Narrar Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish

The present tense of narrar — "to narrate" 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 narrar 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. Narrar means to narrate or to tell, and it is used for narrating a story, a match on the radio, events in a novel and the facts of what happened. It is a formal synonym of contar, and it is a fully regular -ar verb. To see it in a real sentence: Él narra la historia de su vida. — "He/she narrates the story of her life." 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: narrar

Every person of narrar in the present tense. The gerund is narrando and the past participle is narrado.

Present indicative

Person Form
yo narro
tú narras
él/ella/Ud. narra
nosotros/as narramos
vosotros/as narráis
ellos/ellas/Uds. narran

How the present indicative of narrar is formed

The present indicative of narrar is built from the stem narr- 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 narro
tú -as narras
él/ella/Ud. -a narra
nosotros/as -amos narramos
vosotros/as -áis narráis
ellos/ellas/Uds. -an narran

The gerund of narrar is narrando and the past participle is narrado. 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 narrar

The present tense is not one single use — it covers several situations, and narrar 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 narrar, this use looks like this: "Yo narro la historia de su vida." — "I narrate the story of her life." 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 narrar, this use looks like this: "Él narra el partido en la radio." — "He/she narrates the match on the radio." 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 narrar, this use looks like this: "Nosotros narramos los hechos del accidente." — "We narrate the facts of the accident." 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 narrar, this use looks like this: "Ellos narran un cuento a los niños." — "They narrate a tale to the children." 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 narrar, this use looks like this: "Tú narras la historia de su vida." — "You narrate the story of her life." 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 narrar. 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 narro la historia de su vida." — "I narrate the story of her life."
  • Preterite: "Yo narré la historia de su vida." — "I narrated the story of her life." 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 narra el partido en la radio." — "He/she narrates the match on the radio."
  • Preterite: "Él narró el partido en la radio." — "He/she narrated the match on the radio." 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 narramos los hechos del accidente." — "We narrate the facts of the accident."
  • Preterite: "Nosotros narramos los hechos del accidente." — "We narrated the facts of the accident." 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 narrar in the present tense only. Each one uses a form from the table above.

  1. Yo narro la historia de su vida. — I narrate the story of her life.
  2. Tú narras el partido en la radio. — You narrate the match on the radio.
  3. Él narra los hechos del accidente. — He/she narrates the facts of the accident.
  4. Nosotros narramos un cuento a los niños. — We narrate a tale to the children.
  5. Vosotros narráis la historia de su vida. — You all narrate the story of her life.
  6. Ellos narran el partido en la radio. — They narrate the match on the radio.
  7. Yo narro los hechos del accidente. — I narrate the facts of the accident.
  8. Él narra un cuento a los niños. — He/she narrates a tale to the children.

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Vosotros narrais el partido en la radio. — Right: Vosotros narráis el partido en la radio. — The vosotros present form carries a written accent: narráis, not narrais.
  2. Wrong: Ayer, yo narro los hechos del accidente. — Right: Ayer, yo narré los hechos del accidente. — Ayer means yesterday, so it needs the preterite (narré), not the present (narro). The present is for now, not for yesterday.
  3. Wrong: Yo narra la historia de su vida. — Right: Yo narro la historia de su vida. — The person matters: narra is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is narro.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy narrado el partido en la radio. — Right: Yo he narrado el partido en la radio. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he narrado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.

Quiz: test yourself

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

  1. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ la historia de su vida. (present tense) A. narro B. narras C. narra D. narramos

  2. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ el partido en la radio. (present tense) A. narras B. narro C. narra D. narramos

  3. Complete the sentence: Él ___ los hechos del accidente. (present tense) A. narra B. narro C. narras D. narramos

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ un cuento a los niños. (present tense) A. narramos B. narro C. narras D. narra

  5. Complete the sentence: Vosotros ___ la historia de su vida. (present tense) A. narráis B. narro C. narras D. narra

  6. Complete the sentence: Ellos ___ el partido en la radio. (present tense) A. narran B. narro C. narras D. narra

  7. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ los hechos del accidente. (present tense) A. narro B. narras C. narra D. narramos

  8. Complete the sentence: Él ___ un cuento a los niños. (present tense) A. narra B. narro C. narras D. narramos

Answer key

  1. narro — The yo present form of narrar is narro. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  2. narras — The tu present form of narrar is narras. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  3. narra — The el present form of narrar is narra. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  4. narramos — The nosotros present form of narrar is narramos. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  5. narráis — The vosotros present form of narrar is narráis. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  6. narran — The ellos present form of narrar is narran. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  7. narro — The yo present form of narrar is narro. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  8. narra — The el present form of narrar is narra. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.

Frequently asked questions

When do I use the present tense of narrar?

Use the present tense of narrar for habits, facts and what is happening now. For example: Yo narro la historia de su vida. — "I narrate the story of her life." The usage rules above give five situations with examples.

How is the present tense of narrar formed?

Take the stem narr- and add the present endings for -ar verbs. The full table is at the top of this page.

What is the difference between the present and the preterite of narrar?

The present describes a habit or a present fact, while the preterite describes a finished action. Compare Yo narro el partido en la radio. with Yo narré el partido en la radio. — the verb is the same, but the time meaning changes.

How do I practise the present tense of narrar?

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

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