Rascar Conjugation in Spanish
The Spanish verb rascar means to scratch, and it is a verb you will use again and again once you know it. Rascar is a spelling-changing -ar (c → qu before e) verb, so the tables below show you exactly how it behaves in every tense. It has a spelling change (c → qu before e), which keeps the pronunciation of the stem the same when the ending changes. On this page you will find the full conjugation of rascar 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 rasco la espalda — "I scratch my back" — and in the preterite you say Yo rasqué la puerta — "I scratched the door". 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: rascar
- English: to scratch
- Verb type: spelling-changing -ar (c → qu before e) verb
- Ending: -ar
- Gerund: rascando
- Past participle: rascado
- Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + rascado)
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for rascar, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from the verified conjugation tables for rascar. 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: rascando · Past participle: rascado
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | rasco |
| tú | rascas |
| él/ella/Ud. | rasca |
| nosotros/as | rascamos |
| vosotros/as | rascáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | rascan |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | rasqué |
| tú | rascaste |
| él/ella/Ud. | rascó |
| nosotros/as | rascamos |
| vosotros/as | rascasteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | rascaron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | rascaba |
| tú | rascabas |
| él/ella/Ud. | rascaba |
| nosotros/as | rascábamos |
| vosotros/as | rascabais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | rascaban |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | rascaré |
| tú | rascarás |
| él/ella/Ud. | rascará |
| nosotros/as | rascaremos |
| vosotros/as | rascaréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | rascarán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | rascaría |
| tú | rascarías |
| él/ella/Ud. | rascaría |
| nosotros/as | rascaríamos |
| vosotros/as | rascaríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | rascarían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he rascado |
| tú | has rascado |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha rascado |
| nosotros/as | hemos rascado |
| vosotros/as | habéis rascado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han rascado |
Pluperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había rascado |
| tú | habías rascado |
| él/ella/Ud. | había rascado |
| nosotros/as | habíamos rascado |
| vosotros/as | habíais rascado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían rascado |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré rascado |
| tú | habrás rascado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá rascado |
| nosotros/as | habremos rascado |
| vosotros/as | habréis rascado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán rascado |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría rascado |
| tú | habrías rascado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría rascado |
| nosotros/as | habríamos rascado |
| vosotros/as | habríais rascado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían rascado |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | rasque |
| tú | rasques |
| él/ella/Ud. | rasque |
| nosotros/as | rasquemos |
| vosotros/as | rasquéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | rasquen |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | rascara |
| tú | rascaras |
| él/ella/Ud. | rascara |
| nosotros/as | rascáramos |
| vosotros/as | rascarais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | rascaran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | rasca |
| él/ella/Ud. | rasque |
| nosotros/as | rasquemos |
| vosotros/as | rascad |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | rasquen |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | rasques |
| él/ella/Ud. | rasque |
| nosotros/as | rasquemos |
| vosotros/as | rasquéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | rasquen |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Gerund | rascando | with estar for the progressive: estoy rascando |
| Past participle | rascado | with haber for the perfect tenses: he rascado |
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 rascar, the present indicative looks like this in a real sentence: Yo rasco la puerta — "I scratch the door". 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 rascar, the preterite looks like this in a real sentence: Yo rasqué con las uñas — "I scratched with my nails". 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. Spelling change in the preterite: the yo form is rasqué (c → qu before e), so the sound of the stem stays the same.
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 rascar, the imperfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo rascaba la espalda — "I used to scratch my back". 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 rascar, the future looks like this in a real sentence: Yo rascaré la puerta — "I will scratch the door". 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 rascar, the conditional looks like this in a real sentence: Yo rascaría con las uñas — "I would scratch with my nails". 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 rascar, the present perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo he rascado la espalda — "I have scratched my back". 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 rascar, the pluperfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo había rascado la puerta — "I had scratched the door". 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 rascar, the future perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo habré rascado con las uñas — "I will have scratched with my nails". 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 rascar, the conditional perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo habría rascado la espalda — "I would have scratched my back". 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 rascar, the present subjunctive looks like this in a real sentence: Espero que él rasque la puerta — "I hope he scratches the door". 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. The subjunctive keeps the spelling change: rasque, rasques, rasque all show c → qu before e, just like the preterite yo form.
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 rascar, the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) looks like this in a real sentence: Si yo rascara con las uñas, todo cambiaría — "If I scratched with my nails, 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 rascar, the imperative (affirmative) looks like this in a real sentence: Rasque la espalda — "Let him scratch my back". 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 rascar, the imperative (negative) looks like this in a real sentence: No rasques la puerta — "Don't scratch the door". 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 rascar, covering different tenses and persons. Each one uses a form from the tables above.
