Rascarse Conjugation in Spanish

The Spanish verb rascarse means to scratch oneself, and it is a verb you will use again and again once you know it. Rascarse is a spelling-changing -ar (c → qu before e), reflexive 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. Rascarse is reflexive, so it always takes a reflexive pronoun that matches the person: me, te, se, nos, os or se. For example, me rasco la espalda means "I scratch oneself my back". Without the pronoun, the verb changes meaning or stops making sense. On this page you will find the full conjugation of rascarse 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 me rasco la espalda — "I scratch oneself my back" — and in the preterite you say Yo me rasqué el brazo — "I scratched oneself my arm". 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: rascarse
  • English: to scratch oneself
  • Verb type: spelling-changing -ar (c → qu before e), reflexive verb
  • Ending: -ar
  • Gerund: rascando
  • Past participle: rascado
  • Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + rascado)
  • Reflexive pronouns: me, te, se, nos, os, se — one before every conjugated form, matching the person.

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for rascarse, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one. Rascarse is reflexive: me rasco, te rascas. Without the pronoun, rascar means something else — it acts on someone or something else, not on yourself.

Full conjugation tables

Every form below comes from the verified conjugation tables for rascarse. 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 Pronoun Form
yo me rasco
tú te rascas
él/ella/Ud. se rasca
nosotros/as nos rascamos
vosotros/as os rascáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se rascan

Preterite

Person Pronoun Form
yo me rasqué
tú te rascaste
él/ella/Ud. se rascó
nosotros/as nos rascamos
vosotros/as os rascasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se rascaron

Imperfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me rascaba
tú te rascabas
él/ella/Ud. se rascaba
nosotros/as nos rascábamos
vosotros/as os rascabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se rascaban

Future

Person Pronoun Form
yo me rascaré
tú te rascarás
él/ella/Ud. se rascará
nosotros/as nos rascaremos
vosotros/as os rascaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se rascarán

Conditional

Person Pronoun Form
yo me rascaría
tú te rascarías
él/ella/Ud. se rascaría
nosotros/as nos rascaríamos
vosotros/as os rascaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se rascarían

Present perfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me he rascado
tú te has rascado
él/ella/Ud. se ha rascado
nosotros/as nos hemos rascado
vosotros/as os habéis rascado
ellos/ellas/Uds. se han rascado

Pluperfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me había rascado
tú te habías rascado
él/ella/Ud. se había rascado
nosotros/as nos habíamos rascado
vosotros/as os habíais rascado
ellos/ellas/Uds. se habían rascado

Future perfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me habré rascado
tú te habrás rascado
él/ella/Ud. se habrá rascado
nosotros/as nos habremos rascado
vosotros/as os habréis rascado
ellos/ellas/Uds. se habrán rascado

Conditional perfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me habría rascado
tú te habrías rascado
él/ella/Ud. se habría rascado
nosotros/as nos habríamos rascado
vosotros/as os habríais rascado
ellos/ellas/Uds. se habrían rascado

Present subjunctive

Person Pronoun Form
yo me rasque
tú te rasques
él/ella/Ud. se rasque
nosotros/as nos rasquemos
vosotros/as os rasquéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se rasquen

Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)

Person Pronoun Form
yo me rascara
tú te rascaras
él/ella/Ud. se rascara
nosotros/as nos rascáramos
vosotros/as os rascarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se rascaran

Imperative (affirmative)

Person Pronoun Form
tú te rasca
él/ella/Ud. se rasque
nosotros/as nos rasquemos
vosotros/as os rascad
ellos/ellas/Uds. se rasquen

Imperative (negative)

Person Pronoun Form
tú te rasques
él/ella/Ud. se rasque
nosotros/as nos rasquemos
vosotros/as os rasquéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se rasquen

Gerund and past participle

Form Spanish Use
Gerund rascando with estar for the progressive: estoy rascando (or me estoy rascando for this reflexive verb)
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 rascarse, the present indicative looks like this in a real sentence: Yo me rasco el brazo — "I scratch oneself my arm". 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 rascarse, the preterite looks like this in a real sentence: Yo me rasqué por el calor — "I scratched oneself because of the 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. 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 rascarse, the imperfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo me rascaba la espalda — "I used to scratch oneself 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 rascarse, the future looks like this in a real sentence: Yo me rascaré el brazo — "I will scratch oneself my arm". 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 rascarse, the conditional looks like this in a real sentence: Yo me rascaría por el calor — "I would scratch oneself because of the 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 rascarse, the present perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo me he rascado la espalda — "I have scratched oneself 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 rascarse, the pluperfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo me había rascado el brazo — "I had scratched oneself my arm". 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 rascarse, the future perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo me habré rascado por el calor — "I will have scratched oneself because of the 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 rascarse, the conditional perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo me habría rascado la espalda — "I would have scratched oneself 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 rascarse, the present subjunctive looks like this in a real sentence: Espero que él se rasque el brazo — "I hope he scratches oneself my arm". 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 rascarse, the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) looks like this in a real sentence: Si yo me rascara por el calor, todo cambiaría — "If I scratched oneself because of the 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 rascarse, the imperative (affirmative) looks like this in a real sentence: Que se rasque la espalda — "Let him scratch oneself 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 rascarse, the imperative (negative) looks like this in a real sentence: No te rasques el brazo — "Don't scratch oneself my arm". 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 rascarse, covering different tenses and persons. Each one uses a form from the tables above.

