Guisar Conjugation in Spanish
The Spanish verb guisar means to stew — it also means to cook, and it is a verb you will use again and again once you know it. Guisar is a regular -ar verb, so the tables below show you exactly how it behaves in every tense. On this page you will find the full conjugation of guisar in all thirteen tenses, notes on when to use each one, example sentences, the mistakes learners make most often, a ten-question quiz and answers to the questions students ask about this verb. For example, in the present tense you say Yo guiso un guiso — "I stew a stew" — and in the preterite you say Yo guisé la carne — "I stewed the meat". 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: guisar
- English: to stew, to cook
- Verb type: regular -ar verb
- Ending: -ar
- Gerund: guisando
- Past participle: guisado
- Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + guisado)
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for guisar, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from the verified conjugation tables for guisar. 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.
Gerund: guisando · Past participle: guisado
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | guiso |
| tú | guisas |
| él/ella/Ud. | guisa |
| nosotros/as | guisamos |
| vosotros/as | guisáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | guisan |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | guisé |
| tú | guisaste |
| él/ella/Ud. | guisó |
| nosotros/as | guisamos |
| vosotros/as | guisasteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | guisaron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | guisaba |
| tú | guisabas |
| él/ella/Ud. | guisaba |
| nosotros/as | guisábamos |
| vosotros/as | guisabais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | guisaban |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | guisaré |
| tú | guisarás |
| él/ella/Ud. | guisará |
| nosotros/as | guisaremos |
| vosotros/as | guisaréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | guisarán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | guisaría |
| tú | guisarías |
| él/ella/Ud. | guisaría |
| nosotros/as | guisaríamos |
| vosotros/as | guisaríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | guisarían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he guisado |
| tú | has guisado |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha guisado |
| nosotros/as | hemos guisado |
| vosotros/as | habéis guisado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han guisado |
Pluperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había guisado |
| tú | habías guisado |
| él/ella/Ud. | había guisado |
| nosotros/as | habíamos guisado |
| vosotros/as | habíais guisado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían guisado |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré guisado |
| tú | habrás guisado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá guisado |
| nosotros/as | habremos guisado |
| vosotros/as | habréis guisado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán guisado |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría guisado |
| tú | habrías guisado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría guisado |
| nosotros/as | habríamos guisado |
| vosotros/as | habríais guisado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían guisado |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | guise |
| tú | guises |
| él/ella/Ud. | guise |
| nosotros/as | guisemos |
| vosotros/as | guiséis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | guisen |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | guisara |
| tú | guisaras |
| él/ella/Ud. | guisara |
| nosotros/as | guisáramos |
| vosotros/as | guisarais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | guisaran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | guisa |
| él/ella/Ud. | guise |
| nosotros/as | guisemos |
| vosotros/as | guisad |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | guisen |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | guises |
| él/ella/Ud. | guise |
| nosotros/as | guisemos |
| vosotros/as | guiséis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | guisen |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Gerund | guisando | with estar for the progressive: estoy guisando |
| Past participle | guisado | with haber for the perfect tenses: he guisado |
How to use each tense
Present indicative
Use the present for routines, general facts and what is happening right now. It is the tense you will use most often in everyday conversation, for habits with words like todos los días and for statements that are true in general. For guisar, the present indicative looks like this in a real sentence: Yo guiso la carne — "I stew the meat". Learn the present indicative 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 in the past — things that started and ended, often with time words like ayer, anoche or la semana pasada. The preterite moves a story forward, one completed event at a time. For guisar, the preterite looks like this in a real sentence: Yo guisé a fuego lento — "I stewed over a low heat". 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 words like antes, de niño or mientras. It describes how things used to be, not one finished event. For guisar, the imperfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo guisaba un guiso — "I used to stew a stew". 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. It talks about what will happen, not what is happening now. For guisar, the future looks like this in a real sentence: Yo guisaré la carne — "I will stew the meat". 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 in si clauses. It softens a request and describes imagined situations. For guisar, the conditional looks like this in a real sentence: Yo guisaría a fuego lento — "I would stew over a low heat". 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. It connects the past with the present moment. For guisar, the present perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo he guisado un guiso — "I have stewed a stew". 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. It is the past of the past, and it usually appears with antes de or ya. For guisar, the pluperfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo había guisado la carne — "I had stewed the meat". 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, often with para mañana or para el viernes. For guisar, the future perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo habré guisado a fuego lento — "I will have stewed over a low heat". 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. It looks back at a past that never happened. For guisar, the conditional perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo habría guisado un guiso — "I would have stewed a stew". 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. The subjunctive does not state a fact; it states an attitude towards the action. For guisar, the present subjunctive looks like this in a real sentence: Espero que él guise la carne — "I hope he stews the meat". 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 guisar, the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) looks like this in a real sentence: Si yo guisara a fuego lento, todo cambiaría — "If I stewed over a low heat, everything would change". Learn the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) 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. It tells someone to do something, and it has no yo form. For guisar, the imperative (affirmative) looks like this in a real sentence: Guise un guiso — "Let him stew a stew". Learn the imperative (affirmative) 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. It uses the subjunctive forms, so it looks different from the affirmative commands. For guisar, the imperative (negative) looks like this in a real sentence: No guises la carne — "Don't stew the meat". Learn the imperative (negative) 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 guisar, covering different tenses and persons. Each one uses a form from the tables above.
