Verb · stem change, e to ie
cerrar
to close
The thing that catches people out
cierro, cierras, cierra, but cerramos. On a shop door you will read cerrado, closed, and its opposite, abierto.
Present
What happens, and what is happening now.
| yo | cierro | |
| tú | cierras | |
| él, ella, usted | cierra | |
| nosotros | cerramos | |
| ellos, ustedes | cierran | |
| vosotros, Spain only | cerráis |
Preterite, the finished past
Something that happened and is over: yesterday, last year, once.
| yo | cerré | |
| tú | cerraste | |
| él, ella, usted | cerró | |
| nosotros | cerramos | |
| ellos, ustedes | cerraron | |
| vosotros, Spain only | cerrasteis |
Imperfect, the background past
What used to happen, or was going on when something else happened.
| yo | cerraba | |
| tú | cerrabas | |
| él, ella, usted | cerraba | |
| nosotros | cerrábamos | |
| ellos, ustedes | cerraban | |
| vosotros, Spain only | cerrabais |
Future
Will do. In conversation, ir a plus the verb is more common: voy a comer.
| yo | cerraré | |
| tú | cerrarás | |
| él, ella, usted | cerrará | |
| nosotros | cerraremos | |
| ellos, ustedes | cerrarán | |
| vosotros, Spain only | cerraréis |
Present perfect
Have done. Used far more in Spain, where it covers today; most of Latin America uses the preterite there.
| yo | he cerrado | |
| tú | has cerrado | |
| él, ella, usted | ha cerrado | |
| nosotros | hemos cerrado | |
| ellos, ustedes | han cerrado | |
| vosotros, Spain only | habéis cerrado |
Other forms
The -ing form, the form that follows he, has and ha, and how to tell someone to do it.
| -ing form | cerrando | |
| participle | cerrado | |
| command, to tú | cierra | |
| command, to usted | cierre |
In a sentence
¿a qué hora cierra?
what time does it close?
cierra la puerta, por favor
close the door, please