”Almorzar” Conjugation in Spanish: Let’s Have Lunch Sometime!

Eating is one of the most important activities in our day. We tend to eat at least three meals each day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. In this article, we’ll focus on lunch, which in Spanish is not just a meal, but also has a verb form: almorzar (to have/eat lunch). As per usual, we’ll go over the almorzar conjugation starting from the basics and including some extra information at the end of the article.

Are you ready to have lunch? Better eat before it gets cold!

What Kind of Verb is Almorzar?

Almorzar is a stem-changing verb. This means that some of its conjugations have changes on the stem of the verb—i.e., the part that comes before the ending (in this case, the ending is “ar”). There is only one stem change when it comes to almorzar: the “o” sometimes turns into “ue” (for example, in “almuerzo”, as we’ll see below).

If you want to learn more about stem-changing verbs in Spanish, take a look at this article on the topic.

Verbals of Almorzar: Infinitive, Gerund and Participle

Now that you have an idea of what kind of verb almorzar is, we’ll get into its conjugation. We’ll start by looking at its verbals: the infinitive, the gerund, and the participle. Verbals actually function as nouns, adjectives and adverbs and not as actual verbs, which might sound a bit complicated. But don’t fret! After we look at some examples, you’ll see that you’re up to an easy start with the almorzar conjugation.

Infinitive

Almorzar (to have lunch)

• Vamos a almorzar. (We’re going to have/eat lunch.)

Gerund

Almorzando (having lunch)

• Estaba almorzando cuando me llamó. (I was having/eating lunch when he/she called me.)

Participle

Almorzado (had lunch)

• Si hubiese almorzado, no me hubiese sentido mal. (Had I had/eaten lunch, I wouldn’t have felt unwell.)

Almorzar Conjugation for All Levels

The appetizer: almorzar conjugation for beginners

We are sitting at the table and it’s time to start eating! As we’ve seen in previous articles, there are 10 tenses in the indicative mood in the Spanish language. For the appetizer, we’ll go over the most common and simplest forms for the almorzar conjugation to start us off: presente (present), pretérito imperfecto (imperfect preterite, a form of the past tense), pretérito perfecto (perfect preterite, another form of the past tense) and futuro (future).

Subject	Present	Imperfect Preterite	Perfect Preterite	Future
Yo (I)	almuerzas	almorzaba	almorcé	almorzaré
Tu (You) Vos (Latin America)	almuerza almorzás	almorzabas	almorzaste	almorzarás
Usted (You, formal) El/Ella (He/She/It)	almuerza	almorzaba	almorzó	almorzará
Nosotros (We)	almorzamos	almorzábamos	almorzamos	almorzaremos
Vosotros (You, plural) Ustedes (Latin America)	almorzáis almuerzan	almorzabais almorzaban	almorzasteis almorzaron	almorzaréis almorzarán
Ellos (Them)	almuerzan	almorzaban	almorzaron	almorzarán

Almorzar conjugation examples for beginners

• Present: Hoy almorzamos pasta. (We have pasta for lunch today.)
• Imperfect preterite: Mis abuelos almorzaban todos los días a las 12 en punto. (My grandparents used to have/eat lunch every day at 12 o’clock.)
• Perfect preterite: ¿Micaela almorzó ya? (Did Micaela have/eat lunch yet?)
• Future: Almorzaremos a las 14. (We’ll have/eat lunch at 2 p.m.)

The main dish: almorzar conjugation for intermediate students

The appetizer was great, now it’s time to tackle the main dish. Let’s kick it up a notch and focus on the compound tenses of the almorzar conjugation in the indicative mood.

When it comes to compound tenses in Spanish, the trick is mastering the haber conjugation. The only form of almorzar that is used here is the participle “almorzado”. Compound tenses in Spanish are formed with the correct form of the verb haber + the past participle of the verb in question (i.e., almorzado), which is the one that carries the meaning.

Below you’ll find the pretérito perfecto (preterite perfect), pluscuamperfecto (pluperfect) and futuro compuesto (future perfect) tenses for almorzar. You may also want to take a look at our article on the haber conjugation.

Subject	Preterite Perfect	Pluperfect	Future Perfect
Yo (I)	he almorzado	había almorzado	habré almorzado
Tu/Vos (You)	has almorzado	habías almorzado	habrás almorzado
Usted (You, formal) El/Ella (He/She/It)	ha almorzado	había almorzado	habrá almorzado
Nosotros (We)	hemos almorzado	habíamos almorzado	habremos almorzado
Vosotros (You, plural) Ustedes (Latin America)	habéis almorzado han almorzado	habíais almorzado habían almorzado	habréis almorzado habrán almorzado
Ellos (Them)	han almorzado	habían almorzado	habrán almorzado

Almorzar conjugation examples for intermediate level

• Preterite perfect: Hemos almorzado ya. (We’ve already had/eaten lunch.)
• Pluperfect: Había almorzado muy tarde. (He/She had had/eaten lunch very late.)
• Future perfect: ¿Habrá almorzado la ensalada o el pescado? (Will she/he have had/eaten the salad or the fish for lunch?)

