Macerar Conjugation in Spanish
The Spanish verb macerar means to marinate — it also means to macerate, and it is a verb you will use again and again once you know it. Macerar 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 macerar 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 macero la fruta — "I marinate the fruit" — and in the preterite you say Yo maceré en vino — "I marinated in wine". 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: macerar
- English: to marinate, to macerate
- Verb type: regular -ar verb
- Ending: -ar
- Gerund: macerando
- Past participle: macerado
- Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + macerado)
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for macerar, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from the verified conjugation tables for macerar. 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: macerando · Past participle: macerado
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | macero |
| tú | maceras |
| él/ella/Ud. | macera |
| nosotros/as | maceramos |
| vosotros/as | maceráis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | maceran |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | maceré |
| tú | maceraste |
| él/ella/Ud. | maceró |
| nosotros/as | maceramos |
| vosotros/as | macerasteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | maceraron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | maceraba |
| tú | macerabas |
| él/ella/Ud. | maceraba |
| nosotros/as | macerábamos |
| vosotros/as | macerabais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | maceraban |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | maceraré |
| tú | macerarás |
| él/ella/Ud. | macerará |
| nosotros/as | maceraremos |
| vosotros/as | maceraréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | macerarán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | maceraría |
| tú | macerarías |
| él/ella/Ud. | maceraría |
| nosotros/as | maceraríamos |
| vosotros/as | maceraríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | macerarían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he macerado |
| tú | has macerado |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha macerado |
| nosotros/as | hemos macerado |
| vosotros/as | habéis macerado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han macerado |
Pluperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había macerado |
| tú | habías macerado |
| él/ella/Ud. | había macerado |
| nosotros/as | habíamos macerado |
| vosotros/as | habíais macerado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían macerado |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré macerado |
| tú | habrás macerado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá macerado |
| nosotros/as | habremos macerado |
| vosotros/as | habréis macerado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán macerado |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría macerado |
| tú | habrías macerado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría macerado |
| nosotros/as | habríamos macerado |
| vosotros/as | habríais macerado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían macerado |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | macere |
| tú | maceres |
| él/ella/Ud. | macere |
| nosotros/as | maceremos |
| vosotros/as | maceréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | maceren |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | macerara |
| tú | maceraras |
| él/ella/Ud. | macerara |
| nosotros/as | maceráramos |
| vosotros/as | macerarais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | maceraran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | macera |
| él/ella/Ud. | macere |
| nosotros/as | maceremos |
| vosotros/as | macerad |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | maceren |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | maceres |
| él/ella/Ud. | macere |
| nosotros/as | maceremos |
| vosotros/as | maceréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | maceren |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Gerund | macerando | with estar for the progressive: estoy macerando |
| Past participle | macerado | with haber for the perfect tenses: he macerado |
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 macerar, the present indicative looks like this in a real sentence: Yo macero en vino — "I marinate in wine". 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 macerar, the preterite looks like this in a real sentence: Yo maceré las fresas — "I marinated the strawberries". 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 macerar, the imperfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo maceraba la fruta — "I used to marinate the fruit". 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 macerar, the future looks like this in a real sentence: Yo maceraré en vino — "I will marinate in wine". 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 macerar, the conditional looks like this in a real sentence: Yo maceraría las fresas — "I would marinate the strawberries". 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 macerar, the present perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo he macerado la fruta — "I have marinated the fruit". 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 macerar, the pluperfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo había macerado en vino — "I had marinated in wine". 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 macerar, the future perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo habré macerado las fresas — "I will have marinated the strawberries". 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 macerar, the conditional perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo habría macerado la fruta — "I would have marinated the fruit". 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 macerar, the present subjunctive looks like this in a real sentence: Espero que él macere en vino — "I hope he marinates in wine". 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 macerar, the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) looks like this in a real sentence: Si yo macerara las fresas, todo cambiaría — "If I marinated the strawberries, 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 macerar, the imperative (affirmative) looks like this in a real sentence: Macere la fruta — "Let him marinate the fruit". 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 macerar, the imperative (negative) looks like this in a real sentence: No maceres en vino — "Don't marinate in wine". 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 macerar, covering different tenses and persons. Each one uses a form from the tables above.
