Caber means "to fit" — to have enough room for something, or to be contained within a space. It is thoroughly irregular: the yo form is quepo, the preterite uses the u-stem cup-, and the future and conditional use the shortened stem cabr-. Despite its short length, caber is one of the most irregular verbs in Spanish.
Present Indicative
| Subject | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| yo | quepo |
| tú | cabes |
| él / ella / usted | cabe |
| nosotros / nosotras | cabemos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | caben |
Only the yo form is unpredictable; every other form uses the regular -er endings.
Preterite
| Subject | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| yo | cupe |
| tú | cupiste |
| él / ella / usted | cupo |
| nosotros / nosotras | cupimos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | cupieron |
The preterite uses the u-stem cup- with the shared set of irregular preterite endings (no accents).
Imperfect
| Subject | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| yo | cabía |
| tú | cabías |
| él / ella / usted | cabía |
| nosotros / nosotras | cabíamos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | cabían |
The imperfect is perfectly regular.
Future
| Subject | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| yo | cabré |
| tú | cabrás |
| él / ella / usted | cabrá |
| nosotros / nosotras | cabremos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | cabrán |
Conditional
| Subject | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| yo | cabría |
| tú | cabrías |
| él / ella / usted | cabría |
| nosotros / nosotras | cabríamos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | cabrían |
Present Subjunctive
| Subject | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| yo | quepa |
| tú | quepas |
| él / ella / usted | quepa |
| nosotros / nosotras | quepamos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | quepan |
The present subjunctive is built on the irregular yo form quepo, so every form uses quep-.
Imperfect Subjunctive
| Subject | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| yo | cupiera |
| tú | cupieras |
| él / ella / usted | cupiera |
| nosotros / nosotras | cupiéramos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | cupieran |
Imperative
| Subject | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| tú | cabe | no quepas |
| usted | quepa | no quepa |
| nosotros | quepamos | no quepamos |
| ustedes | quepan | no quepan |
In practice the imperative of caber is extremely rare.
Non-Finite Forms
- Infinitive: caber
- Gerund: cabiendo
- Past participle: cabido
Common Uses
No quepo en este asiento.
I don't fit in this seat.
El coche no cupo en el garaje.
The car didn't fit in the garage.
No cabe duda de que tiene razón.
There's no doubt he's right.
No cabrán tantas personas en la sala.
That many people won't fit in the room.
Related Topics
- Saber: Full ConjugationA2 — Complete conjugation of the verb saber across all major tenses and moods
- Other Irregular Yo FormsA2 — Four high-frequency verbs with one-off irregular yo forms: ver, saber, dar, caber.
- U-Stem Irregulars (Tener, Estar, Poder, Poner, Saber, Andar, Haber)B1 — A family of common verbs that share a u-stem and a single set of unaccented irregular endings in the preterite.
- Simple Future: Irregular StemsB1 — Memorize the twelve verbs with irregular future stems and learn the patterns behind them.