Dessert: almorzar conjugation for advanced learners

We’ve gotten to the best part of our three-course meal: dessert. It’s time to take a look at the subjunctive mood. This Spanish mood is rather abstract; it is used to express doubts, emotions, desires, and the unknown. Below, we’ll look at its presente (present), imperfecto (imperfect) and futuro (future) tenses for the almorzar conjugation.

Subject	Present	Imperfect	Future
Yo (I)	almuerce	almorzara o almorzase	almorzare
Tu (You) Vos (Latin America)	almuerces	almorzaras o almorzases	almorzares
Usted (You, formal) El/Ella (He/She/It)	almuerce	almorzara o almorzase	almorzare
Nosotros (We)	almorcemos	almorzáramos o almorzásemos	almorzáremos
Vosotros (You, plural) Ustedes (Latin America)	almorcéis almuercen	almorzarais o almorzaseis almorzaran o almorzasen	almorzareis almorzaren
Ellos (Them)	almuercen	almorzaran o almorzasen	almorzaren

Almorzar conjugation examples for advanced learners

• Present: ¡Qué almuercen todos! (Let everybody have/eat lunch!)
• Imperfect: ¿Y si almorzáramos bien temprano? (What if we had/ate lunch really early?)

Nowadays, the subjunctive future is rarely used in speech and you are more likely to find it in literature or legal contexts. We haven’t added a conjugation example for the almorzar subjunctive future here as you are very unlikely to come across it. However, we believe it is good for you to know it exists and what it looks like.

Extra almorzar conjugation: conditional tenses and imperative

If you’re still feeling hungry, you’ll find some extra tenses of the almorzar conjugation in this section. We have the condicional simple (simple conditional) and the condicional compuesto (conditional perfect), as well as the imperative, in the table below.

Subject	Simple Conditional	Conditional Perfect	Imperative
Yo (I)	almorzaría	habría almorzado
Tu (You) Vos (Latin America)	almorzarías	habrías almorzado	¡almuerza! ¡almorzá!
Usted (You, formal) El/Ella (He/She/It)	almorzaría	habría almorzado	¡almuerce!
Nosotros (We)	almorzaríamos	habríamos almorzado	¡almorcemos!
Vosotros (You, plural) Ustedes (Latin America)	almorzaríais almorzarían	habríais almorzado habrían almorzado	¡almorzad! ¡almuercen!
Ellos (Them)	almorzarían	habrían almorzado	¡almuercen!

Almorzar conjugation examples in the conditional tenses

• Simple conditional: ¿Almorzarías en ese restaurante? (Would you have/eat lunch in that restaurant?)
• Conditional perfect: Si hubiese sabido que era urgente, no habría almorzado antes. (Had I known it was urgent, I wouldn’t have had/eaten lunch beforehand.)
• Imperative: ¡Almorcemos! (Let’s have/eat lunch!)

If you want more info on this topic, you can take a look at this article on Spanish conditional tenses.

Other Eating Verbs: Desayunar, Merendar and Cenar

Almorzar is not the only verb in Spanish that refers to a specific meal. There are three others that we’ll go over briefly below.

Desayunar (to have/eat breakfast)

Although there are differences food-wise, breakfast is quite a similar morning meal in Spanish-speaking countries.

Let’s look at a couple of examples for this verb:

• • Desayuné café con leche y tostadas. (I had/ate coffee with milk and toast for breakfast).
  • ¿Desayunamos juntos mañana? (Shall we have/eat breakfast together tomorrow?)

Merendar (to have/eat a snack)

In Spanish-speaking countries, there is usually an extra meal in the afternoon or evening (generally between 4 and 8 p.m., depending on the country), which is similar to breakfast. People usually have some snacks at this time, maybe some tea or coffee and some baked goods. Other options include juice, yogurt or fruit.

Let’s look at a couple of examples for this verb:

• • Los invité a merendar a las 18. (I invited them over for a mid-afternoon snack at 6 p.m.)
  • ¿Y si merendamos en el parque? (What about having/eating a snack at the park?)

Cenar (to have/eat dinner)

Dinner usually takes place from 8 p.m. onwards and can be as late as 11 p.m. or 12 a.m. in some Spanish-speaking countries such as Argentina or Uruguay.

Let’s look at a couple of examples for this verb:

• • Cené muy temprano y me dio hambre antes de dormir. (I had/ate dinner way too early and was hungry before going to sleep.)
  • Vamos a cenar en el restaurante mexicano. (We’re having/eating dinner at the Mexican restaurant.)

Table Manners in Spanish

Before we wrap our lunch up, we thought you might want to look into some essential table manners in Spanish. Whether you find yourself in Spain or any of the many Latin countries, these will prove valuable.

Before digging in

Before you start eating, it is customary to use phrases such as ¡Buen provecho! o ¡Que aproveche!, both of which mean “Enjoy your meal!”.

During the meal

• Elbows off the table

Keeping your elbows on the table while eating is considered rude, so it’s best to keep them off.

• Keep the conversation going

We Spanish-speakers love to talk, and we take advantage of meals to catch up with friends and family.

• No slurping or burping

This is probably not surprising, but you should avoid slurping and burping at the table.

We hope this guide of the almorzar conjugation has proven useful and answered whatever questions you had about this verb. If you are looking for more information about Spanish conjugations in general, you can take a look at our overview of Spanish tenses. If you want tips on how to learn Spanish on your own, you can also check out our article on this topic. Hope you have a great lunch!