Celebrar Conjugation in Spanish

The Spanish verb celebrar means to celebrate, and it is a verb you will use again and again once you know it. Celebrar means to celebrate, and it is used for birthdays, victories, Christmas, successes and anniversaries: you celebrate your birthday with friends, a team's victory, Christmas with family. It also means to hold a meeting or a ceremony, as in celebrar una reunión. Like every Spanish verb, celebrar changes its ending for each person and tense, and this page gives you the complete picture: every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle, all from the verified conjugation tables. For example, in the present tense you say celebro mi cumpleaños con amigos, and in the preterite you say celebré la Navidad en familia. Work through the tables below, read the notes for each tense, and then test yourself with the examples, the common mistakes and the quiz at the end of the page.

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: celebrar
  • English: to celebrate
  • Verb type: regular -ar verb
  • Ending: -ar
  • Gerund: celebrando
  • Past participle: celebrado
  • Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + celebrado)

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for celebrar, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one. Celebrar is fully regular: celebré, celebraba, celebraré. Note the br in every form: celebro, celebras, celebra.

Full conjugation tables

Every form below comes from the verified conjugation tables for celebrar. The imperfect subjunctive is shown in its -ra forms; the -se forms use the same stem. For reflexive verbs, the pronoun column shows the reflexive pronoun that goes before each form.

Present indicative

Person Form
yo celebro
tú celebras
él/ella/Ud. celebra
nosotros/as celebramos
vosotros/as celebráis
ellos/ellas/Uds. celebran

Preterite

Person Form
yo celebré
tú celebraste
él/ella/Ud. celebró
nosotros/as celebramos
vosotros/as celebrasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. celebraron

Imperfect

Person Form
yo celebraba
tú celebrabas
él/ella/Ud. celebraba
nosotros/as celebrábamos
vosotros/as celebrabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. celebraban

Future

Person Form
yo celebraré
tú celebrarás
él/ella/Ud. celebrará
nosotros/as celebraremos
vosotros/as celebraréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. celebrarán

Conditional

Person Form
yo celebraría
tú celebrarías
él/ella/Ud. celebraría
nosotros/as celebraríamos
vosotros/as celebraríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. celebrarían

Present perfect

Person Form
yo he celebrado
tú has celebrado
él/ella/Ud. ha celebrado
nosotros/as hemos celebrado
vosotros/as habéis celebrado
ellos/ellas/Uds. han celebrado

Pluperfect

Person Form
yo había celebrado
tú habías celebrado
él/ella/Ud. había celebrado
nosotros/as habíamos celebrado
vosotros/as habíais celebrado
ellos/ellas/Uds. habían celebrado

Future perfect

Person Form
yo habré celebrado
tú habrás celebrado
él/ella/Ud. habrá celebrado
nosotros/as habremos celebrado
vosotros/as habréis celebrado
ellos/ellas/Uds. habrán celebrado

Conditional perfect

Person Form
yo habría celebrado
tú habrías celebrado
él/ella/Ud. habría celebrado
nosotros/as habríamos celebrado
vosotros/as habríais celebrado
ellos/ellas/Uds. habrían celebrado

Present subjunctive

Person Form
yo celebre
tú celebres
él/ella/Ud. celebre
nosotros/as celebremos
vosotros/as celebréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. celebren

Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)

Person Form
yo celebrara
tú celebraras
él/ella/Ud. celebrara
nosotros/as celebráramos
vosotros/as celebrarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. celebraran

Imperative (affirmative)

Person Form
tú celebra
él/ella/Ud. celebre
nosotros/as celebremos
vosotros/as celebrad
ellos/ellas/Uds. celebren

Imperative (negative)

Person Form
tú celebres
él/ella/Ud. celebre
nosotros/as celebremos
vosotros/as celebréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. celebren

Gerund and past participle

Form Spanish Use
Gerund celebrando with estar for the progressive: estoy celebrando
Past participle celebrado with haber for the perfect tenses: he celebrado

How to use each tense

Present indicative

Use the present for routines, general facts and what is happening right now. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For celebrar, the present looks like this in a real sentence: Celebro mi cumpleaños con amigos. Learn the present forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Preterite

