Abrazar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

abrazar means to hug, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Abrazar means to hug, and it covers hugging your mother on arriving, hugging your son with affection and hugging a friend after years. It also means to embrace an idea, and it is a spelling-change verb: the z becomes c before e, so the preterite is abracé. This page puts abrazar to work: twelve example sentences in different tenses and persons, grouped by use, then two short dialogues where the verb appears naturally, then the common mistakes to avoid, and finally a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every Spanish form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for abrazar, and the full tables are on the abrazar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo abrazo a su madre al llegar. — I hug his mother on arriving.
  2. Él abraza a su hijo con cariño. — He/she hugs her son with affection.
  3. Ayer, yo abracé a su amigo después de años. — Yesterday, I hugged his friend after years.
  4. Antes, nosotros abrazábamos fuerte antes de despedirse. — Before, we used to hug tightly before saying goodbye.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú abrazarás a su madre al llegar. — Tomorrow, you will hug his mother on arriving.
  2. Yo abrazaría a su hijo con cariño. — I would hug her son with affection.
  3. Él ha abrazado a su amigo después de años. — He/she has hugged his friend after years.
  4. Espero que él abrace fuerte antes de despedirse. — I hope he/she hugs tightly before saying goodbye.

With other people

  1. Nosotros abrazamos a su madre al llegar. — We hug his mother on arriving.
  2. Vosotros abrazáis a su hijo con cariño. — You all hug her son with affection.
  3. Antes, ellos abrazaban a su amigo después de años. — Before, they used to hug his friend after years.
  4. Mañana, él abrazará fuerte antes de despedirse. — Tomorrow, he/she will hug tightly before saying goodbye.

Abrazar in context

Two short dialogues that use abrazar the way people really use it. Read them aloud — the verb forms will stick much faster in a conversation than in a table.

Dialogue 1: today and yesterday

  • Ana: "Hola, ¿qué tal?" — "Hello, how are you?"
  • Luis: "Hoy abrazo a su madre al llegar." — "Today I hug his mother on arriving."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, abracé a su amigo después de años." — "Yesterday I hugged his friend after years."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú abrazarás a su hijo con cariño?" — "And tomorrow, will you will hug her son with affection?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros abrazamos fuerte antes de despedirse." — "Tomorrow we hug tightly before saying goodbye."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo abrazaría a su hijo con cariño si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would hug her son with affection if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él abrace a su madre al llegar." — "I hope he hugs his mother on arriving."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha abrazado a su amigo después de años." — "Surely. He has already has hugged his friend after years."
  • Marta: "Vale, nos vemos mañana." — "OK, see you tomorrow."

Notice how the same verb changes with the tense: the present for the plan, the conditional for the wish, the subjunctive after espero que, and the present perfect for what has already happened. That is the whole point of learning a verb across its tenses, not just in one form.

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Yo abraza a su madre al llegar. — Right: Yo abrazo a su madre al llegar. — The person matters: abraza is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is abrazo. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Yo abrazé a su hijo con cariño. — Right: Yo abracé a su hijo con cariño. — In the preterite, the correct first-person form is abracé, not abrazé. abrazar is a spelling-change verb: z becomes c before e, so the written form changes to keep the same sound. The regular-looking form is wrong.
  3. Wrong: Treating abrazar and besar as identical in every context. — Right: Abrazar means to hug, while besar means to kiss, the affection partner. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: abrazar fits sentences such as Abrazo a su madre al llegar, while besar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy abrazado a su hijo con cariño. — Right: Yo he abrazado a su hijo con cariño. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he abrazado, has abrazado, ha abrazado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo abracé a su amigo después de años todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo abrazaba a su amigo después de años todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (abrazaba), not the preterite. The preterite (abracé) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on abrazar: four on the forms, three on the meaning, and three on spotting the correct sentence. Check the answer key below.

  1. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ a su madre al llegar. (present tense) A. abrazo B. abrazas C. abraza D. abrazamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ a su hijo con cariño. (preterite tense) A. abracé B. abrazaste C. abrazamos D. abrazó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ a su amigo después de años. (future tense) A. abrazará B. abrazaremos C. abrazarás D. abrazaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ fuerte antes de despedirse. (imperfect tense) A. abrazabais B. abrazábamos C. abrazaba D. abrazabas

  5. What does "Yo abrazo a su madre al llegar." mean in English? A. I hug his mother on arriving. B. I hug her son with affection. C. I hug his friend after years. D. I hug tightly before saying goodbye.

  6. What does "Él abrazó a su hijo con cariño." mean in English? A. He/she hugged his mother on arriving. B. He/she hugged his friend after years. C. He/she hugged tightly before saying goodbye. D. He/she hugged her son with affection.

  7. What does "Nosotros abrazaremos a su amigo después de años." mean in English? A. We will hug her son with affection. B. We will hug tightly before saying goodbye. C. We will hug his friend after years. D. We will hug his mother on arriving.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo abrazan a su hijo con cariño. B. Yo abraza a su hijo con cariño. C. Yo abrazo a su hijo con cariño.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él abracé a su amigo después de años. B. Él abrazó a su amigo después de años. C. Él abrazaron a su amigo después de años.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo abrace fuerte antes de despedirse. B. Yo abraze fuerte antes de despedirse. C. Yo abrace fuerte antes de despedirse.

Answer key

  1. abrazo — The yo present form of abrazar is abrazo.
  2. abrazó — The el preterite form of abrazar is abrazó.
  3. abrazarás — The tu future form of abrazar is abrazarás.
  4. abrazábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of abrazar is abrazábamos.
  5. I hug his mother on arriving. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form abrazo, so the English is "I hug his mother on arriving." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she hugged her son with affection. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form abrazó, so the English is "He/she hugged her son with affection." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will hug his friend after years. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form abrazaremos, so the English is "We will hug his friend after years." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo abrazo a su hijo con cariño. — The correct sentence is "Yo abrazo a su hijo con cariño." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él abrazó a su amigo después de años. — The correct sentence is "Él abrazó a su amigo después de años." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo abrace fuerte antes de despedirse. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo abrace fuerte antes de despedirse." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

What does abrazar mean, and when do I use it?

Abrazar means to hug. Abrazar means to hug, and it covers hugging your mother on arriving, hugging your son with affection and hugging a friend after years. It also means to embrace an idea, and it is a spelling-change verb: the z becomes c before e, so the preterite is abracé. A good first sentence to remember is Yo abrazo a su madre al llegar. — "I hug his mother on arriving."

What is the difference between abrazar and besar?

Abrazar means to hug, while besar means to kiss, the affection partner. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use abrazar when you mean to hug, as in Yo abrazo a su hijo con cariño., and use besar for to kiss, the affection partner.

How do I say "I hug" in the past?

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo abracé a su hijo con cariño.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo abrazaba a su amigo después de años.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he abrazado a su hijo con cariño..

How do I practise abrazar?

Start with the abrazar conjugation page for the full tables, then the abrazar in the present tense page for the tense in focus, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure. Spelling change: z becomes c before e, so the preterite is abracé and the subjunctive is abrace. Abrazar una idea is to embrace an idea.

Related links