Gastar means 'to spend (money)' and 'to use up', and it is a regular -ar verb central to the money and shopping topics. Gasto mucho en ropa (I spend a lot on clothes), gastamos toda la batería (we used up all the battery). Note the key distinction: gastar is for spending money, while pasar is for spending time — a mix-up English speakers often make. The reflexive-flavoured idiom gastar una broma means 'to play a joke'. Because it is regular and tied to a common topic, gastar is a practical verb to control.
Quick facts
Gastar (to spend) is a regular -ar verb.
Real sentences across different tenses — the kind of thing you'd actually say or write.
Gasto mucho en ropa (I spend a lot on clothes).
Gastar la batería (to use up the battery).
Spending time is pasar, not gastar.
Gastar una broma (to play a joke).
Fixed expressions worth knowing — they come up in listening, reading and writing tasks.
Idiomatic expressions
Gastar is a regular verb. Make sure you know the endings for each tense — especially the preterite and subjunctive, which is where marks are most often lost.
gastar is a regular -ar verb — it follows the standard -ar pattern in every tense. That makes it a good one to drill: if you know gastar, you know the template for all regular -ar verbs.
Type conjugations from memory and get instant feedback. That's how you actually build the automatic recall the exam needs — not from reading tables.
Practice gastar now →Three questions. Press Enter to check each answer.
yo: gasto, tú: gastas, él: gasta, nosotros: gastamos, vosotros: gastáis, ellos: gastan
Gastar is a regular -ar verb following the standard -ar pattern.
Use gastar in multiple tenses to show range — present, preterite and future at minimum. This is a key criterion for higher GCSE marks.
Verbs that are easy to confuse with gastar or that behave like it.
This reference is written for UK GCSE and A-Level Spanish learners and their teachers. It is designed for exam revision: every form is checked against standard conjugation rules, and the examples reflect the registers and topics that come up in the AQA, Edexcel and Eduqas specifications. Gastar is a high-frequency verb and appears often in exam papers. For active recall, use the free practice tool rather than only reading the tables.
Last updated 2 August 2026. Written by Daniel Holmes for GCSE & A-Level Spanish students.