cargar

Cargar is a Spanish verb with several related meanings centered on placing a load or burden on something. Common senses include to load or fill a container or space, to charge a device or battery, to burden someone with duties, and to load data or software into memory. The noun carga or la carga corresponds to the load, cargo, or burden, and in technical contexts can refer to an electric charge (la carga eléctrica) or to cargo in transport (la carga de un camión).

Etymology and related forms: Cargar derives from Latin cargāre, meaning to load or burden. It shares roots with other Romance languages such as cargar in Portuguese and cargar in French (charger). The verb forms follow regular -ar conjugation patterns with standard distinctions of tense and mood.

Conjugation overview: Cargar is a regular -ar verb. Present indicative forms: cargo, cargas, carga, cargamos, cargáis, cargan. Preterite: cargué, cargaste, cargó, cargamos, cargasteis, cargaron (note the spelling change in the first-person singular). Imperfect: cargaba, cargabas, cargaba, cargábamos, cargabais, cargaban. Present subjunctive: cargue, cargues, cargue, carguemos, carguéis, carguen. Participle: cargado; gerund: cargando.

Usage notes: Transitive use requires a direct object, as in cargar la mochila (to load the backpack) or cargar un camión (to load a truck). Cargar also means to charge a battery or device: cargar la batería, cargar el teléfono. In computing or information contexts, se puede cargar un archivo o un programa (to load a file or program). The phrasal form cargar con + sustantivo or carga describes burdening or imposing duties: cargar a alguien de responsabilidades, o cargar con la culpa.

See also: la carga, el cargador, el cargamento.