Log inSign up

Cuece la pasta diez minutos.

Cuece la pasta diez minutos.
Cook the pasta for ten minutes.
From Lesson 192:Roasting, boiling and tasting (asar, cocer, probar)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about Cuece la pasta diez minutos.

Why use cuece instead of the general verb for cooking, cocina?
While cocinar means to cook in general, cocer specifically means to boil or cook in a liquid. Since pasta is cooked in boiling water, cocer is the most accurate and natural choice here.
Is cuece a command? It looks exactly like the he/she present tense form.
Yes, it is the affirmative informal command, meaning it tells someone you address as tú to do something. In Spanish, affirmative tú commands use the exact same form as the he/she present tense. It comes from the verb cocer, which has an o-to-ue stem change.
Why is there no Spanish word for 'for' before diez minutos?
In English we say 'for ten minutes', but Spanish often drops the preposition when talking about the duration of an action. You could optionally use durante or por, but just saying diez minutos is completely correct and very natural.
How do people in Spain pronounce cuece?
In Spanish from Spain, the letter c before an e or i is pronounced with a 'th' sound, as in the English word 'think'. Therefore, cuece is pronounced roughly like 'KWEH-thay'.

Learn Cuece la pasta diez minutos and more in Spanish

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Spanish →