Introduction

cooperar means “to cooperate”, and it is one of the verbs you will use every day in Spanish. It is the verb for expressing “to cooperate” in everyday Spanish — in conversation, at work, and at home. This page shows cooperar in real sentences, in short dialogues, and in the mistakes learners make most often, and it finishes with a ten-question quiz so you can test yourself. Every sentence below comes with its English translation, and every form is the correct form unless the sentence is clearly marked as past or future. For a first taste: “Yo coopero con el equipo por la mañana.” — “I cooperate with the team.”

cooperar in real example sentences

The twelve sentences below are grouped by how cooperar is used. Read each one out loud, then read the translation. If a sentence feels useful, copy it into your own notebook with one small change — a different time, a different person, a different place — and you have a new sentence of your own.

In the present: everyday use

These sentences use {verb} in the present tense, which is how you will meet it most often: routines, facts, and things happening now.

  1. “Yo coopero con el equipo cada día.” — “I cooperate with the team.”
  2. “Tú cooperas con el equipo cada día.” — “you cooperate with the team.”
  3. “Él coopera con el equipo siempre.” — “He cooperates with the team.”
  4. “Nosotros cooperamos con el equipo todos los días.” — “We cooperate with the team.”

Talking about the past

The present is not the only tense you need. These sentences show {verb} in the past, so you can talk about what already happened. 5. “Yo cooperé con el equipo ayer.” — “I cooperated with the team.” (preterite) 6. “Él cooperó con el equipo ayer.” — “He cooperated with the team.” (preterite) 7. “Yo cooperaba con el equipo cuando era joven.” — “I used to cooperate with the team.” (imperfect)

Plans and things already done

These sentences look forward, or look back at something already finished. Notice how the verb form changes while the meaning of {verb} stays the same. 8. “Nosotros cooperaremos con el equipo mañana.” — “We will cooperate with the team.” (future) 9. “Tú has cooperado con el equipo hoy.” — “you have cooperated with the team.” (present-perfect) 10. “Espero que yo coopere con el equipo.” — “I hope that I cooperate with the team.” (present-subjunctive)

More everyday uses

Two more present-tense sentences, covering the remaining persons, so you can see the whole table in action. 11. “Vosotros cooperáis con el equipo cada semana.” — “You cooperate with the team.” 12. “Ellos cooperan con el equipo normalmente.” — “They cooperate with the team.”

cooperar in context

Single sentences teach you the forms. Dialogues teach you when to use them. Read the short conversation below, then the paragraph that follows, and notice how cooperar appears naturally, without anyone stopping to think about conjugation.

Dialogue on the phone

Lucía: “¿Tú cooperas con el equipo?” — Do you cooperate with the team?

Pedro: “Sí, yo coopero con el equipo cada día. Es parte de mi rutina.” — Yes, I cooperate with the team every day. It is part of my routine.

Lucía: “¿Y ayer? ¿También cooperas con el equipo?” — And yesterday? Did you cooperate with the team too?

Pedro: “Sí, ayer yo cooperé con el equipo. Mañana nosotros cooperaremos con el equipo otra vez.” — Yes, yesterday I cooperated with the team. Tomorrow we will cooperate with the team again.

A short paragraph

Él coopera con el equipo cada día — that one sentence already tells you a lot about how cooperar works in real Spanish: who does it, when, and with what. Around it you can build a whole paragraph: what happened yesterday, what is happening now, and what will happen tomorrow, all with the same verb. When you write your own paragraph, start with the present — yo coopero con el equipo — then add one past sentence and one future sentence, and you have practised three tenses with one verb. That is the fastest way to make cooperar yours: use it in a story, not only in a table.

Common mistakes

Forgetting the accent in the preterite

The yo preterite form is cooperé, with an accent on the stressed vowel. Writing it without the accent — coopere — is a spelling error, and in speech the stress lands in the wrong place. Preterite yo forms that end in a vowel carry that accent, so check it every time you write the preterite of cooperar.

Mixing up present and preterite nosotros

For cooperar, the nosotros form is the same in the present and the preterite: cooperamos. Only the context tells you which tense is meant, so pay attention to the time words around it — cada día points to the present, ayer points to the preterite. Do not invent a different form for one of the tenses.

