.

Indicative Tenses of Cocinar

Cocinar in the Present (Presente)

Habits, current facts and general truths: Cocino casi todos los días en casa (I cook at home almost every day).

Present tense rules →

Cocinar in the Preterite (Pretérito indefinido)

Completed actions at a specific moment in the past: Ayer cociné una paella para toda la familia (Yesterday I cooked a paella for the whole family).

Preterite rules →

Cocinar in the Present Perfect (Pretérito perfecto)

Past connected to the present: Hoy he cocinado dos platos nuevos (Today I have cooked two new dishes).

Present perfect rules →

Cocinar in the Imperfect (Pretérito imperfecto)

Habitual or ongoing actions in the past: De pequeño cocinaba con mi abuela los domingos (As a child I used to cook with my grandmother on Sundays).

Imperfect rules →

Cocinar in the Past Perfect (Pluscuamperfecto)

An action before another past action: Cuando llegaron los invitados, ya había cocinado el postre (When the guests arrived, I had already cooked the dessert).

Past perfect rules →

Cocinar in the Future (Futuro simple)

Plans and predictions: Mañana cocinaré algo especial para tu cumpleaños (Tomorrow I will cook something special for your birthday).

Future tense rules →

Cocinar in the Future Perfect (Futuro perfecto)

An action that will be completed in the future: Para las ocho ya habremos cocinado la cena (By eight o'clock we will have cooked dinner).

Future perfect rules →

Cocinar in the Conditional (Condicional simple)

Advice and hypothetical situations: Yo en tu lugar cocinaría algo más sencillo (If I were you, I would cook something simpler).

Conditional rules →

Cocinar in the Conditional Perfect (Condicional compuesto)

Hypotheses about the past: Habría cocinado yo, pero no tenía tiempo (I would have cooked, but I didn't have time).

Conditional perfect rules →

Subjunctive Tenses of Cocinar

Present Subjunctive of Cocinar (Presente de subjuntivo)

Wishes, doubts and emotions: Quiero que cocines algo ligero hoy (I want you to cook something light today).

Present subjunctive rules →

Present Perfect Subjunctive of Cocinar (Pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo)

Evaluating a recent past action: Espero que hayas cocinado suficiente para todos (I hope you have cooked enough for everyone).

Perfect subjunctive rules →

Imperfect Subjunctive of Cocinar (Pretérito imperfecto de subjuntivo)

Hypothetical conditions: Si cocinaras más a menudo, ahorrarías mucho dinero (If you cooked more often, you would save a lot of money).

Imperfect subjunctive rules →

Past Perfect Subjunctive of Cocinar (Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo)

Unreal hypotheses about the past: Si hubieras cocinado antes, ya estaríamos cenando (If you had cooked earlier, we would already be having dinner).

Past perfect subjunctive rules →

Imperative of Cocinar

Affirmative Commands of Cocinar (Imperativo afirmativo)

Orders and requests: ¡Cocina algo rico para la cena! (Cook something delicious for dinner!)

Affirmative commands rules →

Negative Commands of Cocinar (Imperativo negativo)

Prohibitions and negative advice: No cocines con tanto aceite (Don't cook with so much oil).

Negative commands rules →

Expressions with Cocinar

• Cocinar a fuego lento - to cook slowly; figuratively, to let something develop little by little
• Algo se está cociendo/cocinando - something is brewing, something is being plotted
• Cocinar a ojo - to cook without a recipe, estimating quantities by eye