Abrazar Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish

The present tense of abrazar — "to hug" in English — is the form you need for what happens now, for habits and for general truths. This page gives you the full present conjugation table for abrazar with all six persons, explains exactly how the tense is formed for this verb, shows when to use it with real examples, and finishes with a quiz so you can test yourself. 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. To see it in a real sentence: Él abraza a su madre al llegar. — "He/she hugs his mother on arriving." Work through the table below, then the formation notes, the usage rules and the contrast with the preterite, and test yourself at the end.

Present tense conjugation table: abrazar

Every person of abrazar in the present tense. The gerund is abrazando and the past participle is abrazado.

Present indicative

Person Form
yo abrazo
tú abrazas
él/ella/Ud. abraza
nosotros/as abrazamos
vosotros/as abrazáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. abrazan

How the present indicative of abrazar is formed

The present indicative of abrazar is built from the stem abraz- plus the present endings for -ar verbs. Take the infinitive, drop the -ar ending, and add the ending that matches the person. The table below shows the endings, and the full table above shows them attached to the stem.

Person Ending Form
yo -o abrazo
tú -as abrazas
él/ella/Ud. -a abraza
nosotros/as -amos abrazamos
vosotros/as -áis abrazáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. -an abrazan

abrazar is a spelling-change verb: z becomes c before e. That is why the written form changes in some persons — the sound stays the same, and only the spelling adapts. In this tense, watch the first-person form abrazo in particular.

The gerund of abrazar is abrazando and the past participle is abrazado. Both are regular for this verb, and the participle is the form you need for all the perfect tenses with haber.

When to use the present tense of abrazar

The present tense is not one single use — it covers several situations, and abrazar appears in all of them. The five uses below are the ones you will meet most often, each with an example that shows the verb in a natural sentence.

Habits and routines

The present tense describes things you do regularly. If you do it every day, every week or every morning, the present is the tense to use. For abrazar, this use looks like this: "Yo abrazo a su madre al llegar." — "I hug his mother on arriving." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

General facts

The present tense states facts that are generally true, not tied to one moment. It is the tense for definitions and permanent situations. For abrazar, this use looks like this: "Él abraza a su hijo con cariño." — "He/she hugs her son with affection." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

What is happening now

The present tense also covers what is happening at this moment, especially with verbs that describe an action in progress. For abrazar, this use looks like this: "Nosotros abrazamos a su amigo después de años." — "We hug his friend after years." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

Timetables and schedules

The present tense is used for fixed plans and timetables, such as trains, classes and opening times, even when they refer to the future. For abrazar, this use looks like this: "Ellos abrazan fuerte antes de despedirse." — "They hug tightly before saying goodbye." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

Instructions and requests

The present tense appears in instructions and polite requests, where it sounds softer than a direct command. For abrazar, this use looks like this: "Tú abrazas a su madre al llegar." — "You hug his mother on arriving." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

The present tense vs the preterite

Learners often mix up the present and the preterite with abrazar. The rule is simple: the present is for habits, facts and what is happening now, while the preterite is for one finished action in the past. The three pairs below show the same idea in both tenses, so you can feel the difference.

Pair 1: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Yo abrazo a su madre al llegar." — "I hug his mother on arriving."
  • Preterite: "Yo abracé a su madre al llegar." — "I hugged his mother on arriving." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Pair 2: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Él abraza a su hijo con cariño." — "He/she hugs her son with affection."
  • Preterite: "Él abrazó a su hijo con cariño." — "He/she hugged her son with affection." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Pair 3: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Nosotros abrazamos a su amigo después de años." — "We hug his friend after years."
  • Preterite: "Nosotros abrazamos a su amigo después de años." — "We hugged his friend after years." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Example sentences in the present tense

Eight natural sentences with abrazar in the present tense only. Each one uses a form from the table above.

  1. Yo abrazo a su madre al llegar. — I hug his mother on arriving.
  2. Tú abrazas a su hijo con cariño. — You hug her son with affection.
  3. Él abraza a su amigo después de años. — He/she hugs his friend after years.
  4. Nosotros abrazamos fuerte antes de despedirse. — We hug tightly before saying goodbye.
  5. Vosotros abrazáis a su madre al llegar. — You all hug his mother on arriving.
  6. Ellos abrazan a su hijo con cariño. — They hug her son with affection.
  7. Yo abrazo a su amigo después de años. — I hug his friend after years.
  8. Él abraza fuerte antes de despedirse. — He/she hugs tightly before saying goodbye.

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Vosotros abrazais a su hijo con cariño. — Right: Vosotros abrazáis a su hijo con cariño. — The vosotros present form carries a written accent: abrazáis, not abrazais.
  2. Wrong: Ayer, yo abrazo a su amigo después de años. — Right: Ayer, yo abracé a su amigo después de años. — Ayer means yesterday, so it needs the preterite (abracé), not the present (abrazo). The present is for now, not for yesterday.
  3. 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.
  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. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.

Quiz: test yourself

Eight questions on the present tense of abrazar. Choose the right form, then 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: Tú ___ a su hijo con cariño. (present tense) A. abrazas B. abrazo C. abraza D. abrazamos

  3. Complete the sentence: Él ___ a su amigo después de años. (present tense) A. abraza B. abrazo C. abrazas D. abrazamos

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ fuerte antes de despedirse. (present tense) A. abrazamos B. abrazo C. abrazas D. abraza

  5. Complete the sentence: Vosotros ___ a su madre al llegar. (present tense) A. abrazáis B. abrazo C. abrazas D. abraza

  6. Complete the sentence: Ellos ___ a su hijo con cariño. (present tense) A. abrazan B. abrazo C. abrazas D. abraza

  7. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ a su amigo después de años. (present tense) A. abrazo B. abrazas C. abraza D. abrazamos

  8. Complete the sentence: Él ___ fuerte antes de despedirse. (present tense) A. abraza B. abrazo C. abrazas D. abrazamos

Answer key

  1. abrazo — The yo present form of abrazar is abrazo. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  2. abrazas — The tu present form of abrazar is abrazas. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  3. abraza — The el present form of abrazar is abraza. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  4. abrazamos — The nosotros present form of abrazar is abrazamos. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  5. abrazáis — The vosotros present form of abrazar is abrazáis. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  6. abrazan — The ellos present form of abrazar is abrazan. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  7. abrazo — The yo present form of abrazar is abrazo. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  8. abraza — The el present form of abrazar is abraza. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.

Frequently asked questions

When do I use the present tense of abrazar?

Use the present tense of abrazar for habits, facts and what is happening now. For example: Yo abrazo a su madre al llegar. — "I hug his mother on arriving." The usage rules above give five situations with examples.

How is the present tense of abrazar formed?

Take the stem abraz- and add the present endings for -ar verbs. The full table is at the top of this page. Remember the spelling change: z becomes c before e.

What is the difference between the present and the preterite of abrazar?

The present describes a habit or a present fact, while the preterite describes a finished action. Compare Yo abrazo a su hijo con cariño. with Yo abracé a su hijo con cariño. — the verb is the same, but the time meaning changes.

How do I practise the present tense of abrazar?

Drill the six forms in the table above until you can say them without looking, then use the abrazar examples and quiz page for more sentences, and test yourself with the Abrazar conjugation page for the full picture across all tenses.

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