Conjugation of the Spanish Verb Caber

If you could choose just one topic that would fit in your head without having to study so much, what would it be? For many of our students, the answer would probably be: Spanish verb conjugation. And I understand them, of course! For a native Spanish speaker, conjugating a verb is not something to think about, we grow up conjugating them intuitively, but even I get lost if I think about terms like the subjunctive compound tense.

The verb we’ll talk about today: Caber (to fit, to fit in or to accommodate) is one of those verbs that makes us wish conjugations didn’t exist. If you want to be one of those people who have no doubt when using this verb, you’ve come to the right place!

Before we discuss conjugations, how about learning a couple of common phrases with this verb? If you wish to learn more, remember that in our lessons you can revise this topic and many, many more!

• No me cabe en la cabeza (I can’t get my head around it), for example: No me cabe en la cabeza que te guste el helado de pistacho.
• Cabe la posibilidad de que (There is a chance of), as in: Cabe la posibilidad de que mañana llueva.
• No cabe duda (There is no doubt), like: No cabe duda de que te ganaré en fútbol.
• Cabe + verbo en infinitivo (It is possible / It is natural), such as: Cabe pensar que te portaste mal.

Caber Verbals

Verbals, those words that look like a verb, but behave as nouns, adjectives or adverbs, also have a place (tienen cabida) when we talk about the verb Caber. Two things to remember:

1. Their function as a verb changes, they are now nouns (infinitive), adjectives (participle) or adverbs (gerund).

2. You can identify a verbal because it is always accompanied by another verb (especially the verbs haber and estar) which will be conjugated.

	Verbal	Common use	Example	English
Infinitive	caber (to fit / fitting)	Non conjugated / Noun	Caber aquí es imposible	It is impossible to fit in here
Gerund	cabiendo (fitting)	Adverb/ Periphrasis	¿Te está cabiendo el jean?	Is the jean fitting?
Participle	cabido (fitted)	Adjective	Me sorprendió que el vestido haya cabido	I was surprised that the dress fitted

Irregularity of the verb Caber

Caber is not only an irregular verb, it is a highly irregular verb! In case you don’t remember, when we mention irregular verbs, we are referring to those that have a change in one or more conjugations. There are irregularities of different types, and the verb Caber seems to want to have them all. Below you will be able to observe its irregularities which are:

Change	You don’t say	You say
cab -> quep	cabo	quepo
cab -> cup	cabí	cupe
caber -> cabr	caberé	cabré

Caber Conjugation: Indicative Mood

As in video games, let’s start with the simplest level, the indicative mood. This mood is distinguished by being the most used, since it is the one with which we present reality as it is, in an objective way (at least as far as grammar is concerned).

Simple Tenses of the Indicative Mood

Subject	Present	Preterite	Imperfect	Conditional	Future
	(fit)	(fitted)	(fitted)	(would fit)	(will fit)
yo	quepo	cupe	cabía	cabría	cabré
tú	cabes	cupiste	cabías	cabrías	cabrás
él/ella/ usted	cabe	cupo	cabía	cabría	cabrá
nosotros	cabemos	cupimos	cabíamos	cabríamos	cabremos
ellos/ella/ ustedes	caben	cupieron	cabían	cabrían	cabrán

Examples:

• El vestido blanco le cupo perfectamente. – The white dress fitted her perfectly.
• No cabemos en el carro, pidamos un Uber. – We can’t fit in the car, let’s call an Uber.

Compound Tenses of the Indicative Mood

Subject	Present Perfect	Preterite Perfect	Past Perfect (Pluperfect)	Conditional Perfect	Future Perfect
	(have/has fitted)	(had fitted)	(had fitted)	(would have fitted)	(will have fitted)
yo	he cabido	hube cabido	había cabido	habría cabido	habré cabido
tú	has cabido	hubiste cabido	habías cabido	habrías cabido	habrás cabido
él/ella/usted	ha cabido	hubo cabido	había cabido	habría cabido	habrá cabido
nosotros	hemos cabido	hubimos cabido	habíamos cabido	habríamos cabido	habremos cabido
ellos/ellas/ustedes	han cabido	hubieron cabido	habían cabido	habrían cabido	habrán cabido

Caber Conjugation: Subjunctive Mood

If the indicative mood is that first level of the video game, the subjunctive mood is that moment when the book reaches its climax and you don’t know what will happen. What words characterize that point in the story? The same words that characterize this mood: uncertainty, desires, hypothesis.

Simple Tenses of the Subjunctive Mood

Subject	Present	Imperfect	Imperfect 2	Future
yo	quepa	cupiera	cupiese	cupiere
tú	quepas	cupieras	cupieses	cupieres
él/ella/usted	quepa	cupiera	cupiese	cupiere
nosotros	quepamos	cupiéramos	cupiésemos	cupiéremos
ellos/ellas/ustedes	quepan	cupieran	cupiesen	cupieren

Examples:

• No creo que quepamos en el ascensor. – I don’t think we’ll fit in the elevator.
• Si cupieses en la silla, estarías más cómodo. – If you could fit in the chair, you would be more comfortable.

Compound Tenses of the Subjunctive Mood

Subject	Present Perfect	Past Perfect (Pluperfect)	Past Perfect 2 (Pluperfect 2)	Future Perfect
yo	haya cabido	hubiera cabido	hubiese cabido	hubiere cabido
tú	hayas cabido	hubieras cabido	hubieses cabido	hubieres cabido
él/ella/usted	haya cabido	hubiera cabido	hubiese cabido	hubiere cabido
nosotros	hayamos cabido	hubiéramos cabido	hubiésemos cabido	hubiéremos cabido
ellos/ellas/ustedes	hayan cabido	hubieran cabido	hubiesen cabido	hubieren cabido

Caber Conjugation: Imperative Mood

My favorite kind of movies are those where there is a happy ending and where everything is easily resolved. That’s why I saved you one of those endings that leave you smiling. The imperative mood, although bossy, is a simple mood that consists of few persons and only one verb tense, besides, with the verb Caber it has very little use, shall we see it?

Imperative Mood’s Conjugations

Subject	Affirmative	Negative
	(fit/let’s fit)	(don’t fit/let’s not fit)
tú	cabe	no quepas
nosotros	quepamos	no quepamos

Examples:

• Yo no planeo entrar, si quieres, cabe tú allí. – I don’t plan to go in, if you want to, you fit in there.
• ¡No quepamos en las cajas que ponen frente a nosotros! – Let’s not fit in the boxes they put in front of us!

Spanish Verb Caber – Quiz/Worksheet

Practice makes perfection and knowledge fits better in your head when you put it into action, are you ready? You can see the answers at the end, but no cheating!

1. Una talla S no le _______, necesita la M. (A size S does not fit her, she needs a size M)

2. Los guantes que le regalaste le han _______ muy bien. (The gloves you gave him have fitted him very well.)

3. No es que no pueda, es que no quiero _______. (It’s not that I can’t, it’s that I don’t want to fit in)

4. Si me _______ la camisa, no me vería así. (If my shirt fit, I wouldn’t look like this.)

5. No todas las cosas _______ en la mochila. (Not all the stuff fitted in the backpack.)

Answers

Now let’s see how well those conjugations fit together!

1. cabe

2. cabido

3. caber

4. cupiera

5. cupieron