Tostar Conjugation in Spanish
The Spanish verb tostar means to toast, and it is a verb you will use again and again once you know it. Tostar is an irregular -ar, stem-changing (o → ue) verb, so the tables below show you exactly how it behaves in every tense. It is a stem-changing verb (o → ue), so the stem vowel changes in the present, the present subjunctive and the imperative — the tables below show exactly where. On this page you will find the full conjugation of tostar 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 tuesto el pan — "I toast the bread" — and in the preterite you say Yo tosté en la tostadora — "I toasted in the toaster". 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: tostar
- English: to toast
- Verb type: irregular -ar, stem-changing (o → ue) verb
- Ending: -ar
- Gerund: tostando
- Past participle: tostado
- Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + tostado)
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for tostar, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from the verified conjugation tables for tostar. 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: tostando · Past participle: tostado
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | tuesto |
| tú | tuestas |
| él/ella/Ud. | tuesta |
| nosotros/as | tostamos |
| vosotros/as | tostáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | tuestan |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | tosté |
| tú | tostaste |
| él/ella/Ud. | tostó |
| nosotros/as | tostamos |
| vosotros/as | tostasteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | tostaron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | tostaba |
| tú | tostabas |
| él/ella/Ud. | tostaba |
| nosotros/as | tostábamos |
| vosotros/as | tostabais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | tostaban |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | tostaré |
| tú | tostarás |
| él/ella/Ud. | tostará |
| nosotros/as | tostaremos |
| vosotros/as | tostaréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | tostarán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | tostaría |
| tú | tostarías |
| él/ella/Ud. | tostaría |
| nosotros/as | tostaríamos |
| vosotros/as | tostaríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | tostarían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he tostado |
| tú | has tostado |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha tostado |
| nosotros/as | hemos tostado |
| vosotros/as | habéis tostado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han tostado |
Pluperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había tostado |
| tú | habías tostado |
| él/ella/Ud. | había tostado |
| nosotros/as | habíamos tostado |
| vosotros/as | habíais tostado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían tostado |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré tostado |
| tú | habrás tostado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá tostado |
| nosotros/as | habremos tostado |
| vosotros/as | habréis tostado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán tostado |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría tostado |
| tú | habrías tostado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría tostado |
| nosotros/as | habríamos tostado |
| vosotros/as | habríais tostado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían tostado |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | tueste |
| tú | tuestes |
| él/ella/Ud. | tueste |
| nosotros/as | tostemos |
| vosotros/as | tostéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | tuesten |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | tostara |
| tú | tostaras |
| él/ella/Ud. | tostara |
| nosotros/as | tostáramos |
| vosotros/as | tostarais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | tostaran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | tuesta |
| él/ella/Ud. | tueste |
| nosotros/as | tostemos |
| vosotros/as | tostad |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | tuesten |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | tuestes |
| él/ella/Ud. | tueste |
| nosotros/as | tostemos |
| vosotros/as | tostéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | tuesten |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Gerund | tostando | with estar for the progressive: estoy tostando |
| Past participle | tostado | with haber for the perfect tenses: he tostado |
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 tostar, the present indicative looks like this in a real sentence: Yo tuesto en la tostadora — "I toast in the toaster". 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. The stem changes in this tense (o → ue): the affected forms are tuesto, tuestas, tuesta, tuestan.
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 tostar, the preterite looks like this in a real sentence: Yo tosté las almendras — "I toasted the almonds". 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 tostar, the imperfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo tostaba el pan — "I used to toast the bread". 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 tostar, the future looks like this in a real sentence: Yo tostaré en la tostadora — "I will toast in the toaster". 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 tostar, the conditional looks like this in a real sentence: Yo tostaría las almendras — "I would toast the almonds". 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 tostar, the present perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo he tostado el pan — "I have toasted the bread". 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 tostar, the pluperfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo había tostado en la tostadora — "I had toasted in the toaster". 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 tostar, the future perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo habré tostado las almendras — "I will have toasted the almonds". 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 tostar, the conditional perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo habría tostado el pan — "I would have toasted the bread". 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 tostar, the present subjunctive looks like this in a real sentence: Espero que él tueste en la tostadora — "I hope he toasts in the toaster". 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 stem change (o → ue) applies in the subjunctive too, but nosotros and vosotros keep the plain stem: tostemos and tostéis.
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 tostar, the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) looks like this in a real sentence: Si yo tostara las almendras, todo cambiaría — "If I toasted the almonds, 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 tostar, the imperative (affirmative) looks like this in a real sentence: Tueste el pan — "Let him toast the bread". 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 tostar, the imperative (negative) looks like this in a real sentence: No tuestes en la tostadora — "Don't toast in the toaster". 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 tostar, covering different tenses and persons. Each one uses a form from the tables above.
