Ella Verbscolarse to sneak in, to cut in line, to gatecrash Irregular Verb
At a glance: Colarse (to sneak in, to cut in line, to gatecrash) is a reflexive irregular verb in Spanish. In the present tense: me cuelo, te cuelas, se cuela, nos colamos, os coláis, se cuelan. Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change o to ue (cuelo, cuelas, cuela, cuelan); nosotros and vosotros are regular. It is also irregular in the present subjunctive (me cuele).

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The Indicative Present of colarse is used to talk about situations, events or thoughts that are happening now or in the near future. It is also used to talk about facts and truths. For example, “me cuelo”, meaning “I sneak in”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present is known as "El Presente".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me cuelo | I sneak in |
| Tú | te cuelas | you sneak in |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se cuela | s/he sneaks in |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos colamos | we sneak in |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os coláis | you (plural) sneak in |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se cuelan | they sneak in |
How it’s built: Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change o to ue (cuelo, cuelas, cuela, cuelan); nosotros and vosotros are regular. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
The Indicative Preterite of colarse is used to talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time. For example, “me colé”, meaning “I sneaked in”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Preterite is known as "El Pretérito Indefinido".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me colé | I sneaked in |
| Tú | te colaste | you sneaked in |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se coló | s/he sneaked in |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos colamos | we sneaked in |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os colasteis | you (plural) sneaked in |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se colaron | they sneaked in |
How it’s built: Regular: stem col- plus the -ar endings. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Indicative Imperfect of colarse is used to describe regular and repeated actions that happened in the past and descriptions of things you used to do. For example, “me colaba”, meaning “I used to sneak in”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Imperfect is known as "El Pretérito Imperfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me colaba | I used to sneak in |
| Tú | te colabas | you used to sneak in |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se colaba | s/he used to sneak in |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos colábamos | we used to sneak in |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os colabais | you (plural) used to sneak in |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se colaban | they used to sneak in |
How it’s built: Regular: stem col- plus the -ar endings. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Indicative Present Continuous of colarse is used to talk about something that is happening continuously or right now. For example, “me estoy colando”, meaning “I am sneaking in”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present Continuous is known as "El Presente Progresivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me estoy colando | I am sneaking in |
| Tú | te estás colando | you are sneaking in |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se está colando | s/he is sneaking in |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos estamos colando | we are sneaking in |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os estáis colando | you (plural) are sneaking in |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se están colando | they are sneaking in |
How it’s built: Estar in the present (estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están) plus the gerund colando. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Indicative Informal Future of colarse is used to talk about something that will happen in the future, especially in the near future. For example, “me voy a colar”, meaning “I am going to sneak in”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Informal Future is known as "El Futuro Próximo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me voy a colar | I am going to sneak in |
| Tú | te vas a colar | you are going to sneak in |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se va a colar | s/he is going to sneak in |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos vamos a colar | we are going to sneak in |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os vais a colar | you (plural) are going to sneak in |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se van a colar | they are going to sneak in |
How it’s built: Ir in the present (voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van), then a, then the infinitive colar. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Indicative Future of colarse is used to talk about something that will happen in the future. For example, “me colaré”, meaning “I will sneak in”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Future is known as "El Futuro Simple".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me colaré | I will sneak in |
| Tú | te colarás | you will sneak in |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se colará | s/he will sneak in |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos colaremos | we will sneak in |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os colaréis | you (plural) will sneak in |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se colarán | they will sneak in |
How it’s built: Regular: the infinitive colar plus the future endings. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Indicative Conditional of colarse is used to talk about something that may happen in the future, hypothesis and probabilities. For example, “me colaría”, meaning “I would sneak in”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional is known as "El Condicional Simple".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me colaría | I would sneak in |
| Tú | te colarías | you would sneak in |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se colaría | s/he would sneak in |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos colaríamos | we would sneak in |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os colaríais | you (plural) would sneak in |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se colarían | they would sneak in |
How it’s built: Regular: the infinitive colar plus the conditional endings. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Indicative Present Perfect of colarse is used to describe actions that started recently (in the past) and are still happening now or things that have been done recently. For example, “me he colado”, meaning “I have sneaked in”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me he colado | I have sneaked in |
| Tú | te has colado | you have sneaked in |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se ha colado | s/he has sneaked in |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos hemos colado | we have sneaked in |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os habéis colado | you (plural) have sneaked in |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se han colado | they have sneaked in |
How it’s built: Haber in the present (he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han) plus the past participle colado. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Indicative Past Perfect of colarse is used to talk about actions that happened before another action in the past. For example, “me había colado”, meaning “I had sneaked in”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me había colado | I had sneaked in |
