Comunicar Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish

The present tense of comunicar — "to communicate" in English — is the form you need for what happens now, for habits and for general truths. This page gives you the full present conjugation table for comunicar with all six persons, explains exactly how the tense is formed for this verb, shows when to use it with real examples, and finishes with a quiz so you can test yourself. Comunicar means to communicate, and it is used for communicating news to the family, a change of plans by email, ideas in a meeting and a result to students. It is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e. To see it in a real sentence: Él comunica la noticia a la familia. — "He/she communicates the news to the family." Work through the table below, then the formation notes, the usage rules and the contrast with the preterite, and test yourself at the end.

Present tense conjugation table: comunicar

Every person of comunicar in the present tense. The gerund is comunicando and the past participle is comunicado.

Present indicative

Person Form
yo comunico
tú comunicas
él/ella/Ud. comunica
nosotros/as comunicamos
vosotros/as comunicáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. comunican

How the present indicative of comunicar is formed

The present indicative of comunicar is built from the stem comunic- plus the present endings for -ar verbs. Take the infinitive, drop the -ar ending, and add the ending that matches the person. The table below shows the endings, and the full table above shows them attached to the stem.

Person Ending Form
yo -o comunico
tú -as comunicas
él/ella/Ud. -a comunica
nosotros/as -amos comunicamos
vosotros/as -áis comunicáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. -an comunican

comunicar is a spelling-change verb: c becomes qu before e. That is why the written form changes in some persons — the sound stays the same, and only the spelling adapts. In this tense, watch the first-person form comunico in particular.

The gerund of comunicar is comunicando and the past participle is comunicado. Both are regular for this verb, and the participle is the form you need for all the perfect tenses with haber.

When to use the present tense of comunicar

The present tense is not one single use — it covers several situations, and comunicar appears in all of them. The five uses below are the ones you will meet most often, each with an example that shows the verb in a natural sentence.

Habits and routines

The present tense describes things you do regularly. If you do it every day, every week or every morning, the present is the tense to use. For comunicar, this use looks like this: "Yo comunico la noticia a la familia." — "I communicate the news to the family." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

General facts

The present tense states facts that are generally true, not tied to one moment. It is the tense for definitions and permanent situations. For comunicar, this use looks like this: "Él comunica el cambio de planes por correo." — "He/she communicates the change of plans by email." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

What is happening now

The present tense also covers what is happening at this moment, especially with verbs that describe an action in progress. For comunicar, this use looks like this: "Nosotros comunicamos sus ideas en la reunión." — "We communicate his ideas at the meeting." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

Timetables and schedules

The present tense is used for fixed plans and timetables, such as trains, classes and opening times, even when they refer to the future. For comunicar, this use looks like this: "Ellos comunican el resultado a los alumnos." — "They communicate the result to the students." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

Instructions and requests

The present tense appears in instructions and polite requests, where it sounds softer than a direct command. For comunicar, this use looks like this: "Tú comunicas la noticia a la familia." — "You communicate the news to the family." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

The present tense vs the preterite

Learners often mix up the present and the preterite with comunicar. The rule is simple: the present is for habits, facts and what is happening now, while the preterite is for one finished action in the past. The three pairs below show the same idea in both tenses, so you can feel the difference.

Pair 1: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Yo comunico la noticia a la familia." — "I communicate the news to the family."
  • Preterite: "Yo comuniqué la noticia a la familia." — "I communicated the news to the family." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Pair 2: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Él comunica el cambio de planes por correo." — "He/she communicates the change of plans by email."
  • Preterite: "Él comunicó el cambio de planes por correo." — "He/she communicated the change of plans by email." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Pair 3: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Nosotros comunicamos sus ideas en la reunión." — "We communicate his ideas at the meeting."
  • Preterite: "Nosotros comunicamos sus ideas en la reunión." — "We communicated his ideas at the meeting." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Example sentences in the present tense

Eight natural sentences with comunicar in the present tense only. Each one uses a form from the table above.

