Cerrar — "to close" — is the most useful early example of an e>ie stem-changing verb. The infinitive has the unstressed root vowel e (c*e-rrar), but the moment that *e falls under stress, it diphthongizes to ie (c*ie-rro, cie-rras, cie-rra, cie-rran). The change disappears in *nosotros and vosotros (cerramos, cerráis) because the stress shifts onto the ending. Once you internalize that one rule — stress moves the diphthong — you have effectively cracked dozens of high-frequency Spanish verbs: empezar, comenzar, pensar, perder, entender, querer, despertar, sentar, recomendar, calentar.
Non-finite forms
| Form | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitivo | cerrar | to close |
| Infinitivo compuesto | haber cerrado | to have closed |
| Gerundio | cerrando | closing |
| Gerundio compuesto | habiendo cerrado | having closed |
| Participio | cerrado (regular) | closed |
The gerundio and participio are both built from the unstressed root: cerrando, cerrado. The diphthong only appears where stress lands on the root vowel — neither of these forms qualifies.
Indicative — simple tenses
Presente — the heart of the stem change
| yo | tú | él/ella/usted | nosotros | vosotros | ellos/ellas/ustedes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cierro | cierras | cierra | cerramos | cerráis | cierran |
This is the famous "1-2-3-6" or "boot" pattern: four forms with the diphthong (yo, tú, él, ellos) surrounding two without (nosotros, vosotros). Sketch the table and you can literally see the boot shape — the nosotros / vosotros slot is the boot's missing notch.
La farmacia cierra a las dos y vuelve a abrir a las cinco.
The pharmacy closes at two and opens again at five.
Cerramos los lunes por descanso del personal.
We close on Mondays for the staff's day off.
Pretérito perfecto simple — no stem change
The preterite of -ar stem-changing verbs does not show the diphthong. Stress lands on the ending in every form, so the root vowel stays e throughout.
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cerré | cerraste | cerró | cerramos | cerrasteis | cerraron |
Ayer cerraron antes por la huelga del transporte.
Yesterday they closed early because of the transport strike.
Pretérito imperfecto — no stem change
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cerraba | cerrabas | cerraba | cerrábamos | cerrabais | cerraban |
Antes cerraban a las nueve, pero ahora aguantan hasta las diez.
They used to close at nine, but now they stay open until ten.
Futuro simple — no stem change
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cerraré | cerrarás | cerrará | cerraremos | cerraréis | cerrarán |
Cerraremos el trato la semana que viene si todo va bien.
We'll close the deal next week if everything goes well.
Condicional — no stem change
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cerraría | cerrarías | cerraría | cerraríamos | cerraríais | cerrarían |
Yo cerraría la puerta con llave, que en este barrio nunca se sabe.
I'd lock the door — in this neighborhood you never know.
Indicative — compound tenses
All compound tenses pair haber with the regular participle cerrado.
Pretérito perfecto compuesto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| he cerrado | has cerrado | ha cerrado | hemos cerrado | habéis cerrado | han cerrado |
Hoy hemos cerrado dos horas antes porque no venía nadie.
Today we closed two hours early because nobody was coming in.
Pretérito pluscuamperfecto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| había cerrado | habías cerrado | había cerrado | habíamos cerrado | habíais cerrado | habían cerrado |
Cuando llegamos, ya habían cerrado la cocina y nos quedamos sin cenar.
By the time we got there, they'd already closed the kitchen and we missed dinner.
Futuro compuesto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| habré cerrado | habrás cerrado | habrá cerrado | habremos cerrado | habréis cerrado | habrán cerrado |
Cuando salgas del trabajo ya habrán cerrado el banco, así que ve antes.
By the time you leave work the bank will have closed, so go beforehand.
Condicional compuesto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| habría cerrado | habrías cerrado | habría cerrado | habríamos cerrado | habríais cerrado | habrían cerrado |
Habríamos cerrado la ventana, pero estaba atrancada.
We would have closed the window, but it was stuck.
Subjunctive — simple tenses
Presente de subjuntivo — the boot returns
The present subjunctive mirrors the present indicative's pattern: diphthong in the four "boot" forms, plain e in nosotros and vosotros. Stress drives everything.
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cierre | cierres | cierre | cerremos | cerréis | cierren |
Por favor, cierra la puerta cuando salgas — no quiero que cierre sola con el viento.
Please close the door when you leave — I don't want it to slam shut on its own.
Es necesario que cerremos antes de las nueve para hacer el arqueo.
We need to close before nine to do the till count.
Imperfecto de subjuntivo (-ra / -se) — no stem change
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -ra | cerrara | cerraras | cerrara | cerráramos | cerrarais | cerraran |
| -se | cerrase | cerrases | cerrase | cerrásemos | cerraseis | cerrasen |
The imperfect subjunctive is built from the third-person plural preterite stem (cerraron → cerra-), which already lacks the diphthong. The -ra set is preferred in conversational Spain; -se is more formal or literary.
Me dijo que cerrara con llave y dejara la alarma puesta.
He told me to lock up and leave the alarm on.
Subjunctive — compound tenses
Pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| haya cerrado | hayas cerrado | haya cerrado | hayamos cerrado | hayáis cerrado | hayan cerrado |
No me extraña que hayan cerrado — llevaban meses sin clientes.
I'm not surprised they've closed down — they hadn't had customers for months.
Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -ra | hubiera cerrado | hubieras cerrado | hubiera cerrado | hubiéramos cerrado | hubierais cerrado | hubieran cerrado |
| -se | hubiese cerrado | hubieses cerrado | hubiese cerrado | hubiésemos cerrado | hubieseis cerrado | hubiesen cerrado |
Si hubieras cerrado bien el grifo, no habríamos tenido la inundación.
