contar

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin computāre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /konˈtaɾ/ [kõn̪ˈt̪aɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: con‧tar

Verb

contar (first-person singular indicative present cuento, past participle contáu)

1. (transitive) to count (enumerate or determine a number)
2. to do the math

   Cunta lo que gastemos na plaza

   Do the math, what did we spend in the square

3. to count on (often with con)

   Nun contaba con eso

   I wasn't expecting that

4. to narrate, tell
5. to take into account (often with con)

   Nun cuenten contigo

   They aren't taking you into account

6. to think, believe

   Synonyms: cuidar, pensar

   Yá contaba qu’ibas vinir pronto

   I was thinking you'd come soon

7. to swear (something it's true)

   Cuenta que nun vas dir

   He swears you aren't coming

8. to plan (something in the future) (also with de)

   Cuenta casase

   He's planning on marrying

9. to equal to (with por)

   La fuercia d'esti home cunta por dos

   This man's strenghth amounts to two [men]

10. to equal to (with por)

Conjugation

Conjugation of contar

infinitive		contar
gerund		contando
past participle		m contáu, f contada, n contao, m pl contaos, f pl contaes
person		first singular yo	second singular tu	third singular él/elli	first plural nosotros/nós	second plural vosotros/vós	third plural ellos
indicative	present	cuento	cuentes	cuenta	contamos	contáis	cuenten
	imperfect	contaba	contabes	contaba	contábemos, contábamos	contabeis, contabais	contaben
	preterite	conté	contasti, contesti	contó	contemos	contastis, contestis	contaron
	pluperfect	contare, contara	contares, contaras	contare, contara	contáremos, contáramos	contareis, contarais	contaren, contaran
	future	contaré	contarás	contará	contaremos	contaréis	contarán
	conditional	contaría	contaríes	contaría	contaríemos, contaríamos	contaríeis, contaríais	contaríen
subjunctive	present	cuente	cuentes, cuentas	cuente	contemos	contéis	cuenten, cuentan
	imperfect	contare, contara	contares, contaras	contare, contara	contáremos, contáramos	contareis, contarais	contaren, contaran
imperative		—	cuenta	—	—	contái	—

Derived terms

• contable
• contador
• contaperu
• contar la mano
• contase colos deos de la mano
• contáu
• contía
• cuenta
• cuentista
• cuntapín

Further reading

• Xosé Lluis García Arias (2002–2004), “contar”, in Diccionario general de la lengua asturiana [General Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Spanish), Editorial Prensa Asturiana, →ISBN
• “contar”, in Diccionariu de la llingua asturiana [Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Asturian), 1ª edición, Academia de la Llingua Asturiana, 2000, →ISBN

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin computāre. Compare Occitan contar, French conter.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [kunˈta]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [konˈta]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [konˈtaɾ]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)

Verb

contar (first-person singular present conto, first-person singular preterite contí, past participle contat); root stress: (Central, Valencia, Balearic) /o/

1. (transitive) to tell, to say

Conjugation

    Conjugation of contar (first conjugation)

infinitive			contar
gerund			contant
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		contat		contada
		plural		contats		contades
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	conto	contes	conta	contem	conteu	conten
	imperfect	contava	contaves	contava	contàvem	contàveu	contaven
	future	contaré	contaràs	contarà	contarem	contareu	contaran
	preterite	contí	contares	contà	contàrem	contàreu	contaren
	conditional	contaria	contaries	contaria	contaríem	contaríeu	contarien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	conti	contis	conti	contem	conteu	contin
	imperfect	contés	contessis	contés	contéssim	contéssiu	contessin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	conta	conti	contem	conteu	contin
	negative (no)	—	no contis	no conti	no contem	no conteu	no contin

Further reading

• “contar” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
• “contar” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “contar”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “contar”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Galician

Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese contar, from Latin computāre. Doublet of computar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /konˈtaɾ/ [kon̪ˈt̪aɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Hyphenation: con‧tar

Verb

contar (first-person singular present conto, first-person singular preterite contei, past participle contado)

1. (transitive) to count; to compute

   Synonyms: computar, osmar

   • 1280, Clarinda de Azevedo Maia, editor, História do galego-português. Estado linguístico da Galiza e do Noroeste de Portugal do século XII ao século XVI, Coimbra: I.N.I.C, page 186:

     oſ quaeſ dez anos deſuſu ditos que am de uíír ſe deuẽ a contar deſte dia ena era deſta carta

     said ten aforementioned years to come must be counted from this day of the date of this charter

2. (transitive) to tell, recount, narrate

   Avó, cóntame un conto! ― Gandfather, tell me a story!