  1. Yo comunico la noticia a la familia. — I communicate the news to the family.
  2. Tú comunicas el cambio de planes por correo. — You communicate the change of plans by email.
  3. Él comunica sus ideas en la reunión. — He/she communicates his ideas at the meeting.
  4. Nosotros comunicamos el resultado a los alumnos. — We communicate the result to the students.
  5. Vosotros comunicáis la noticia a la familia. — You all communicate the news to the family.
  6. Ellos comunican el cambio de planes por correo. — They communicate the change of plans by email.
  7. Yo comunico sus ideas en la reunión. — I communicate his ideas at the meeting.
  8. Él comunica el resultado a los alumnos. — He/she communicates the result to the students.

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Vosotros comunicais el cambio de planes por correo. — Right: Vosotros comunicáis el cambio de planes por correo. — The vosotros present form carries a written accent: comunicáis, not comunicais.
  2. Wrong: Ayer, yo comunico sus ideas en la reunión. — Right: Ayer, yo comuniqué sus ideas en la reunión. — Ayer means yesterday, so it needs the preterite (comuniqué), not the present (comunico). The present is for now, not for yesterday.
  3. Wrong: Yo comunica la noticia a la familia. — Right: Yo comunico la noticia a la familia. — The person matters: comunica is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is comunico.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy comunicado el cambio de planes por correo. — Right: Yo he comunicado el cambio de planes por correo. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he comunicado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.

Quiz: test yourself

Eight questions on the present tense of comunicar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.

  1. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ la noticia a la familia. (present tense) A. comunico B. comunicas C. comunica D. comunicamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ el cambio de planes por correo. (present tense) A. comunicas B. comunico C. comunica D. comunicamos

  3. Complete the sentence: Él ___ sus ideas en la reunión. (present tense) A. comunica B. comunico C. comunicas D. comunicamos

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ el resultado a los alumnos. (present tense) A. comunicamos B. comunico C. comunicas D. comunica

  5. Complete the sentence: Vosotros ___ la noticia a la familia. (present tense) A. comunicáis B. comunico C. comunicas D. comunica

  6. Complete the sentence: Ellos ___ el cambio de planes por correo. (present tense) A. comunican B. comunico C. comunicas D. comunica

  7. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ sus ideas en la reunión. (present tense) A. comunico B. comunicas C. comunica D. comunicamos

  8. Complete the sentence: Él ___ el resultado a los alumnos. (present tense) A. comunica B. comunico C. comunicas D. comunicamos

Answer key

  1. comunico — The yo present form of comunicar is comunico. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  2. comunicas — The tu present form of comunicar is comunicas. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  3. comunica — The el present form of comunicar is comunica. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  4. comunicamos — The nosotros present form of comunicar is comunicamos. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  5. comunicáis — The vosotros present form of comunicar is comunicáis. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  6. comunican — The ellos present form of comunicar is comunican. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  7. comunico — The yo present form of comunicar is comunico. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  8. comunica — The el present form of comunicar is comunica. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.

Frequently asked questions

When do I use the present tense of comunicar?

Use the present tense of comunicar for habits, facts and what is happening now. For example: Yo comunico la noticia a la familia. — "I communicate the news to the family." The usage rules above give five situations with examples.

How is the present tense of comunicar formed?

Take the stem comunic- and add the present endings for -ar verbs. The full table is at the top of this page. Remember the spelling change: c becomes qu before e.

What is the difference between the present and the preterite of comunicar?

The present describes a habit or a present fact, while the preterite describes a finished action. Compare Yo comunico el cambio de planes por correo. with Yo comuniqué el cambio de planes por correo. — the verb is the same, but the time meaning changes.

How do I practise the present tense of comunicar?

Drill the six forms in the table above until you can say them without looking, then use the comunicar examples and quiz page for more sentences, and test yourself with the Comunicar conjugation page for the full picture across all tenses.

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