  1. Yo me rasco por el calor — "I scratch oneself because of the heat"
  2. Él se rasca la espalda — "He scratches oneself my back"
  3. Yo me rasqué el brazo — "I scratched oneself my arm"
  4. Yo me rascaba por el calor — "I used to scratch oneself because of the heat"
  5. Tú te rascarás la espalda — "You will scratch oneself my back"
  6. Yo me rascaría el brazo — "I would scratch oneself my arm"
  7. Él se ha rascado por el calor — "He has scratched oneself because of the heat"
  8. Espero que él se rasque la espalda — "I hope he scratches oneself my back"
  9. Yo me había rascado el brazo — "I had scratched oneself my arm"
  10. Ellos se rascaban por el calor — "They used to scratch oneself because of the heat"

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Yo rasco la espalda — Right: Yo me rasco la espalda — Rascarse is reflexive, so the pronoun me is required: without it the verb means something else, or nothing at all.
  2. Wrong: Ayer, yo me rasco — Right: Ayer, yo me 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.
  3. Wrong: De niño, yo me rasqué todos los días. — Right: Todos los días, yo me rascaba — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (rascaba), not the preterite. The preterite (rasqué) is for one finished action.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy rascado el brazo. — Right: Yo me he rascado el brazo. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he rascado, has rascado, ha rascado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: Treating rascarse and rascar as identical in every context. — Right: Rascarse means to scratch oneself, while rascar means to scratch. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: rascarse fits sentences such as Yo me rasco la espalda, while rascar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on rascarse. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.

  1. Complete the sentence: Yo me ___ la espalda. (present tense) A. rascas B. rasco C. rascad D. rasca

  2. Complete the sentence: Él se ___ la espalda. (preterite) A. rascó B. rascaremos C. rascas D. he rascado

  3. Complete the sentence: Nosotros nos ___ la espalda. (imperfect) A. rascábamos B. rascasteis C. rascabas D. habían rascado

  4. Complete the sentence: Tú te ___ la espalda. (future) A. rascaréis B. rascarás C. habré rascado D. rascas

  5. Complete the sentence: Yo me ___ la espalda. (conditional) A. rascaría B. habéis rascado C. rascaran D. habrás rascado

  6. Complete the sentence: Espero que él se ___ la espalda. (present subjunctive) A. rasquéis B. has rascado C. habíamos rascado D. rasque

  7. Complete the sentence: Si yo me ___ la espalda, todo cambiaría. (imperfect subjunctive, -ra form) A. rascara B. habremos rascado C. rascará D. habíais rascado

  8. Complete the sentence: Nosotros nos ___ la espalda. (present perfect) A. habíais rascado B. has rascado C. hemos rascado D. rascarais

  9. Complete the command: No te ___ la espalda. (negative imperative, tú) A. rasquemos B. rasques C. rasque D. rasquéis

  10. Which is the gerund of rascarse, used with estar for the progressive? A. rascando B. rasqué C. rascaré D. rascado

Answer key

  1. me rasco — The yo present tense of rascarse is me rasco.
  2. se rascó — The él/ella/Ud. preterite of rascarse is se rascó.
  3. nos rascábamos — The nosotros/as imperfect of rascarse is nos rascábamos.
  4. te rascarás — The tú future of rascarse is te rascarás.
  5. me rascaría — The yo conditional of rascarse is me rascaría.
  6. se rasque — The él/ella/Ud. present subjunctive of rascarse is se rasque.
  7. me rascara — The yo imperfect subjunctive, -ra form of rascarse is me rascara.
  8. nos hemos rascado — The nosotros/as present perfect of rascarse is nos hemos rascado.
  9. te rasques — The negative tú imperative uses the present subjunctive form with no before it: te rasques.
  10. rascando — The gerund of rascarse is rascando: estoy rascando. The participle rascado is used with haber instead.

Frequently asked questions

What does rascarse mean in English?

Rascarse means to scratch oneself. It is used in everyday situations such as Yo me rasco la espalda. The exact English wording depends on the context, but the core meaning stays the same across the tenses.

Is rascarse a reflexive verb?

Yes. Rascarse is reflexive, so it always takes a reflexive pronoun that matches the person: me, te, se, nos, os or se. For example, Yo me rasco la espalda and Él se rasca el brazo. If you leave the pronoun out, the verb changes meaning or stops making sense.

What is the difference between rascarse and rascar?

Rascarse means to scratch oneself, while rascar means to scratch. They are easy to confuse because they appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use rascarse when you mean to scratch oneself, as in Yo me rasco la espalda, and use rascar for to scratch. When in doubt, check the object of the sentence — it usually shows which verb fits.

How do I say “I scratch oneself” in the past?

It depends on the kind of past. For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo me rasqué el brazo. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo me rascaba por el calor. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo me he rascado la espalda.

How do I practise rascarse?

Start with the present tense table, then drill the preterite and the imperfect, since those two past tenses cause the most mistakes. Try the rascarse examples and quiz page for more sentences, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure.

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