3. (intransitive) to count, matter (to be of significance)
4. (intransitive) to rely, to count [with con ‘on’]

Conjugation

    Conjugation of contar

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti)	Third-person (el / ela / Vde.)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / Vdes.)
Infinitive
Impersonal	contar
Personal	contar	contares	contar	contarmos	contardes	contaren
Gerund
	contando
Past participle
Masculine	contado			contados
Feminine	contada			contadas
Indicative
Present	conto	contas	conta	contamos	contades	contan
Imperfect	contaba	contabas	contaba	contabamos	contabades	contaban
Preterite	contei	contaches	contou	contamos	contastes	contaron
Pluperfect	contara	contaras	contara	contaramos	contarades	contaran
Future	contarei	contarás	contará	contaremos	contaredes	contarán
Conditional	contaría	contarías	contaría	contariamos	contariades	contarían
Subjunctive
Present	conte	contes	conte	contemos	contedes	conten
Imperfect	contase	contases	contase	contásemos	contásedes	contasen
Future	contar	contares	contar	contarmos	contardes	contaren
Imperative
Affirmative		conta	conte	contemos	contade	conten
Negative (non)		non contes	non conte	non contemos	non contedes	non conten

    Reintegrated conjugation of contar (See Appendix:Reintegrationism)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti / tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	contar
Personal	contar	contares	contar	contarmos	contardes	contarem
Gerund
	contando
Past participle
Masculine	contado			contados
Feminine	contada			contadas
Indicative
Present	conto	contas	conta	contamos	contades, contais	contam
Imperfect	contava	contavas	contava	contávamos	contávades, contáveis, contávais1	contavam
Preterite	contei	contaste, contache1	contou	contamos	contastes	contárom, contaram
Pluperfect	contara	contaras	contara	contáramos	contárades, contáreis, contárais1	contaram
Future	contarei	contarás	contará	contaremos	contaredes, contareis	contarám, contarão
Conditional	contaria	contarias	contaria	contaríamos	contaríades, contaríeis, contaríais1	contariam
Subjunctive
Present	conte	contes	conte	contemos	contedes, conteis	contem
Imperfect	contasse	contasses	contasse	contássemos	contássedes, contásseis	contassem
Future	contar	contares	contar	contarmos	contardes	contarem
Imperative
Affirmative		conta	conte	contemos	contade, contai	contem
Negative (nom)		nom contes	nom conte	nom contemos	nom contedes, nom conteis	nom contem

¹Less recommended.

Derived terms

• descontar
• recontar

Related terms

• computar
• cómputo
• conta
• conto

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “contar”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “contar”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “contar”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “contar”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “contar”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Interlingua

Etymology

From Spanish contar.

Verb

contar

1. to tell (a story); to narrate

Conjugation

    Conjugation of contar

infinitive		contar
participle		present	perfect
		contante	contate
active		simple	perfect
	present	conta	ha contate
	past	contava	habeva contate
	future	contara	habera contate
	conditional	contarea	haberea contate
	imperative	conta	—
passive		simple	perfect
	present	es contate	ha essite contate
	past	esseva contate	habeva essite contate
	future	essera contate	habera essite contate
	conditional	esserea contate	haberea essite contate
	imperative	sia contate	—

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese contar, from Latin computāre. Doublet of computar.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kõˈta(ʁ)/ [kõˈta(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kõˈta(ʁ)/ [kõˈta(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /kõˈta(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /kõˈta(ʁ)/ [kõˈta(χ)]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /kõˈta(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kõˈtaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kõˈtaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /kõˈta.ɾi/

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: con‧tar

Verb

contar (first-person singular present conto, first-person singular preterite contei, past participle contado)

1. (transitive) to tell (to convey given information) [with que ‘that’]

   Eles nos contaram que quase morreram. ― They told us that they almost died.

2. (transitive) to tell; to narrate (relate a story or series of events)

   Às vezes precisamos contar umas mentiras. ― Sometimes we need to tell some lies.

3. (transitive) to count (determine the quantity of)

   Contei vinte maçãs. ― I counted twenty apples.

4. (transitive) to be [an amount of time] old; to have [an amount of time] of existence

   O seu primeiro filho conta já dezoito anos. ― His firstborn is already eighteen years old.

5. (intransitive) to rely, to count [with com ‘on’]

   Contamos contigo para trazer a munição. ― We are counting on you to bring the ammunition.

6. (intransitive or transitive) to have at one’s disposal; to have available [with com or (uncommon) direct object ‘something’]

   Nosso país conta com um exército medíocre. ― Our country has a mediocre army.

7. (intransitive) to count; to matter (be of significance)

   Aquele ponto não contou, porque o jogador fez falta. ― That point didn’t count, because the player made a foul.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of contar (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	contar
Personal	contar	contares	contar	contarmos	contardes	contarem
Gerund
	contando
Past participle
Masculine	contado			contados
Feminine	contada			contadas
Indicative
Present	conto	contas	conta	contamos	contais	contam
Imperfect	contava	contavas	contava	contávamos	contáveis	contavam
Preterite	contei	contaste	contou	contamos1, contámos2	contastes	contaram
Pluperfect	contara	contaras	contara	contáramos	contáreis	contaram
Future	contarei	contarás	contará	contaremos	contareis	contarão
Conditional	contaria	contarias	contaria	contaríamos	contaríeis	contariam
Subjunctive
Present	conte	contes	conte	contemos	conteis	contem
Imperfect	contasse	contasses	contasse	contássemos	contásseis	contassem
Future	contar	contares	contar	contarmos	contardes	contarem
Imperative
Affirmative		conta	conte	contemos	contai	contem
Negative (não)		não contes	não conte	não contemos	não conteis	não contem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:contar.

