cantear

Spanish

Etymology

From canto +‎ -ear.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kanteˈaɾ/ [kãn̪.t̪eˈaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: can‧te‧ar

Verb

cantear (first-person singular present canteo, first-person singular preterite canteé, past participle canteado)

1. to chamfer
2. (transitive, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua) to tilt; to slant
3. (Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua) to do (something) wrongly or sloppily; to mess up [with la (accusative)]

   Synonyms: regarla, cagarla

   La canteé en el examen, por eso reprobé.

   I messed up in my test, that's why I flunked.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of cantear (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			cantear
gerund			canteando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		canteado		canteada
		plural		canteados		canteadas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	canteo	canteastú canteásvos	cantea	canteamos	canteáis	cantean
	imperfect	canteaba	canteabas	canteaba	canteábamos	canteabais	canteaban
	preterite	canteé	canteaste	canteó	canteamos	canteasteis	cantearon
	future	cantearé	cantearás	canteará	cantearemos	cantearéis	cantearán
	conditional	cantearía	cantearías	cantearía	cantearíamos	cantearíais	cantearían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	cantee	canteestú canteésvos2	cantee	canteemos	canteéis	canteen
	imperfect (ra)	canteara	cantearas	canteara	canteáramos	cantearais	cantearan
	imperfect (se)	cantease	canteases	cantease	canteásemos	canteaseis	canteasen
	future1	canteare	canteares	canteare	canteáremos	canteareis	cantearen
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		canteatú canteávos	cantee	canteemos	cantead	canteen
	negative		no cantees	no cantee	no canteemos	no canteéis	no canteen

¹Rare; now chiefly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tuteo-form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of cantear

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive cantear	dative	cantearme	cantearte	cantearle, cantearse	cantearnos	cantearos	cantearles, cantearse
	accusative	cantearme	cantearte	cantearlo, cantearla, cantearse	cantearnos	cantearos	cantearlos, cantearlas, cantearse
with gerund canteando	dative	canteándome	canteándote	canteándole, canteándose	canteándonos	canteándoos	canteándoles, canteándose
	accusative	canteándome	canteándote	canteándolo, canteándola, canteándose	canteándonos	canteándoos	canteándolos, canteándolas, canteándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative cantea	dative	cantéame	cantéate	cantéale	cantéanos	not used	cantéales
	accusative	cantéame	cantéate	cantéalo, cantéala	cantéanos	not used	cantéalos, cantéalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative canteá	dative	canteame	canteate	canteale	canteanos	not used	canteales
	accusative	canteame	canteate	cantealo, canteala	canteanos	not used	cantealos, cantealas
with formal second-person singular imperative cantee	dative	cantéeme	not used	cantéele, cantéese	cantéenos	not used	cantéeles
	accusative	cantéeme	not used	cantéelo, cantéela, cantéese	cantéenos	not used	cantéelos, cantéelas
with first-person plural imperative canteemos	dative	not used	canteémoste	canteémosle	canteémonos	canteémoos	canteémosles
	accusative	not used	canteémoste	canteémoslo, canteémosla	canteémonos	canteémoos	canteémoslos, canteémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative cantead	dative	canteadme	not used	canteadle	canteadnos	canteaos	canteadles
	accusative	canteadme	not used	canteadlo, canteadla	canteadnos	canteaos	canteadlos, canteadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative canteen	dative	cantéenme	not used	cantéenle	cantéennos	not used	cantéenles, cantéense
	accusative	cantéenme	not used	cantéenlo, cantéenla	cantéennos	not used	cantéenlos, cantéenlas, cantéense

Further reading

• “cantear”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• “cantear”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010