Using ser instead of haber in perfect tenses

Spanish perfect tenses always use haber, never ser: yo he cooperado con el equipo. English speakers sometimes reach for soy because English uses to be in some passives, but soy cooperado is not the present perfect of cooperar — it is a passive construction with a different meaning.

Confusing cooperar with coordinar

cooperar and coordinar look similar, and learners mix them up. They are different verbs with different meanings, so check which one the sentence needs before you conjugate. If you can substitute the English meaning of cooperar — cooperate — the sentence needs cooperar; if it needs the meaning of coordinar, use that verb instead.

Using the indicative after "espero que"

After espero que (I hope that), Spanish needs the subjunctive: Espero que yo coopere con el equipo. Using the indicative — Espero que yo coopero — is one of the most frequent learner errors with cooperar. Whenever the main clause expresses a wish, doubt or emotion, switch to the subjunctive.

Quiz

Test yourself on the forms above. Choose the best answer, then check the key below.

1. What is the yo form of cooperar in the present?

  • A. cooperas
  • B. coopera
  • C. cooperamos
  • D. coopero

2. What is the tu form of cooperar in the preterite?

  • A. cooperamos
  • B. cooperaste
  • C. cooperé
  • D. cooperó

3. What is the el form of cooperar in the imperfect?

  • A. cooperabas
  • B. cooperábamos
  • C. cooperabais
  • D. cooperaba

4. What is the nosotros form of cooperar in the future?

  • A. cooperará
  • B. cooperaremos
  • C. cooperaré
  • D. cooperarás

5. What is the vosotros form of cooperar in the present perfect?

  • A. he cooperado
  • B. has cooperado
  • C. ha cooperado
  • D. habéis cooperado

6. What is the ellos form of cooperar in the present subjunctive?

  • A. coopere
  • B. cooperen
  • C. coopere
  • D. cooperes

7. What is the yo form of cooperar in the preterite?

  • A. cooperaste
  • B. cooperó
  • C. cooperamos
  • D. cooperé

8. What is the tu form of cooperar in the imperfect?

  • A. cooperábamos
  • B. cooperabas
  • C. cooperaba
  • D. cooperaba

9. What is the el form of cooperar in the future?

  • A. cooperaré
  • B. cooperarás
  • C. cooperaremos
  • D. cooperará

10. What is the nosotros form of cooperar in the conditional?

  • A. cooperaría
  • B. cooperaríamos
  • C. cooperaría
  • D. cooperarías

Answer key

  1. coopero — The present table gives yo = coopero.
  2. cooperaste — The preterite table gives tu = cooperaste.
  3. cooperaba — The imperfect table gives el = cooperaba.
  4. cooperaremos — The future table gives nosotros = cooperaremos.
  5. habéis cooperado — The present perfect table gives vosotros = habéis cooperado.
  6. cooperen — The present subjunctive table gives ellos = cooperen.
  7. cooperé — The preterite table gives yo = cooperé.
  8. cooperabas — The imperfect table gives tu = cooperabas.
  9. cooperará — The future table gives el = cooperará.
  10. cooperaríamos — The conditional table gives nosotros = cooperaríamos.

Frequently asked questions

How do I use cooperar in a sentence?

Put the subject first, then the conjugated form, then the rest: “Yo coopero con el equipo.” — “I cooperate with the team.” Change the form for the person and the tense, but keep the sentence pattern the same.

What is the most useful form of cooperar to learn first?

Learn the present yo form coopero first, then the preterite yo form cooperé and the participle cooperado. With those three you can talk about the present, the past and the perfect tenses. Add the gerund cooperando next, and you can describe actions in progress too.

Is cooperar reflexive?

No — cooperar is not reflexive. It takes a direct object, not a reflexive pronoun: yo coopero con el equipo. Do not add me or se to it unless the sentence genuinely needs a pronoun for another reason.

Where can I see the full conjugation of cooperar?

On the main conjugation page for cooperar, which has every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle, plus notes, examples and a quiz. The present-tense page covers one tense in depth if that is what you need right now.

Related links