Caber conjugation chart
Caber present tense
presente · I speak
| yo | I fit | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you fit | |
| vos | you fit | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she fits | |
| nosotros | we fit | |
| vosotros | you all fit | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they fit |
Irregular only in the yo form, quepo; the rest has the same endings as comer.
Caber preterite
pretérito · I spoke
| yo | I fit | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you fit | |
| vos | you fit | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she fit | |
| nosotros | we fit | |
| vosotros | you all fit | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they fit |
Irregular stem cup- + -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron, with no accent marks.
Caber imperfect
pretérito imperfecto · I used to speak
| yo | I fit | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you fit | |
| vos | you fit | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she fit | |
| nosotros | we fit | |
| vosotros | you all fit | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they fit |
Regular: same endings as comer.
Caber future
futuro · I will speak
| yo | I will fit | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you will fit | |
| vos | you will fit | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she will fit | |
| nosotros | we will fit | |
| vosotros | you all will fit | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they will fit |
Irregular stem cabr- + -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án.
Caber conditional
condicional · I would speak
| yo | I would fit | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you would fit | |
| vos | you would fit | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she would fit | |
| nosotros | we would fit | |
| vosotros | you all would fit | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they would fit |
Irregular stem cabr- + -ía, -ías, -íamos, -íais, -ían.
Caber present subjunctive
presente de subjuntivo · that I speak
| yo | that I fit | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | that you fit | |
| vos | that you fit | |
| él, ella, usted | that he/she fit | |
| nosotros | that we fit | |
| vosotros | that you all fit | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | that they fit |
Irregular stem quep- (from the yo form quepo) + -a, -as, -amos, -áis, -an.
Caber imperfect subjunctive
imperfecto de subjuntivo · if I spoke
| yo | if I fit | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | if you fit | |
| vos | if you fit | |
| él, ella, usted | if he/she fit | |
| nosotros | if we fit | |
| vosotros | if you all fit | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | if they fit |
Irregular stem cup- + -iera, -ieras, -iéramos, -ierais, -ieran.
In the subjunctive, vos takes the same form as tú in careful speech. The imperfect subjunctive also has an -se form (cupiese), more common in writing.
Caber affirmative commands
imperativo · speak!
| tú | ||
|---|---|---|
| vos | ||
| usted | ||
| nosotros | ||
| vosotros | ||
| ustedes |
The tú form is the él form of the present: cabe. Usted, nosotros and ustedes come from the present subjunctive (quepa, quepamos, quepan).
Caber negative commands
imperativo negativo · don't speak!
| tú | ||
|---|---|---|
| vos | ||
| usted | ||
| nosotros | ||
| vosotros | ||
| ustedes |
Built from the present subjunctive: no + quepas, quepa…
Always the verb haber + the past participle cabido, which never changes.
Caber present perfect
pretérito perfecto · I have spoken
| yo | he cabido |
|---|---|
| tú | has cabido |
| vos | has cabido |
| él, ella, usted | ha cabido |
| nosotros | hemos cabido |
| vosotros | habéis cabido |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | han cabido |
Caber pluperfect
pluscuamperfecto · I had spoken
| yo | había cabido |
|---|---|
| tú | habías cabido |
| vos | habías cabido |
| él, ella, usted | había cabido |
| nosotros | habíamos cabido |
| vosotros | habíais cabido |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | habían cabido |
Caber future perfect
futuro perfecto · I will have spoken
| yo | habré cabido |
|---|---|
| tú | habrás cabido |
| vos | habrás cabido |
| él, ella, usted | habrá cabido |
| nosotros | habremos cabido |
| vosotros | habréis cabido |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | habrán cabido |
Caber conditional perfect
condicional perfecto · I would have spoken
| yo | habría cabido |
|---|---|
| tú | habrías cabido |
| vos | habrías cabido |
| él, ella, usted | habría cabido |
| nosotros | habríamos cabido |
| vosotros | habríais cabido |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | habrían cabido |
Caber present perfect subjunctive
pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo · that I have spoken
| yo | haya cabido |
|---|---|
| tú | hayas cabido |
| vos | hayas cabido |
| él, ella, usted | haya cabido |
| nosotros | hayamos cabido |
| vosotros | hayáis cabido |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | hayan cabido |
In Latin America, ustedes is the only “you all”; vosotros is used only in Spain. Vos is used in Argentina, Uruguay and much of Central America. Uncheck the boxes above to hide what you don’t need.
Watch out
Caber is about space, fitting in somewhere: no cabe en la maleta. Clothes that fit you well take quedar: estos pantalones me quedan bien. The yo form is quepo, and no cabe duda means “there's no doubt.”
Examples with caber
En el carro no cabemos todos.
We won't all fit in the car.
No cabe duda.
There's no doubt.
La valija no cupo en el baúl.
The suitcase didn't fit in the trunk.
Practice caber
Type the right form and press Enter. A missing accent still counts, but I'll point it out.
Verbs like caber
Irregular preterite (caber → cupe). Same pattern:
estar estuvehaber hubetener tuvehacer hicepoder pudedecir dijesaber supequerer quise