Use the preterite for finished actions with a clear end, often with ayer, el año pasado or anoche. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For celebrar, the preterite looks like this in a real sentence: Ayer, celebré la victoria del equipo. Learn the preterite forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Imperfect

Use the imperfect for background, habits and actions in progress in the past, often with de niño, antes or mientras. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For celebrar, the imperfect looks like this in a real sentence: De niño, celebraba la Navidad en familia. Learn the imperfect forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Future

Use the future for plans, predictions and promises, often with mañana, el año que viene or pronto. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For celebrar, the future looks like this in a real sentence: Mañana, celebraré el éxito con una cena. Learn the future forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Conditional

Use the conditional for polite requests, hypotheticals and what would happen, often with si clauses. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For celebrar, the conditional looks like this in a real sentence: Celebraría mi cumpleaños con amigos si pudiera. Learn the conditional forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Present perfect

Use the present perfect for recent actions and experiences, often with hoy, esta semana or ya. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For celebrar, the present perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Hoy, he celebrado la victoria del equipo. Learn the present perfect forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Pluperfect

Use the pluperfect when one past action happened before another past action. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For celebrar, the pluperfect looks like this in a real sentence: Había celebrado la Navidad en familia antes de salir. Learn the pluperfect forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Future perfect

Use the future perfect for something that will already be finished by a future time. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For celebrar, the future perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Para mañana, habré celebrado el éxito con una cena. Learn the future perfect forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Conditional perfect

Use the conditional perfect for what would have happened under different conditions. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For celebrar, the conditional perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Habría celebrado mi cumpleaños con amigos con más tiempo. Learn the conditional perfect forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Present subjunctive

Use the present subjunctive after expressions of wish, doubt, emotion and hope, such as espero que or quiero que. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For celebrar, the present subjunctive looks like this in a real sentence: Espero que él celebre la victoria del equipo. Learn the present subjunctive forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)

Use the imperfect subjunctive after past wishes and in si clauses about the past, and note the -ra forms shown here; the -se forms use the same stem. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For celebrar, the imperfect subjunctive looks like this in a real sentence: Si él celebrara la Navidad en familia, todo cambiaría. Learn the imperfect subjunctive forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Imperative (affirmative)

Use the affirmative imperative for direct commands, instructions and invitations. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For celebrar, the affirmative imperative looks like this in a real sentence: ¡celebra el éxito con una cena! Learn the affirmative imperative forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Imperative (negative)

Use the negative imperative, always with no, to tell someone not to do something. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For celebrar, the negative imperative looks like this in a real sentence: No celebres mi cumpleaños con amigos. Learn the negative imperative forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Example sentences

Ten natural sentences with celebrar, covering different tenses and persons. Each one uses a form from the tables above.

  1. Celebro mi cumpleaños con amigos. — I celebrate my birthday with friends.
  2. Celebra la victoria del equipo. — He/she celebrates the team's victory.
  3. Ayer, celebré la Navidad en familia. — Yesterday, I celebrated Christmas with family.
  4. Antes, nosotros celebrábamos el éxito con una cena. — Before, we used to celebrate success with a dinner.
  5. Mañana, tú celebrarás mi cumpleaños con amigos. — Tomorrow, you will celebrate my birthday with friends.
  6. Yo celebraría la victoria del equipo si tuviera más tiempo. — I would celebrate the team's victory if I had more time.
  7. Él ha celebrado la Navidad en familia. — He has celebrated Christmas with family.
  8. Espero que él celebre el éxito con una cena. — I hope he celebrates success with a dinner.
  9. Yo ya había celebrado mi cumpleaños con amigos antes de salir. — I had already celebrated my birthday with friends before leaving.
  10. Ellos celebraban la victoria del equipo cuando eran jóvenes. — They used to celebrate the team's victory when they were young.