- Yo rasco con las uñas — "I scratch with my nails"
- Él rasca la espalda — "He scratches my back"
- Yo rasqué la puerta — "I scratched the door"
- Yo rascaba con las uñas — "I used to scratch with my nails"
- Tú rascarás la espalda — "You will scratch my back"
- Yo rascaría la puerta — "I would scratch the door"
- Él ha rascado con las uñas — "He has scratched with my nails"
- Espero que él rasque la espalda — "I hope he scratches my back"
- Yo había rascado la puerta — "I had scratched the door"
- Ellos rascaban con las uñas — "They used to scratch with my nails"
Common mistakes
- Wrong: Ellos rasca la espalda — Right: Ellos rascan la espalda — Ellos needs the ellos form rascan. The singular rasca belongs with él, ella or a singular noun.
- Wrong: Ayer, yo rasco — Right: Ayer, yo rasqué — The present tense cannot describe a finished action yesterday. Ayer forces the preterite, so the form must change to rasqué, with the spelling change c → qu before e.
- Wrong: De niño, yo rasqué todos los días. — Right: Todos los días, yo rascaba — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (rascaba), not the preterite. The preterite (rasqué) is for one finished action.
- Wrong: Yo soy rascado la puerta. — Right: Yo he rascado la puerta. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he rascado, has rascado, ha rascado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
- Wrong: Treating rascar and rascarse as identical in every context. — Right: Rascar means to scratch, while rascarse means to scratch oneself. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: rascar fits sentences such as Yo rasco la espalda, while rascarse belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on rascar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
Complete the sentence: Yo ___ la espalda. (present tense) A. rascas B. habríamos rascado C. rascara D. rasco
Complete the sentence: Él ___ la espalda. (preterite) A. rascó B. he rascado C. rasques D. rascara
Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ la espalda. (imperfect) A. rascábamos B. rascaron C. rascaremos D. habré rascado
Complete the sentence: Tú ___ la espalda. (future) A. habríais rascado B. rascarás C. habremos rascado D. habrías rascado
Complete the sentence: Yo ___ la espalda. (conditional) A. rascabais B. rascara C. rascaría D. hemos rascado
Complete the sentence: Espero que él ___ la espalda. (present subjunctive) A. rascaron B. rascaba C. rasque D. habrás rascado
Complete the sentence: Si yo ___ la espalda, todo cambiaría. (imperfect subjunctive, -ra form) A. rascara B. rascaban C. habría rascado D. había rascado
Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ la espalda. (present perfect) A. hemos rascado B. habré rascado C. rascaste D. habremos rascado
Complete the command: No ___ la espalda. (negative imperative, tú) A. rasque B. rasquemos C. rasques D. rasquéis
Which is the gerund of rascar, used with estar for the progressive? A. rasco B. rascaré C. rascado D. rascando
Answer key
- rasco — The yo present tense of rascar is rasco.
- rascó — The él/ella/Ud. preterite of rascar is rascó.
- rascábamos — The nosotros/as imperfect of rascar is rascábamos.
- rascarás — The tú future of rascar is rascarás.
- rascaría — The yo conditional of rascar is rascaría.
- rasque — The él/ella/Ud. present subjunctive of rascar is rasque.
- rascara — The yo imperfect subjunctive, -ra form of rascar is rascara.
- hemos rascado — The nosotros/as present perfect of rascar is hemos rascado.
- rasques — The negative tú imperative uses the present subjunctive form with no before it: rasques.
- rascando — The gerund of rascar is rascando: estoy rascando. The participle rascado is used with haber instead.
Frequently asked questions
What does rascar mean in English?
Rascar means to scratch. It is used in everyday situations such as Yo rasco la espalda. The exact English wording depends on the context, but the core meaning stays the same across the tenses.
Is rascar regular?
Mostly. Rascar follows the regular -ar endings, but it has a spelling change (c → qu before e). The tables on this page show every form, so you can see exactly where the spelling changes.
What is the difference between rascar and rascarse?
Rascar means to scratch, while rascarse means to scratch oneself. They are easy to confuse because they appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use rascar when you mean to scratch, as in Yo rasco la espalda, and use rascarse for to scratch oneself. When in doubt, check the object of the sentence — it usually shows which verb fits.
How do I say “I scratch” in the past?
It depends on the kind of past. For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo rasqué la puerta. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo rascaba con las uñas. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he rascado la espalda.
How do I practise rascar?
Start with the present tense table, then drill the preterite and the imperfect, since those two past tenses cause the most mistakes. Try the rascar examples and quiz page for more sentences, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure.
Related links
- Rascar in the present tense — the full present-tense table for rascar.
- Rascar examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice for rascar.
- Spanish verbs — the Spanish hub, with every verb and tense guide.
- Rascarse conjugation — another -ar verb to compare with rascar.
- Pellizcar conjugation — another -ar verb to compare with rascar.
- Resfriarse conjugation — another -ar verb to compare with rascar.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — test yourself on real conjugated forms.
- Verb Conjugator — conjugate any Spanish verb in every tense.