Marcar Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish

The present tense of marcar — "to mark, to dial" 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 marcar 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. Marcar means to mark or to dial, and it covers dialling a phone number, marking a date on a calendar, making the difference in a match and scoring a goal. It is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e, so the preterite is marqué. To see it in a real sentence: Él marca el número de teléfono. — "He/she marks the phone number." 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: marcar

Every person of marcar in the present tense. The gerund is marcando and the past participle is marcado.

Present indicative

Person Form
yo marco
tú marcas
él/ella/Ud. marca
nosotros/as marcamos
vosotros/as marcáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. marcan

How the present indicative of marcar is formed

The present indicative of marcar is built from the stem marc- 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 marco
tú -as marcas
él/ella/Ud. -a marca
nosotros/as -amos marcamos
vosotros/as -áis marcáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. -an marcan

marcar 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 marco in particular.

The gerund of marcar is marcando and the past participle is marcado. 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 marcar

The present tense is not one single use — it covers several situations, and marcar 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 marcar, this use looks like this: "Yo marco el número de teléfono." — "I mark the phone number." 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 marcar, this use looks like this: "Él marca la fecha en el calendario." — "He/she marks the date on the calendar." 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 marcar, this use looks like this: "Nosotros marcamos la diferencia en el partido." — "We mark the difference in the match." 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 marcar, this use looks like this: "Ellos marcan un gol en el minuto diez." — "They mark a goal in the tenth minute." 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 marcar, this use looks like this: "Tú marcas el número de teléfono." — "You mark the phone number." 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 marcar. 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 marco el número de teléfono." — "I mark the phone number."
  • Preterite: "Yo marqué el número de teléfono." — "I marked the phone number." 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 marca la fecha en el calendario." — "He/she marks the date on the calendar."
  • Preterite: "Él marcó la fecha en el calendario." — "He/she marked the date on the calendar." 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 marcamos la diferencia en el partido." — "We mark the difference in the match."
  • Preterite: "Nosotros marcamos la diferencia en el partido." — "We marked the difference in the match." 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 marcar in the present tense only. Each one uses a form from the table above.

  1. Yo marco el número de teléfono. — I mark the phone number.
  2. Tú marcas la fecha en el calendario. — You mark the date on the calendar.
  3. Él marca la diferencia en el partido. — He/she marks the difference in the match.
  4. Nosotros marcamos un gol en el minuto diez. — We mark a goal in the tenth minute.
  5. Vosotros marcáis el número de teléfono. — You all mark the phone number.
  6. Ellos marcan la fecha en el calendario. — They mark the date on the calendar.
  7. Yo marco la diferencia en el partido. — I mark the difference in the match.
  8. Él marca un gol en el minuto diez. — He/she marks a goal in the tenth minute.

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Vosotros marcais la fecha en el calendario. — Right: Vosotros marcáis la fecha en el calendario. — The vosotros present form carries a written accent: marcáis, not marcais.
  2. Wrong: Ayer, yo marco la diferencia en el partido. — Right: Ayer, yo marqué la diferencia en el partido. — Ayer means yesterday, so it needs the preterite (marqué), not the present (marco). The present is for now, not for yesterday.
  3. Wrong: Yo marca el número de teléfono. — Right: Yo marco el número de teléfono. — The person matters: marca is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is marco.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy marcado la fecha en el calendario. — Right: Yo he marcado la fecha en el calendario. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he marcado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.

Quiz: test yourself

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

  1. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ el número de teléfono. (present tense) A. marco B. marcas C. marca D. marcamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ la fecha en el calendario. (present tense) A. marcas B. marco C. marca D. marcamos

  3. Complete the sentence: Él ___ la diferencia en el partido. (present tense) A. marca B. marco C. marcas D. marcamos

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ un gol en el minuto diez. (present tense) A. marcamos B. marco C. marcas D. marca

  5. Complete the sentence: Vosotros ___ el número de teléfono. (present tense) A. marcáis B. marco C. marcas D. marca

  6. Complete the sentence: Ellos ___ la fecha en el calendario. (present tense) A. marcan B. marco C. marcas D. marca

  7. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ la diferencia en el partido. (present tense) A. marco B. marcas C. marca D. marcamos

  8. Complete the sentence: Él ___ un gol en el minuto diez. (present tense) A. marca B. marco C. marcas D. marcamos

Answer key

  1. marco — The yo present form of marcar is marco. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  2. marcas — The tu present form of marcar is marcas. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  3. marca — The el present form of marcar is marca. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  4. marcamos — The nosotros present form of marcar is marcamos. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  5. marcáis — The vosotros present form of marcar is marcáis. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  6. marcan — The ellos present form of marcar is marcan. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  7. marco — The yo present form of marcar is marco. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  8. marca — The el present form of marcar is marca. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.

Frequently asked questions

When do I use the present tense of marcar?

Use the present tense of marcar for habits, facts and what is happening now. For example: Yo marco el número de teléfono. — "I mark the phone number." The usage rules above give five situations with examples.

How is the present tense of marcar formed?

Take the stem marc- 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 marcar?

The present describes a habit or a present fact, while the preterite describes a finished action. Compare Yo marco la fecha en el calendario. with Yo marqué la fecha en el calendario. — the verb is the same, but the time meaning changes.

How do I practise the present tense of marcar?

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

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