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Yo celebra mi cumpleaños con amigos. — Right: Yo celebro mi cumpleaños con amigos. — The person matters: celebra is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is celebro. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Treating celebrar and festejar as identical in every context. — Right: Celebrar means to celebrate, while festejar means to celebrate with a party. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: celebrar fits sentences such as Celebro mi cumpleaños con amigos, while festejar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  3. Wrong: Yo soy celebrado la victoria del equipo. — Right: Yo he celebrado la victoria del equipo. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he celebrado, has celebrado, ha celebrado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  4. Wrong: De niño, yo celebré la Navidad en familia todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo celebraba la Navidad en familia todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (celebraba), not the preterite. The preterite (celebré) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on celebrar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.

  1. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ mi cumpleaños con amigos. (present tense) A. celebro B. celebras C. celebra D. celebramos

  2. Complete the sentence: Ayer, él ___ la victoria del equipo. (preterite) A. celebré B. celebraste C. celebraron D. celebró

  3. Complete the sentence: Antes, nosotros ___ la Navidad en familia. (imperfect) A. celebrabas B. celebraban C. celebrábamos D. celebraba

  4. Complete the sentence: Mañana, tú ___ el éxito con una cena. (future) A. celebraremos B. celebrarás C. celebraré D. celebrará

  5. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ mi cumpleaños con amigos si pudiera. (conditional) A. celebraría B. celebrarías C. celebrarían D. celebro

  6. Complete the sentence: Espero que él ___ la victoria del equipo. (present subjunctive) A. celebres B. celebremos C. celebro D. celebre

  7. Complete the sentence: Si yo ___ la Navidad en familia, todo cambiaría. (imperfect subjunctive, -ra form) A. celebráramos B. celebro C. celebrara D. celebraras

  8. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ el éxito con una cena. (present perfect) A. han celebrado B. hemos celebrado C. he celebrado D. has celebrado

  9. Complete the command: ¡___ mi cumpleaños con amigos! (affirmative imperative, tú) A. celebra B. celebre C. celebremos D. celebrad

  10. Which is the gerund of celebrar, used with estar for the progressive? A. celebrado B. celebro C. celebré D. celebrando

Answer key

  1. celebro — The first-person present of celebrar is celebro. The other options are the tú, él/ella and nosotros forms.
  2. celebró — The third-person preterite of celebrar is celebró, the form for a single finished action in the past.
  3. celebrábamos — The nosotros imperfect of celebrar is celebrábamos, used here for a repeated past habit.
  4. celebrarás — The second-person future of celebrar is celebrarás.
  5. celebraría — The first-person conditional of celebrar is celebraría, the form for what would happen.
  6. celebre — After espero que, the subjunctive is required: the third-person present subjunctive of celebrar is celebre.
  7. celebrara — The first-person imperfect subjunctive (-ra) of celebrar is celebrara.
  8. hemos celebrado — The nosotros present perfect of celebrar is hemos celebrado: hemos + celebrado.
  9. celebra — The affirmative tú imperative of celebrar is celebra.
  10. celebrando — The gerund of celebrar is celebrando: estoy celebrando. The participle celebrado is used with haber instead.

Frequently asked questions

What does celebrar mean in English?

Celebrar means to celebrate. It is used in everyday situations such as Celebro mi cumpleaños con amigos. The exact English wording depends on the context, but the core meaning stays the same across the tenses.

Is celebrar regular or irregular?

Celebrar is a fully regular -ar verb, so every tense follows the standard endings for its class. Once you know the regular pattern, you can produce every form on this page, including celebro in the present and celebré in the preterite.

What is the difference between celebrar and festejar?

Celebrar means to celebrate, while festejar means to celebrate with a party. They are easy to confuse because they appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use celebrar when you mean to celebrate, as in Celebro mi cumpleaños con amigos, and use festejar for to celebrate with a party. When in doubt, check the object of the sentence — it usually shows which verb fits.

How do I say “I celebrate” in the past?

It depends on the kind of past. For one finished action, use the preterite: yo celebré la victoria del equipo. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: yo celebraba la Navidad en familia. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: yo he celebrado la victoria del equipo.

How do I practise celebrar?

Start with the present tense table, then drill the preterite and the imperfect, since those two past tenses cause the most mistakes. Try the celebrar examples and quiz page for more sentences, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure.

Related links