If you'd closed the tap properly, we wouldn't have had the flood.
Imperative
The imperative inherits the stem-change logic. Tú and usted/ustedes take the diphthong (stress on the root), but the peninsular vosotros form does not — cerrad, with stress on the ending.
| Form | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| tú | cierra | no cierres |
| usted | cierre | no cierre |
| nosotros | cerremos | no cerremos |
| vosotros | cerrad | no cerréis |
| ustedes | cierren | no cierren |
Cierra la puerta, que entra un frío que pela.
Close the door — it's freezing in here.
Cerrad los ojos y respirad hondo.
(You all) close your eyes and breathe deeply.
No cerréis con llave, que aún tienen que entrar los chicos.
Don't lock up — the boys still have to come in.
When pronouns attach to the affirmative imperative, write them as one word and add a written accent where stress requires it: ciérrala ("close it"), ciérramela ("close it for me"), cerradla.
Other e>ie verbs that work the same way
Once you see the pattern in cerrar, the following verbs become predictable. All show ie in the boot forms of the present (indicative and subjunctive) and in the tú/usted/ustedes imperatives, but keep plain e everywhere else.
| Verb | Meaning | 1st person present |
|---|---|---|
| empezar | to begin | empiezo |
| comenzar | to start | comienzo |
| pensar | to think | pienso |
| despertar(se) | to wake up | (me) despierto |
| sentar(se) | to sit (down) | (me) siento |
| recomendar | to recommend | recomiendo |
| calentar | to heat up | caliento |
| nevar (3rd-only) | to snow | nieva |
High-frequency collocations from peninsular Spanish
| Phrase | Translation |
|---|---|
| cerrar con llave | to lock (with a key) |
| cerrar de un portazo | to slam shut |
| cerrar el grifo | to turn off the tap; figuratively, to cut off funding |
| cerrar un trato / un acuerdo | to close a deal / an agreement |
| cerrar los ojos a algo | to turn a blind eye to something |
| cerrar el pico (informal) | to shut one's mouth (mildly rude, Spain) |
| cerrar filas (en torno a) | to close ranks (around) |
| cerrar la boca | to shut up (less rude than cerrar el pico) |
| en un abrir y cerrar de ojos | in the blink of an eye |
Cierra el grifo, que estás gastando agua para nada.
Turn off the tap — you're wasting water for no reason.
El partido cerró filas en torno a su líder tras las críticas.
The party closed ranks around its leader after the criticism.
¡Cierra el pico, que estoy intentando concentrarme!
Shut your mouth — I'm trying to concentrate!
Reflexive use: cerrarse
Cerrarse — "to close itself / to shut down / to clam up" — is heavily used both literally and figuratively. The boot pattern applies identically: me cierro, te cierras, se cierra, nos cerramos, os cerráis, se cierran.
La puerta se cerró sola de un golpe.
The door slammed shut on its own.
Cuando le preguntan por su madre, se cierra en banda.
When they ask him about his mother, he completely clams up.
The set phrase cerrarse en banda — "to refuse absolutely, to dig one's heels in" — is a peninsular favorite for stubborn refusal.
The classic English-speaker error
English close is intransitive — "the shop closes at six." In Spanish, the same idea is often expressed with the non-reflexive cerrar in the third person: la tienda cierra a las seis. Learners with an English bias sometimes overproduce the reflexive se cierra in places where Spain uses the simple form.
Both forms exist, but with different emphasis:
- La tienda cierra a las seis — neutral statement of closing time
- La tienda se cierra a las seis — emphasizes the action of being closed up, often by an unexpressed agent
For everyday timetables and opening hours, the non-reflexive form is the natural choice in Spain.
✅ La farmacia cierra los domingos.
The pharmacy is closed on Sundays. (everyday, neutral)
❌ La farmacia se cierra los domingos.
Grammatical but unidiomatic for ordinary opening hours — sounds like 'the pharmacy shuts itself.'
Common Mistakes
❌ Nosotros cerremos la tienda a las nueve.
The *nosotros* form has no diphthong — it's *cerramos*, not *cerremos*. (*Cerremos* is the subjunctive / let's-form.)
✅ Nosotros cerramos la tienda a las nueve. / Cerremos la tienda a las nueve.
We close the shop at nine. / Let's close the shop at nine.
❌ Vosotros cierráis a las ocho.
The *vosotros* form keeps plain *e* — *cerráis*, not *cierráis*. Stress is on the ending.
✅ Vosotros cerráis a las ocho.
You (all) close at eight.
❌ Ayer cierré la puerta tres veces.
The preterite has no diphthong — it's *cerré*, not *cierré*.
✅ Ayer cerré la puerta tres veces.
Yesterday I closed the door three times.
❌ Quiero que tú cierras la ventana.
*Querer que* triggers the subjunctive — *cierres*, not *cierras*.
✅ Quiero que cierres la ventana.
I want you to close the window.
Key Takeaways
- Cerrar is the model e>ie stem-changing -ar verb. The diphthong appears only when the root vowel is stressed.
- The "boot" pattern: cierro, cierras, cierra, cerramos, cerráis, cierran — four forms with the diphthong around two without.
- Nosotros and vosotros never take the diphthong (stress is on the ending): cerramos, cerráis, cerremos, cerréis, cerrad.
- Past participle is regular (cerrado), as are the imperfect, preterite, future, and conditional — those tenses never show the diphthong.
- The reflexive cerrarse is common (la puerta se cerró, cerrarse en banda), but for ordinary opening hours Spain uses the non-reflexive (la tienda cierra a las seis).
- Once you master cerrar, the same logic gives you empezar, comenzar, pensar, perder, entender, querer and many more.
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