| Tú | te habías colado | you had sneaked in |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se había colado | s/he had sneaked in |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos habíamos colado | we had sneaked in |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os habíais colado | you (plural) had sneaked in |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se habían colado | they had sneaked in |
How it’s built: Haber in the imperfect (había, habías, había, habíamos, habíais, habían) plus the past participle colado. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Indicative Future Perfect of colarse is used to talk about something that will have happened in the future after something else has already happened. For example, “me habré colado”, meaning “I will have sneaked in”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me habré colado | I will have sneaked in |
| Tú | te habrás colado | you will have sneaked in |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se habrá colado | s/he will have sneaked in |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos habremos colado | we will have sneaked in |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os habréis colado | you (plural) will have sneaked in |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se habrán colado | they will have sneaked in |
How it’s built: Haber in the future (habré, habrás, habrá, habremos, habréis, habrán) plus the past participle colado. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Indicative Conditional Perfect of colarse is used to talk about something that would have happened in the past but didn’t due to another action. For example, “me habría colado”, meaning “I would have sneaked in”.
In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional Perfect is known as "El Condicional Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me habría colado | I would have sneaked in |
| Tú | te habrías colado | you would have sneaked in |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se habría colado | s/he would have sneaked in |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos habríamos colado | we would have sneaked in |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os habríais colado | you (plural) would have sneaked in |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se habrían colado | they would have sneaked in |
How it’s built: Haber in the conditional (habría, habrías, habría, habríamos, habríais, habrían) plus the past participle colado. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
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The Subjunctive Present is used to talk about situations of uncertainty, or emotions such as wishes, desires and hopes. It differs from the indicative mood due to the uncertainty of the events which are being spoken about. For example, “me cuele”, meaning “I sneak in”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present is known as "El Presente de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me cuele | I sneak in |
| Tú | te cueles | you sneak in |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se cuele | s/he sneaks in |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos colemos | we sneak in |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os coléis | you (plural) sneak in |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se cuelen | they sneak in |
How it’s built: Yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos follow the yo present, cuelo (cuele, cueles, cuele, cuelen); nosotros and vosotros are regular. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
The Subjunctive Imperfect is used to speak about unlikely or uncertain events in the past or to cast an opinion (emotional) about something that happened in the past. For example, “me colara”, meaning “I sneaked in”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Imperfect is known as "El Imperfecto Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me colara | I sneaked in |
| Tú | te colaras | you sneaked in |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se colara | s/he sneaked in |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos coláramos | we sneaked in |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os colarais | you (plural) sneaked in |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se colaran | they sneaked in |
How it’s built: Regular: the ellas/ellos preterite, colaron, without -ron, plus the -ra endings; nosotros adds an accent (coláramos). The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Subjunctive Future is used to speak about hypothetical situations, and actions/events that may happen in the future. For example, “me colare”, meaning “I will sneak in”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future is known as "El Futuro de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me colare | I will sneak in |
| Tú | te colares | you will sneak in |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se colare | s/he will sneak in |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos coláremos | we will sneak in |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os colareis | you (plural) will sneak in |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se colaren | they will sneak in |
How it’s built: Regular: the ellas/ellos preterite, colaron, without -ron, plus the -re endings; nosotros adds an accent (coláremos). The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Subjunctive Present Perfect is used to describe past actions or events that are still connected to the present day and to speak about an action that will have happened by a certain time in the future. For example, “me haya colado”, meaning “I have sneaked in”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me haya colado | I have sneaked in |
| Tú | te hayas colado | you have sneaked in |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se haya colado | s/he has sneaked in |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos hayamos colado | we have sneaked in |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os hayáis colado | you (plural) have sneaked in |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se hayan colado | they have sneaked in |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive present (haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan) plus the past participle colado. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Subjunctive Past Perfect is used to speak about hypothetical situations, and actions/events that occurred before other actions/events in the past. For example, “me hubiera colado”, meaning “I had sneaked in”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me hubiera colado | I had sneaked in |
| Tú | te hubieras colado | you had sneaked in |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se hubiera colado | s/he had sneaked in |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos hubiéramos colado | we had sneaked in |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os hubierais colado | you (plural) had sneaked in |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se hubieran colado | they had sneaked in |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive imperfect (hubiera, hubieras, hubiera, hubiéramos, hubierais, hubieran) plus the past participle colado. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Subjunctive Future Perfect is used to speak about something that will have happened if a hypothetical situations occurs in the future. For example, “me hubiere colado”, meaning “I will have sneaked in”.
