Introduction
contestará is a useful Spanish word for talking about what someone will answer or respond to in the future. You may see it in a message about a teacher, a friend, a customer service worker, or anyone who is expected to reply. It can refer to answering a question, responding to a message, or picking up the phone. Learning this form also helps you understand how Spanish builds the simple future tense.
The word can seem difficult at first because its accent mark changes where the stress falls. It is also easy to confuse with similar forms of the same verb, such as contestar or contestaba. Once you know who the subject is and when the action will happen, its meaning becomes clear. This guide explains the definition, pronunciation, grammar, and everyday uses of contestará, with simple examples and translations to help you use it naturally.
Meaning and Definition
Contestará means will answer or will respond. It is a form of the Spanish verb contestar, which means to answer, reply, or respond. The ending tells you that the action will happen in the future, while the form itself is used with a singular subject: él, ella, or usted. In English, these subjects can be translated as he, she, or you in the formal singular form.
For example, Ella contestará la pregunta means She will answer the question. The subject could also be understood from the surrounding conversation, so a Spanish speaker may leave it out: Contestará mañana means He, she, or you will answer tomorrow. Spanish verbs often carry information about the subject in their endings, which makes pronouns less necessary than they are in English.
The basic meaning is about giving an answer or making a response. The exact kind of response depends on the object and the situation. Someone can answer a question, reply to an email, respond to an invitation, or answer the phone. The word does not by itself say whether the response will be long or short, spoken or written, friendly or formal. The rest of the sentence gives that information.
Like many future-tense forms, contestará can express a plan, a prediction, a promise, or an expectation. In El profesor contestará los mensajes esta tarde, the speaker expects the teacher to reply later. In Te contestará pronto, the sentence may sound like a reassuring prediction: He or she will answer you soon. It is not always a strong guarantee; context and tone help show how certain the speaker is.
The future ending is added to the complete infinitive, contestar. For this verb, the pattern is contestar plus the future ending -á, producing contestará. This same ending appears in many regular and irregular Spanish future forms for él, ella, and usted. The verb comes through Spanish from Latin roots associated with responding or giving an answer. For learners, however, the most useful point is its modern meaning: to answer or respond.
Usage and Example Sentences
In the examples below, notice that contestará refers to one person or to the formal singular you. The word that follows it can name what is answered, such as a question or message. Sometimes the topic is already clear, so no object is needed.
Spanish: La estudiante contestará la pregunta al final de la clase.
English: The student will answer the question at the end of class.
Spanish: Mi hermano contestará tu mensaje esta noche.
English: My brother will reply to your message tonight.
Spanish: ¿Usted contestará el teléfono, por favor?
English: Will you answer the phone, please?
Spanish: La directora contestará las preguntas después de la presentación.
English: The director will answer the questions after the presentation.
Spanish: No sé cuándo contestará, pero seguramente leerá tu nota.
English: I do not know when he or she will reply, but they will surely read your note.
Spanish: Si tiene tiempo, ella contestará el correo esta tarde.
English: If she has time, she will answer the email this afternoon.
Spanish: El guía contestará con una explicación sencilla.
English: The guide will respond with a simple explanation.
Spanish: ¿A qué hora contestará la profesora?
English: What time will the teacher answer?
These examples show several common patterns. A direct object can follow the verb: contestar la pregunta, contestar el mensaje, or contestar el teléfono. If a person is the one receiving the response, Spanish often uses the preposition a, as in Contestará a su amiga, meaning He or she will reply to their friend. The preposition is especially useful when the person, rather than the content of the answer, is the focus.
The form also works in a negative sentence. Place no before the verb: No contestará hoy means He, she, or you will not answer today. In a question, Spanish can use the same word order and show that it is a question with question marks: ¿Contestará mañana? means Will he, she, or you answer tomorrow? A pronoun may be added when the speaker wants to make the subject clear or contrast one person with another.
Synonyms, Antonyms, and Word Usage Differences
A close synonym is responderá, the future form of responder. It also means will respond or will reply. In many everyday situations, responder and contestar can refer to the same action: Responderá al correo and Contestará el correo both describe someone replying to an email. Regional habits and personal preference can affect which verb a speaker chooses, but both are widely understood.
Another related verb is replicará, from replicar. It can mean will reply, but it may suggest a more specific kind of response, such as answering back or making a reply in a discussion. It is less general than contestar and is not the best choice for every simple question or message. For everyday communication, contestar and responder are usually the safer options for learners.
Atenderá, from atender, can sometimes be connected with answering a phone or dealing with a request. However, it means will attend to, assist, or take care of something, rather than simply give an answer. If someone says Atenderá a los clientes, the meaning is that the person will assist the customers. If the point is that the person will reply to their questions, contestará may be more exact.
