The Present Tense of calentar is used to describe actions happening right now or habitual actions. For example, Caliento la sopa para la cena. (I’m heating up the soup for dinner.)

Calentar is a stem-changing verb, meaning the stem vowel changes from e to ie in some conjugations. This is a common pattern for many Spanish verbs.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Calentar (to heat) in the Present Tense tense (Castilian Spanish):

Calentar generally means to heat or warm something up, but has several different meanings in the Present Tense, some of which might surprise you.

To heat or warm up: for example, Yo caliento la comida en el microondas. (I heat up the food in the microwave.)

To excite or arouse (slang): for example, Esa película me calienta. (That movie excites me.)

To annoy or bother (colloquial): for example, No me calientes con tus tonterías. (Don’t bother me with your nonsense.)

To warm up (for exercise): for example, Calentamos antes de empezar el entrenamiento. (We warm up before starting the workout.)

To get heated or intense (metaphorical): for example, El debate se calienta cuando discuten política. (The debate gets heated when they discuss politics.)

Examples

Examples of Calentar in the Present Tense

Yo caliento la comida en el microondas. (I heat up the food in the microwave.)

Mi mamá calienta el horno antes de hornear. (My mom preheats the oven before baking.)

¿Por qué calientas el agua si no vas a tomar té? (Why are you heating up the water if you’re not going to have tea?)

Nosotros calentamos la casa con la chimenea en invierno. (We heat the house with the fireplace in winter.)

Ellos calientan las tortillas en la estufa antes de servirlas. (They heat up the tortillas on the stove before serving them.)

¿Ustedes calientan la leche para hacer chocolate caliente? (Do you heat up the milk to make hot chocolate?)

Cuando hace frío, caliento el carro antes de manejar. (When it’s cold, I warm up the car before driving.)

En la mañana, calientan el pan en el horno para que esté crujiente. (In the morning, they heat up the bread in the oven so it’s crispy.)

¿Por qué calentáis la casa si van a salir? (Why are you heating up the house if you’re going out?)

Antes de hacer ejercicio, caliento mis músculos. (Before exercising, I warm up my muscles.)

Los atletas calientan antes de competir. (Athletes warm up before competing.)

¿Puedes calentar la sopa mientras preparo la ensalada? (Can you heat up the soup while I prepare the salad?)

En el restaurante, calientan los platos antes de servir. (At the restaurant, they heat up the plates before serving.)

Para la fiesta, calentamos los bocadillos en el horno. (For the party, we heat up the appetizers in the oven.)

Mis amigos y yo calentamos la casa con una fogata en el patio. (My friends and I heat up the house with a bonfire in the backyard.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Calentar (to heat) in the Present Tense tense (Castilian Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Castilian Spanish. For Latin American Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Present tense is also known as the Simple Present, Present Simple, Present Tense, or Present Indicative in English, and as Presente de Indicativo, Presente Simple, Tiempo Presente, or Indicativo Presente in Spanish.