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | me hubiere colado | I will have sneaked in |
| Tú | te hubieres colado | you will have sneaked in |
| Ella / Él / Usted | se hubiere colado | s/he will have sneaked in |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | nos hubiéremos colado | we will have sneaked in |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | os hubiereis colado | you (plural) will have sneaked in |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | se hubieren colado | they will have sneaked in |
How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive future (hubiere, hubieres, hubiere, hubiéremos, hubiereis, hubieren) plus the past participle colado. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) goes in front.
The Imperative Affirmative is used to give orders and commands, to tell someone to do something. For example, “cuélese”, meaning “(to you formal) sneak in!”.
In Spanish, the Imperative Affirmative is known as "El Imperativo Afirmativo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | cuélate | (to you) sneak in! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | cuélese | (to you formal) sneak in! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | colémonos | let's sneak in! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | colaos | (to you plural) sneak in! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | cuélense | (to you plural formal) sneak in! |
How it’s built: Tú takes the ella/él present and attaches te (cuélate); usted and ustedes take the subjunctive present and attach se (cuélese, cuélense); nosotros takes the subjunctive present, drops the s and attaches nos (colémonos); vosotros drops the final r of the infinitive and attaches os (colaos).
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
The Imperative Negative is used to give orders and commands, telling someone not to do something. For example, “no se cuele”, meaning “(to you formal) don't sneak in!”.
In Spanish, the Imperative Negative is known as "El Imperativo Negativo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | no te cueles | (to you) don't sneak in! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | no se cuele | (to you formal) don't sneak in! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | no nos colemos | let's not sneak in! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | no os coléis | (to you plural) don't sneak in! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | no se cuelen | (to you plural formal) don't sneak in! |
How it’s built: No plus the subjunctive present: no te cueles, no se cuele, no nos colemos, no os coléis, no se cuelen.
Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.
Colarse is an irregular Spanish verb. In the present tense: yo, tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change o to ue (cuelo, cuelas, cuela, cuelan); nosotros and vosotros are regular. It is also irregular in the present subjunctive (me cuele).
In the present tense (presente), colarse is conjugated as: yo me cuelo, tú te cuelas, él/ella/usted se cuela, nosotros nos colamos, vosotros os coláis, ellos/ellas/ustedes se cuelan. The present tense is used To talk about situations, events or thoughts that are happening now or in the near future. It is also used to talk about facts and truths.
In the preterite (pretérito indefinido), colarse is conjugated as: yo me colé, tú te colaste, él/ella/usted se coló, nosotros nos colamos, vosotros os colasteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes se colaron. The preterite is used To talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time.
In the imperfect (pretérito imperfecto), colarse is conjugated as: yo me colaba, tú te colabas, él/ella/usted se colaba, nosotros nos colábamos, vosotros os colabais, ellos/ellas/ustedes se colaban. The imperfect is used To describe regular and repeated actions that happened in the past and descriptions of things you used to do.
In the future tense (futuro simple), colarse is conjugated as: yo me colaré, tú te colarás, él/ella/usted se colará, nosotros nos colaremos, vosotros os colaréis, ellos/ellas/ustedes se colarán. The future tense is used To talk about something that will happen in the future.
In the present subjunctive (subjuntivo presente), colarse is conjugated as: yo me cuele, tú te cueles, él/ella/usted se cuele, nosotros nos colemos, vosotros os coléis, ellos/ellas/ustedes se cuelen. The present subjunctive is used To talk about situations of uncertainty, or emotions such as wishes, desires and hopes. It differs from the indicative mood due to the uncertainty of the events which are being spoken about.
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