Introduction

cuidarse means “to take care of oneself”, and it is one of the verbs you will use every day in Spanish. It is the verb for expressing “to take care of oneself” in everyday Spanish — in conversation, at work, and at home. This page shows cuidarse 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 me cuido mucho por la mañana.” — “I take care of oneself a lot.”

cuidarse in real example sentences

The twelve sentences below are grouped by how cuidarse 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 me cuido mucho cada día.” — “I take care of oneself a lot.”
  2. “Tú te cuidas mucho cada día.” — “you take care of oneself a lot.”
  3. “Él se cuida mucho siempre.” — “He takes care of oneself a lot.”
  4. “Nosotros nos cuidamos mucho todos los días.” — “We take care of oneself a lot.”

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 me cuidé mucho ayer.” — “I took care of oneself a lot.” (preterite) 6. “Él se cuidó mucho ayer.” — “He took care of oneself a lot.” (preterite) 7. “Yo me cuidaba mucho cuando era joven.” — “I used to take care of oneself a lot.” (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 nos cuidaremos mucho mañana.” — “We will take care of oneself a lot.” (future) 9. “Tú te has cuidado mucho hoy.” — “you have taken care of oneself a lot.” (present-perfect) 10. “Espero que yo me cuide mucho.” — “I hope that I take care of oneself a lot.” (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 os cuidáis mucho cada semana.” — “You take care of oneself a lot.” 12. “Ellos se cuidan mucho normalmente.” — “They take care of oneself a lot.”

cuidarse 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 cuidarse appears naturally, without anyone stopping to think about conjugation.

Dialogue in a café

Sofía: “¿Tú te cuidas mucho?” — Do you take care of oneself a lot?

Diego: “Sí, yo me cuido mucho cada día. Es parte de mi rutina.” — Yes, I take care of oneself a lot every day. It is part of my routine.

Sofía: “¿Y ayer? ¿También te cuidas mucho?” — And yesterday? Did you take care of oneself a lot too?

Diego: “Sí, ayer yo me cuidé mucho. Mañana nosotros cuidaremos mucho otra vez.” — Yes, yesterday I took care of oneself a lot. Tomorrow we will take care of oneself a lot again.

A short paragraph

Él se cuida mucho cada día — that one sentence already tells you a lot about how cuidarse 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 cuido mucho — 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 cuidarse yours: use it in a story, not only in a table.

Common mistakes

Forgetting the accent in the preterite

The yo preterite form is cuidé, with an accent on the stressed vowel. Writing it without the accent — cuide — 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 cuidarse.

Mixing up present and preterite nosotros

For cuidarse, the nosotros form is the same in the present and the preterite: cuidamos. 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.

Dropping the reflexive pronoun

Because cuidarse is reflexive, it always needs its pronoun: yo me cuido mucho, not yo cuido mucho. Without me, the sentence either means something else or means nothing at all. The pronouns are me, te, se, nos, os, se — learn them with the verb, not as an afterthought.

Using ser instead of haber in perfect tenses

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

Confusing cuidarse with culpar

cuidarse and culpar 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 cuidarse — take care of oneself — the sentence needs cuidarse; if it needs the meaning of culpar, use that verb instead.

Quiz

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

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

  • A. cuidas
  • B. cuida
  • C. cuidamos
  • D. cuido

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

  • A. cuidamos
  • B. cuidaste
  • C. cuidé
  • D. cuidó

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

  • A. cuidabas
  • B. cuidábamos
  • C. cuidabais
  • D. cuidaba

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

  • A. cuidará
  • B. cuidaremos
  • C. cuidaré
  • D. cuidarás

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

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

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

  • A. cuide
  • B. cuiden
  • C. cuide
  • D. cuides

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

  • A. cuidaste
  • B. cuidó
  • C. cuidamos
  • D. cuidé

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

  • A. cuidábamos
  • B. cuidabas
  • C. cuidaba
  • D. cuidaba

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

  • A. cuidaré
  • B. cuidarás
  • C. cuidaremos
  • D. cuidará

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

  • A. cuidaría
  • B. cuidaríamos
  • C. cuidaría
  • D. cuidarías

Answer key

  1. cuido — The present table gives yo = cuido.
  2. cuidaste — The preterite table gives tu = cuidaste.
  3. cuidaba — The imperfect table gives el = cuidaba.
  4. cuidaremos — The future table gives nosotros = cuidaremos.
  5. habéis cuidado — The present perfect table gives vosotros = habéis cuidado.
  6. cuiden — The present subjunctive table gives ellos = cuiden.
  7. cuidé — The preterite table gives yo = cuidé.
  8. cuidabas — The imperfect table gives tu = cuidabas.
  9. cuidará — The future table gives el = cuidará.
  10. cuidaríamos — The conditional table gives nosotros = cuidaríamos.

Frequently asked questions

How do I use cuidarse in a sentence?

Put the subject first, then the conjugated form, then the rest: “Yo me cuido mucho.” — “I take care of oneself a lot.” Do not forget the reflexive pronoun: it goes before the verb. Change the form for the person and the tense, but keep the sentence pattern the same.

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

Learn the present yo form cuido first, then the preterite yo form cuidé and the participle cuidado. With those three you can talk about the present, the past and the perfect tenses. Add the gerund cuidando next, and you can describe actions in progress too.

Is cuidarse reflexive?

Yes — cuidarse is reflexive, so it always takes me, te, se, nos, os or se. You say yo me cuido, never just yo cuido. The pronoun goes before the conjugated verb, or attached to the infinitive and gerund.

Where can I see the full conjugation of cuidarse?

On the main conjugation page for cuidarse, 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