The most direct opposite depends on the sentence. No contestará means will not answer, and is the simplest way to express the opposite action. Ignorará means will ignore, which is stronger and suggests choosing not to pay attention. It is not a neutral replacement for will not answer. Guardará silencio means will remain silent, but it describes being quiet rather than the specific act of refusing or failing to respond.
It is also useful to compare the different forms of contestar. Contesta can mean he, she, or you answer in the present, or it can be a command telling someone to answer. Contestó means answered in the past. Contestaba can mean was answering or used to answer. Contestaría means would answer. In contrast, contestará points to a future action. The accent mark matters because changing or removing it can change the tense and stress.
Choose the verb by asking what kind of action you mean. Use contestar when someone will give an answer or reply. Use responder for a very similar general meaning. Use atender when the idea is assistance or taking care of a person or request. Use ignorar only when you mean that someone will disregard something. These differences help a sentence sound precise without making vocabulary harder than it needs to be.
Pronunciation and Accent
A common pronunciation guide for contestará is kon-tes-ta-RAH. In IPA, it is /konte̞s.taˈɾa/ in a broad pronunciation. The first syllable is con, the second is tes, the third is ta, and the final syllable is rá. The capital letters in the guide show the stressed syllable. Say the final syllable with the strongest beat: con-tes-ta-RÁ.
The written accent over the final á is important. It marks the stressed vowel and shows that the stress falls on the last syllable. In Spanish, words stressed on the final syllable generally take a written accent when they end in a vowel, n, or s. Since this form ends in a, it needs the accent mark. The accent does not make the vowel a different sound; it tells readers where to place the stress.
Without the accent, contestara is a different verb form, commonly used as an imperfect subjunctive form meaning answered in certain dependent clauses. Its stress falls on the syllable ta: con-tes-TA-ra. Compare that with con-tes-ta-RÁ. Learners do not need to master every use of the subjunctive immediately, but noticing the accent helps prevent confusion when reading and writing.
The r in the final syllable is usually a light Spanish tap, made with one quick touch of the tongue near the ridge behind the upper teeth. It is not the strong rolled sound of rr. Avoid adding an extra vowel after the final r, and do not stress the first syllable as in some English words. A steady rhythm across the first three syllables followed by a clear final stress will make the pronunciation easy to understand.
Native Speaker Nuance and Usage Context
Native speakers use contestará in both everyday conversation and more formal communication. Friends may use it when talking about when someone will text back, while an office message might use it to explain when a colleague will respond to a request. The future form itself is not especially formal or informal. The subject, vocabulary, and tone of the whole sentence create the level of formality.
With usted, the form is a polite way to refer to one person. For example, ¿Contestará usted cuando tenga un momento? means Will you answer when you have a moment? In many settings, speakers leave out usted because the verb ending and the conversation make the subject clear. Including it can add politeness, clarity, or emphasis, especially when the speaker wants to distinguish one person from another.
The verb is common with questions and communication. People talk about contestar una pregunta, contestar un correo, contestar un mensaje, and contestar el teléfono. In some places, speakers may also say contestar una llamada, or answer a call. The choice of phrase varies, but the central idea stays the same: someone receives a question or communication and responds to it.
Spanish speakers may use the simple future to make a prediction or to express what they expect will happen. So Te contestará después can mean He or she will answer you later, with the speaker predicting a future response. Depending on the situation, a speaker might instead use va a contestar, which also refers to the future and often sounds conversational or connected to a plan. The two forms overlap, although the simple future can sound more like a prediction in some contexts.
Context is especially helpful when the subject is omitted. If a conversation has been about a teacher, Contestará mañana will probably mean The teacher will answer tomorrow. If the listener is speaking formally, it could mean You will answer tomorrow. Spanish listeners use the topic and relationship between speakers to understand the intended person, so a pronoun is added only when it improves clarity.
Conclusion
contestará means will answer or will respond. It is the future-tense form of contestar used with él, ella, or usted, and it can refer to answering a question, replying to a message, or picking up the phone. The form can describe a plan, expectation, promise, or prediction, while the surrounding words show what is being answered and who is doing the action.
Remember to place the stress on the final syllable: con-tes-ta-RÁ. The accent mark over á is essential because it identifies the stress and distinguishes this future form from contestara, a different verb form. In many sentences, the subject can be left out when it is already clear. When you need a similar word, responderá is often a close alternative, while atenderá focuses more on assisting someone. Learning contestará gives you a practical way to discuss future conversations and understand common Spanish messages.