- Yo macero las fresas — "I marinate the strawberries"
- Él macera la fruta — "He marinates the fruit"
- Yo maceré en vino — "I marinated in wine"
- Yo maceraba las fresas — "I used to marinate the strawberries"
- Tú macerarás la fruta — "You will marinate the fruit"
- Yo maceraría en vino — "I would marinate in wine"
- Él ha macerado las fresas — "He has marinated the strawberries"
- Espero que él macere la fruta — "I hope he marinates the fruit"
- Yo había macerado en vino — "I had marinated in wine"
- Ellos maceraban las fresas — "They used to marinate the strawberries"
Common mistakes
- Wrong: Ellos macera la fruta — Right: Ellos maceran la fruta — Ellos needs the ellos form maceran. The singular macera belongs with él, ella or a singular noun.
- Wrong: Ayer, yo macero — Right: Ayer, yo maceré — The present tense cannot describe a finished action yesterday. Ayer forces the preterite, so the form must change to maceré.
- Wrong: De niño, yo maceré todos los días. — Right: Todos los días, yo maceraba — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (maceraba), not the preterite. The preterite (maceré) is for one finished action.
- Wrong: Yo soy macerado en vino. — Right: Yo he macerado en vino. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he macerado, has macerado, ha macerado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
- Wrong: Treating macerar and marinar as identical in every context. — Right: Macerar means to marinate, while marinar means to marinate. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: macerar fits sentences such as Yo macero la fruta, while marinar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on macerar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
Complete the sentence: Yo ___ la fruta. (present tense) A. maceraran B. he macerado C. macero D. maceraras
Complete the sentence: Él ___ la fruta. (preterite) A. maceró B. macerabais C. maceraría D. habéis macerado
Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ la fruta. (imperfect) A. macerasteis B. habéis macerado C. habían macerado D. macerábamos
Complete the sentence: Tú ___ la fruta. (future) A. maceraréis B. he macerado C. maceremos D. macerarás
Complete the sentence: Yo ___ la fruta. (conditional) A. habréis macerado B. maceraréis C. maceramos D. maceraría
Complete the sentence: Espero que él ___ la fruta. (present subjunctive) A. habría macerado B. habéis macerado C. macere D. maceréis
Complete the sentence: Si yo ___ la fruta, todo cambiaría. (imperfect subjunctive, -ra form) A. maceraste B. habrían macerado C. macerara D. habías macerado
Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ la fruta. (present perfect) A. maceraran B. han macerado C. macerarías D. hemos macerado
Complete the command: No ___ la fruta. (negative imperative, tú) A. maceren B. maceremos C. maceres D. maceréis
Which is the gerund of macerar, used with estar for the progressive? A. macerando B. macero C. macerado D. maceraré
Answer key
- macero — The yo present tense of macerar is macero.
- maceró — The él/ella/Ud. preterite of macerar is maceró.
- macerábamos — The nosotros/as imperfect of macerar is macerábamos.
- macerarás — The tú future of macerar is macerarás.
- maceraría — The yo conditional of macerar is maceraría.
- macere — The él/ella/Ud. present subjunctive of macerar is macere.
- macerara — The yo imperfect subjunctive, -ra form of macerar is macerara.
- hemos macerado — The nosotros/as present perfect of macerar is hemos macerado.
- maceres — The negative tú imperative uses the present subjunctive form with no before it: maceres.
- macerando — The gerund of macerar is macerando: estoy macerando. The participle macerado is used with haber instead.
Frequently asked questions
What does macerar mean in English?
Macerar means to marinate, to macerate. It is used in everyday situations such as Yo macero la fruta. The exact English wording depends on the context, but the core meaning stays the same across the tenses.
Is macerar regular?
Yes. Macerar is a regular -ar verb: macero, maceras, macera. The only thing to learn is the pattern of endings, which is the same for every regular -ar verb.
What is the difference between macerar and marinar?
Macerar means to marinate, while marinar means to marinate. They are easy to confuse because they appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use macerar when you mean to marinate, as in Yo macero la fruta, and use marinar for to marinate. When in doubt, check the object of the sentence — it usually shows which verb fits.
How do I say “I marinate” in the past?
It depends on the kind of past. For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo maceré en vino. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo maceraba las fresas. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he macerado la fruta.
How do I practise macerar?
Start with the present tense table, then drill the preterite and the imperfect, since those two past tenses cause the most mistakes. Try the macerar examples and quiz page for more sentences, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure.
Related links
- Macerar in the present tense — the full present-tense table for macerar.
- Macerar examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice for macerar.
- Spanish verbs — the Spanish hub, with every verb and tense guide.
- Marinar conjugation — another -ar verb to compare with macerar.
- Gratinar conjugation — another -ar verb to compare with macerar.
- Tostar conjugation — another -ar verb to compare with macerar.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — test yourself on real conjugated forms.
- Verb Conjugator — conjugate any Spanish verb in every tense.