Contar: Translation, Conjugation & Stem Change
Contar” is a useful verb that has multiple meanings in Spanish, including ‘to count’ and ‘to tell’. In this lesson, we analyze its meaning in different contexts and study its conjugation in the present tense.
¡A Contar Historias!
”Let’s tell stories!” Do you like telling stories? And what about telling jokes? Have you ever counted sheep to be able to fall asleep? In this lesson, we study the Spanish verb contar (pronounced: kohn-TAHR), whose main meanings are ‘to count’ and ‘to tell’, but it can have other meanings depending on the context.
We’ll see its irregular conjugation in the present tense through plenty of examples. You will learn this verb with Clara and her family, who are great storytellers.
Meanings of Contar
First, take a look at the main meanings of contar in Spanish:
Meaning Example Translation
to tell, narrate contar un cuento / una historia to tell a tale / a story
to enumerate contar ovejas / con los dedos to count sheep / with one’s fingers
to have contar con ayuda extra to have extra help
to rely on contar con alguien to rely on someone
Note: When contar means ‘to have’ or ‘to rely on’, the preposition con is required after the verb.
Contar ovejas (To count sheep)
sheep
Present Tense of Contar
We use the present tense to talk about habits or routines, to talk about facts or to make descriptions.
Contar is an irregular verb, which means that its stem changes into cuent- in all singular forms and the third person plural (ellos/as). Only nosotros/as and vosotros/as keep the stem cont-.
VERB: contar (kohn-TAHR) – to count/tell
Subject Pronouns Present Simple Pronunciation Translation
yo cuento (KWEHN-toh) I count/tell
tú cuentas (KWEHN-tahs) you count/tell
él/ella
usted
cuenta (KWEHN-tah) he/she counts/tells,
you (formal) count/tell
nosotros/nosotras contamos (kohn-TAH-mohs) we count/tell
vosotros/vosotras contáis (kohn-TIYS) you all count/tell
ellos/ellas
ustedes
cuentan (KWEHN-tahn) they /
you all count/tell
Note: In Spain, people use the form vosotros/as when addressing a group of people in an informal situation, but in the rest of the Spanish-speaking countries, everyone says ustedes.
Examples of Contar in the Present
It’s time to practise with different examples. Take a look at the uses of contar in different contexts.
To Tell
Clara loves telling stories, and it runs in the family! She says:
Mis padres siempre nos cuentan historias antes de dormir. (My parents always tell us stories before going to sleep.)
Además, mi padre es un humorista nato. Siempre cuenta chistes. (Also, my father is a born humorist. He’s always telling jokes.)
A todos en casa nos encanta contar historias. (All of us at home love telling stories.)
Note: When there are two verbs together, we only conjugate the first one. So use the infinitive (contar) after verbs like Me gusta/Me encanta/Me gustaría (I like/I love/I’d like to).
Cuando mis amigos y yo organizamos fiestas de pijamas o acampadas, siempre contamos historias de miedo. (When my friends and I organize slumber parties or camping, we always tell horror stories.)
Translation: My friends tell horror stories.
bonfire
To Enumerate
Clara has a little sister. They spend a lot of time together. Clara talks about her:
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