The Present Tense of girar is used to describe actions that are happening right now or that occur habitually. For example, El ventilador gira rápidamente. (The fan spins quickly.)

Girar is a regular -ar verb, which means its conjugations in the present tense follow the typical pattern for this verb type.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Girar (to turn) in the Present Tense tense (Castilian Spanish):

Girar generally means to turn or rotate, but has several different meanings in the Present Tense, some of which might surprise you.

Literal meaning: To turn or rotate something, for example, Giro la llave para abrir la puerta. (I turn the key to open the door.)

Change direction: To change direction or take a turn, for example, Giras a la derecha en la próxima calle. (You turn right on the next street.)

Revolve: To revolve or spin around an axis, for example, La Tierra gira alrededor del Sol. (The Earth revolves around the Sun.)

Transfer money: To transfer money from one account to another, for example, Giro mi sueldo a mi cuenta de ahorros. (I transfer my salary to my savings account.)

Change topic (colloquial): To change the subject or topic of conversation, for example, ¿A qué viene girar la conversación así? (Why are you changing the subject like that?)

Avoid responsibility (colloquial): To avoid taking responsibility or evade a commitment, for example, Como siempre, Juan gira y no paga su parte de la cuenta. (As usual, Juan avoids paying his share of the bill.)

Examples

Examples of Girar in the Present Tense

Cada mañana, giro a la derecha en la esquina para ir al trabajo. (Every morning, I turn right at the corner to go to work.)

Tú giras la cabeza demasiado cuando hablas con alguien. (You turn your head too much when you talk to someone.)

La Tierra gira alrededor del Sol una vez al año. (The Earth revolves around the Sun once a year.)

Nosotros giramos a la izquierda para entrar al parque. (We turn left to enter the park.)

¿Por qué giráis tan rápido en las curvas? (Why do you turn so fast on the curves?)

Las ruedas del coche giran mientras conduce. (The wheels of the car spin as you drive.)

En la clase de baile, giramos y giramos sin parar. (In the dance class, we spin and spin non-stop.)

Cuando juegas a la ruleta, la bola gira y gira hasta detenerse. (When you play roulette, the ball spins and spins until it stops.)

Los niños giran tan rápido que se marean. (The kids spin so fast that they get dizzy.)

Cuando estoy nerviosa, giro mi anillo de bodas. (When I’m nervous, I spin my wedding ring.)

El DJ gira los discos de vinilo en la fiesta. (The DJ spins the vinyl records at the party.)

Los planetas giran alrededor del Sol en sus órbitas. (The planets revolve around the Sun in their orbits.)

Cuando estoy aburrida, giro un lápiz entre mis dedos. (When I’m bored, I spin a pencil between my fingers.)

Los jugadores giran las cartas boca arriba en el juego. (The players turn the cards face up in the game.)

Las aspas del ventilador giran rápidamente para enfriar la habitación. (The fan blades spin quickly to cool the room.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Girar (to turn) 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.