cocino

Cocino is the first-person singular present indicative form of the Spanish verb cocinar, which means to cook. It is used to describe the act of preparing food by the speaker at the present moment, as in “Yo cocino la cena cada noche.”

Conjugation and usage notes: Cocinar is a regular -ar verb. In the present tense, the forms are: yo cocino, tú cocinas, él/ella cocina, nosotros cocinamos, vosotros cocináis, ellos cocinan. The imperfect tense is cocinaba, cocinabas, cocinaba, cocinábamos, cocinabais, cocinaban. The preterite forms include cociné, cocinaste, cocinó, cocinamos, cocinasteis, cocinaron. The verb also appears in imperative forms (cocina for informal tú; cocine for usted; cocinen for ustedes) and in compound tenses with helpers like haber.

Etymology and related terms: The verb cocinar derives from the noun cocina (kitchen) and ultimately traces to Latin roots related to cooking. Its cognates appear in other Romance languages, such as French cuisiner. The noun cocina means kitchen, and the related noun cocinero refers to a cook or chef in colloquial usage.

Usage context: Cocino and its related forms are widely used across the Spanish-speaking world in everyday speech, cooking instructions, recipes, and personal statements about cooking activities. It is common in both casual and formal registers when referring to one’s own cooking or describing habitual actions.