- Yo guiso a fuego lento — "I stew over a low heat"
- Él guisa un guiso — "He stews a stew"
- Yo guisé la carne — "I stewed the meat"
- Yo guisaba a fuego lento — "I used to stew over a low heat"
- Tú guisarás un guiso — "You will stew a stew"
- Yo guisaría la carne — "I would stew the meat"
- Él ha guisado a fuego lento — "He has stewed over a low heat"
- Espero que él guise un guiso — "I hope he stews a stew"
- Yo había guisado la carne — "I had stewed the meat"
- Ellos guisaban a fuego lento — "They used to stew over a low heat"
Common mistakes
- Wrong: Ellos guisa un guiso — Right: Ellos guisan un guiso — Ellos needs the ellos form guisan. The singular guisa belongs with él, ella or a singular noun.
- Wrong: Ayer, yo guiso — Right: Ayer, yo guisé — The present tense cannot describe a finished action yesterday. Ayer forces the preterite, so the form must change to guisé.
- Wrong: De niño, yo guisé todos los días. — Right: Todos los días, yo guisaba — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (guisaba), not the preterite. The preterite (guisé) is for one finished action.
- Wrong: Yo soy guisado la carne. — Right: Yo he guisado la carne. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he guisado, has guisado, ha guisado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
- Wrong: Treating guisar and estofar as identical in every context. — Right: Guisar means to stew, while estofar means to stew, to braise. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: guisar fits sentences such as Yo guiso un guiso, while estofar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on guisar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
Complete the sentence: Yo ___ un guiso. (present tense) A. guisaras B. guisaré C. guisa D. guiso
Complete the sentence: Él ___ un guiso. (preterite) A. guisasteis B. guisas C. habrás guisado D. guisó
Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ un guiso. (imperfect) A. guisábamos B. habría guisado C. habremos guisado D. habré guisado
Complete the sentence: Tú ___ un guiso. (future) A. guisarán B. guise C. guisarás D. guisarían
Complete the sentence: Yo ___ un guiso. (conditional) A. guisaríais B. guisaría C. guisabas D. guisará
Complete the sentence: Espero que él ___ un guiso. (present subjunctive) A. habremos guisado B. guise C. guisarías D. has guisado
Complete the sentence: Si yo ___ un guiso, todo cambiaría. (imperfect subjunctive, -ra form) A. guisara B. habíais guisado C. guisemos D. guisaría
Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ un guiso. (present perfect) A. hemos guisado B. guisáramos C. guisamos D. guisaran
Complete the command: No ___ un guiso. (negative imperative, tú) A. guises B. guise C. guisemos D. guisen
Which is the gerund of guisar, used with estar for the progressive? A. guisando B. guisaba C. guisado D. guisaré
Answer key
- guiso — The yo present tense of guisar is guiso.
- guisó — The él/ella/Ud. preterite of guisar is guisó.
- guisábamos — The nosotros/as imperfect of guisar is guisábamos.
- guisarás — The tú future of guisar is guisarás.
- guisaría — The yo conditional of guisar is guisaría.
- guise — The él/ella/Ud. present subjunctive of guisar is guise.
- guisara — The yo imperfect subjunctive, -ra form of guisar is guisara.
- hemos guisado — The nosotros/as present perfect of guisar is hemos guisado.
- guises — The negative tú imperative uses the present subjunctive form with no before it: guises.
- guisando — The gerund of guisar is guisando: estoy guisando. The participle guisado is used with haber instead.
Frequently asked questions
What does guisar mean in English?
Guisar means to stew, to cook. It is used in everyday situations such as Yo guiso un guiso. The exact English wording depends on the context, but the core meaning stays the same across the tenses.
Is guisar regular?
Yes. Guisar is a regular -ar verb: guiso, guisas, guisa. The only thing to learn is the pattern of endings, which is the same for every regular -ar verb.
What is the difference between guisar and estofar?
Guisar means to stew, while estofar means to stew, to braise. They are easy to confuse because they appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use guisar when you mean to stew, as in Yo guiso un guiso, and use estofar for to stew, to braise. When in doubt, check the object of the sentence — it usually shows which verb fits.
How do I say “I stew” in the past?
It depends on the kind of past. For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo guisé la carne. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo guisaba a fuego lento. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he guisado un guiso.
How do I practise guisar?
Start with the present tense table, then drill the preterite and the imperfect, since those two past tenses cause the most mistakes. Try the guisar examples and quiz page for more sentences, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure.
Related links
- Guisar in the present tense — the full present-tense table for guisar.
- Guisar examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice for guisar.
- Spanish verbs — the Spanish hub, with every verb and tense guide.
- Estofar conjugation — another -ar verb to compare with guisar.
- Macerar conjugation — another -ar verb to compare with guisar.
- Marinar conjugation — another -ar verb to compare with guisar.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — test yourself on real conjugated forms.
- Verb Conjugator — conjugate any Spanish verb in every tense.