Derived terms

• contável
• contar vantagem

Descendants

• Kabuverdianu: konta

Further reading

• “contar”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “contar”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2025
• “contar” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “contar”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
• “contar”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025, →ISBN
• “contar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Latin computāre. Doublet of computar. Cognate with English count and compute.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /konˈtaɾ/ [kõn̪ˈt̪aɾ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: con‧tar

Verb

contar (first-person singular present cuento, first-person singular preterite conté, past participle contado)

1. (transitive) to count; to tally
2. (transitive) to tell (a story); narrate

   Synonyms: narrar, relatar, platicar

   Cuéntame la verdad, o te vas a quedar aquí toda la noche.

   Tell me the truth, or you will stay here all night.

3. (transitive) to be (a certain number of years of age)

   Cuando contaba treinta años.

   When he was thirty years of age

4. (intransitive) to rely [with con ‘on’]
5. (intransitive) to have available [with con]

   Contamos con suficiente personal para atenderle apropiadamente.

   We have enough staff available to take good care of you.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of contar (o-ue alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			contar
gerund			contando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		contado		contada
		plural		contados		contadas
		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	cuento	cuentastú contásvos	cuenta	contamos	contáis	cuentan
	imperfect	contaba	contabas	contaba	contábamos	contabais	contaban
	preterite	conté	contaste	contó	contamos	contasteis	contaron
	future	contaré	contarás	contará	contaremos	contaréis	contarán
	conditional	contaría	contarías	contaría	contaríamos	contaríais	contarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	cuente	cuentestú contésvos2	cuente	contemos	contéis	cuenten
	imperfect (ra)	contara	contaras	contara	contáramos	contarais	contaran
	imperfect (se)	contase	contases	contase	contásemos	contaseis	contasen
	future1	contare	contares	contare	contáremos	contareis	contaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		cuentatú contávos	cuente	contemos	contad	cuenten
	negative		no cuentes	no cuente	no contemos	no contéis	no cuenten

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

    Selected combined forms of contar (o-ue alternation)

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 contar	dative	contarme	contarte	contarle, contarse	contarnos	contaros	contarles, contarse
	accusative	contarme	contarte	contarlo, contarla, contarse	contarnos	contaros	contarlos, contarlas, contarse
with gerund contando	dative	contándome	contándote	contándole, contándose	contándonos	contándoos	contándoles, contándose
	accusative	contándome	contándote	contándolo, contándola, contándose	contándonos	contándoos	contándolos, contándolas, contándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative cuenta	dative	cuéntame	cuéntate	cuéntale	cuéntanos	not used	cuéntales
	accusative	cuéntame	cuéntate	cuéntalo, cuéntala	cuéntanos	not used	cuéntalos, cuéntalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative contá	dative	contame	contate	contale	contanos	not used	contales
	accusative	contame	contate	contalo, contala	contanos	not used	contalos, contalas
with formal second-person singular imperative cuente	dative	cuénteme	not used	cuéntele, cuéntese	cuéntenos	not used	cuénteles
	accusative	cuénteme	not used	cuéntelo, cuéntela, cuéntese	cuéntenos	not used	cuéntelos, cuéntelas
with first-person plural imperative contemos	dative	not used	contémoste	contémosle	contémonos	contémoos	contémosles
	accusative	not used	contémoste	contémoslo, contémosla	contémonos	contémoos	contémoslos, contémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative contad	dative	contadme	not used	contadle	contadnos	contaos	contadles
	accusative	contadme	not used	contadlo, contadla	contadnos	contaos	contadlos, contadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative cuenten	dative	cuéntenme	not used	cuéntenle	cuéntennos	not used	cuéntenles, cuéntense
	accusative	cuéntenme	not used	cuéntenlo, cuéntenla	cuéntennos	not used	cuéntenlos, cuéntenlas, cuéntense

Derived terms

• cuentachistes
• cuentacuentos
• cuentagotas
• cuentakilómetros
• cuentarrevoluciones
• cuéntaselo a Rita
• los casis no cuentan
• me lo dices o me lo cuentas
• ser habas contadas
• si yo te contara
• y para de contar
• y pare usted de contar
• ¿qué me cuentas?
• ¿qué te cuentas?

Related terms

• contabilidad
• contador
• cuenta
• cuento
• descontar
• descuento

Further reading

• “contar”, 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

Anagrams

• contra, cantor, cortan, tranco, cartón

Venetan

Etymology

From Latin computō, computāre (compare Italian contare).

Verb

contar

1. (transitive) to count (all senses)
2. (transitive) to tell (a story)