- Yo tuesto las almendras — "I toast the almonds"
- Él tuesta el pan — "He toasts the bread"
- Yo tosté en la tostadora — "I toasted in the toaster"
- Yo tostaba las almendras — "I used to toast the almonds"
- Tú tostarás el pan — "You will toast the bread"
- Yo tostaría en la tostadora — "I would toast in the toaster"
- Él ha tostado las almendras — "He has toasted the almonds"
- Espero que él tueste el pan — "I hope he toasts the bread"
- Yo había tostado en la tostadora — "I had toasted in the toaster"
- Ellos tostaban las almendras — "They used to toast the almonds"
Common mistakes
- Wrong: Ellos tuesta el pan — Right: Ellos tuestan el pan — Ellos needs the ellos form tuestan. The singular tuesta belongs with él, ella or a singular noun.
- Wrong: Ayer, yo tuesto — Right: Ayer, yo tosté — The present tense cannot describe a finished action yesterday. Ayer forces the preterite, so the form must change to tosté.
- Wrong: De niño, yo tosté todos los días. — Right: Todos los días, yo tostaba — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (tostaba), not the preterite. The preterite (tosté) is for one finished action.
- Wrong: Yo soy tostado en la tostadora. — Right: Yo he tostado en la tostadora. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he tostado, has tostado, ha tostado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
- Wrong: Treating tostar and gratinar as identical in every context. — Right: Tostar means to toast, while gratinar means to gratinate. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: tostar fits sentences such as Yo tuesto el pan, while gratinar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on tostar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
Complete the sentence: Yo ___ el pan. (present tense) A. habremos tostado B. habían tostado C. habéis tostado D. tuesto
Complete the sentence: Él ___ el pan. (preterite) A. tostarían B. tostemos C. tostarais D. tostó
Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ el pan. (imperfect) A. habrá tostado B. tostasteis C. tostábamos D. habremos tostado
Complete the sentence: Tú ___ el pan. (future) A. tueste B. tostabas C. tostaremos D. tostarás
Complete the sentence: Yo ___ el pan. (conditional) A. habrán tostado B. tostaría C. tuestas D. habían tostado
Complete the sentence: Espero que él ___ el pan. (present subjunctive) A. tostaba B. tueste C. tostad D. tostaban
Complete the sentence: Si yo ___ el pan, todo cambiaría. (imperfect subjunctive, -ra form) A. has tostado B. tostáis C. habríais tostado D. tostara
Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ el pan. (present perfect) A. tostaba B. hemos tostado C. tostarían D. tuestas
Complete the command: No ___ el pan. (negative imperative, tú) A. tostéis B. tuesten C. tuestes D. tueste
Which is the gerund of tostar, used with estar for the progressive? A. tosté B. tostaré C. tuesto D. tostando
Answer key
- tuesto — The yo present tense of tostar is tuesto.
- tostó — The él/ella/Ud. preterite of tostar is tostó.
- tostábamos — The nosotros/as imperfect of tostar is tostábamos.
- tostarás — The tú future of tostar is tostarás.
- tostaría — The yo conditional of tostar is tostaría.
- tueste — The él/ella/Ud. present subjunctive of tostar is tueste.
- tostara — The yo imperfect subjunctive, -ra form of tostar is tostara.
- hemos tostado — The nosotros/as present perfect of tostar is hemos tostado.
- tuestes — The negative tú imperative uses the present subjunctive form with no before it: tuestes.
- tostando — The gerund of tostar is tostando: estoy tostando. The participle tostado is used with haber instead.
Frequently asked questions
What does tostar mean in English?
Tostar means to toast. It is used in everyday situations such as Yo tuesto el pan. The exact English wording depends on the context, but the core meaning stays the same across the tenses.
Is tostar a stem-changing verb?
Yes. Tostar changes its stem vowel (o → ue) in the present, the present subjunctive and the imperative: tuesto, tuestas, tuesta and tuestan all show the change, while tostamos and tostáis keep the plain stem.
What is the difference between tostar and gratinar?
Tostar means to toast, while gratinar means to gratinate. They are easy to confuse because they appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use tostar when you mean to toast, as in Yo tuesto el pan, and use gratinar for to gratinate. When in doubt, check the object of the sentence — it usually shows which verb fits.
How do I say “I toast” in the past?
It depends on the kind of past. For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo tosté en la tostadora. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo tostaba las almendras. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he tostado el pan.
How do I practise tostar?
Start with the present tense table, then drill the preterite and the imperfect, since those two past tenses cause the most mistakes. Try the tostar examples and quiz page for more sentences, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure.
Related links
- Tostar in the present tense — the full present-tense table for tostar.
- Tostar examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice for tostar.
- Spanish verbs — the Spanish hub, with every verb and tense guide.
- Spanish irregular verbs — every common irregular verb, grouped by pattern.
- Untar conjugation — another -ar verb to compare with tostar.
- Rellenar conjugation — another -ar verb to compare with tostar.
- Deshuesar conjugation — another -ar verb to compare with tostar.
- Stem Change Finder — find verbs with the same stem change.
- Irregular Verb Finder — find irregular verbs and their patterns.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — test yourself on real conjugated forms.
- Verb Conjugator — conjugate any Spanish verb in every tense.