Adelantar Examples, Sentences and Quiz
Adelantar means “to overtake, to advance”, and it is one of the verbs you will use every day in Spanish. Adelantar means to overtake or to advance, and it covers overtaking a car on the road, moving an event earlier and getting ahead at work. It is fully regular, and it is the opposite of retroceder in driving contexts. This page shows adelantar in real sentences, in short dialogues, and in the mistakes learners make most often, and it finishes with a ten-question quiz so you can test yourself. Every sentence below comes with its English translation, and every form is the correct present-tense form unless the sentence is clearly marked as past or future. For a first taste: “Yo adelanto al camión en la autopista.” — I overtake the lorry on the motorway.
Adelantar in real example sentences
The twelve sentences below are grouped by how adelantar is used. Read each one out loud, then read the translation. If a sentence feels useful, copy it into your own notebook with one small change — a different time, a different person, a different place — and you have a new sentence of your own.
In the present: everyday use
These sentences use adelantar in the present tense, which is how you will meet it most often: routines, facts, and things happening now.
“Adelanto al camión en la autopista.” — I overtake the lorry on the motorway.
“¿Tú adelantas la reunión al lunes?” — Do you overtake the meeting to Monday?
“Adelanta a sus compañeros en el trabajo.” — He/she overtakes his colleagues at work.
“Adelantamos por la izquierda con cuidado.” — We overtake on the left carefully.
Talking about the past
The present is not the only tense you need. These sentences show adelantar in the past, so you can talk about what already happened.
“Ayer, yo adelanté al camión en la autopista.” — Yesterday, I overtook the lorry on the motorway. (preterite)
“Él adelantaba la reunión al lunes todos los días.” — He used to overtake the meeting to Monday every day. (imperfect)
Plans and things already done
These sentences look forward, or look back at something already finished. Notice how the verb form changes while the meaning of adelantar stays the same.
“Nosotros adelantaremos a sus compañeros en el trabajo mañana.” — We will overtake his colleagues at work tomorrow. (future)
“¿Tú has adelantado por la izquierda con cuidado?” — Have you overtaken on the left carefully? (present perfect)
More everyday uses
Four more present-tense sentences, covering the remaining persons, so you can see the whole table in action.
“Adelantáis al camión en la autopista.” — You overtake the lorry on the motorway.
“Adelantan la reunión al lunes.” — They overtake the meeting to Monday.
“Adelanto a sus compañeros en el trabajo.” — I overtake his colleagues at work.
“Adelanta por la izquierda con cuidado.” — He/she overtakes on the left carefully.
Adelantar in context
Single sentences teach you the forms. Dialogues teach you when to use them. Read the short conversation below, then the paragraph that follows, and notice how adelantar appears naturally, without anyone stopping to think about conjugation.
A short dialogue
Lucía: “¿Tú adelantas al camión en la autopista?” — Do you overtake the lorry on the motorway?
Carlos: “Sí, yo adelanto al camión en la autopista.” — Yes, I overtake the lorry on the motorway.
Lucía: “Nosotros adelantamos la reunión al lunes.” — We overtake the meeting to Monday.
Carlos: “Y ellos adelantan a sus compañeros en el trabajo.” — And they overtake his colleagues at work.
Lucía: “Vosotros adelantáis por la izquierda con cuidado.” — You overtake on the left carefully.
Carlos: “Sí, y él adelanta la reunión al lunes.” — Yes, and he overtakes the meeting to Monday.
A short paragraph
Lucía adelanta al camión en la autopista, y Carlos adelanta la reunión al lunes. Nosotros adelantamos a sus compañeros en el trabajo, y ellos adelantan por la izquierda con cuidado. Yo adelanto a sus compañeros en el trabajo, y mi padre adelanta por la izquierda con cuidado. Adelantar is part of everyday life, because to overtake, to advance is something Spanish speakers do again and again, in every tense and every situation.
Common mistakes with adelantar
These are the errors learners actually make with adelantar. Each one shows the wrong version, the right version, and why the correction matters.
Wrong: “Yo adelanta al camión en la autopista.” Right: “Yo adelanto al camión en la autopista.” Why: The person matters: adelanta is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is adelanto. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
Wrong: “Ayer yo adelanto la reunión al lunes.” Right: “Ayer yo adelanté la reunión al lunes.” Why: The present and the preterite are different tenses: adelanto is happening now, while adelanté is a finished action in the past. Use the preterite with ayer.
Wrong: “Treating adelantar and retroceder as identical in every context.” Right: “Adelantar means to overtake, to advance, while retroceder means to go back.” Why: They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: adelantar fits sentences such as Adelanto al camión en la autopista, while retroceder belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
Wrong: “Yo soy adelantado la reunión al lunes.” Right: “Yo he adelantado la reunión al lunes.” Why: Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he adelantado, has adelantado, ha adelantado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
Wrong: “De niño, yo adelanté a sus compañeros en el trabajo todos los días.” Right: “De niño, yo adelantaba a sus compañeros en el trabajo todos los días.” Why: For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (adelantaba), not the preterite. The preterite (adelanté) is for one finished action.
Quiz: adelantar in use
Ten questions on adelantar in real sentences. Choose the correct answer for each one, then check the answer key. Every answer is explained.
1. Complete the sentence: “Vosotros ______ al camión en la autopista.” (The lorry on the motorway.)
- (a) adelantáis
- (b) adelanto
- (c) adelantas
Answer: adelantáis — The vosotros/as form of adelantar in the present is adelantáis.
2. Complete the sentence: “Ellos ______ la reunión al lunes.” (The meeting to monday.)
- (a) adelanto
- (b) adelantas
- (c) adelantan
Answer: adelantan — The ellos/ellas/Uds. form of adelantar in the present is adelantan.
3. Complete the sentence: “Yo ______ al camión en la autopista.” (The lorry on the motorway.)
- (a) adelantó
- (b) adelanté
- (c) adelantaste
Answer: adelanté — The yo form of adelantar in the preterite is adelanté.
4. Complete the sentence: “Él ______ la reunión al lunes.” (The meeting to monday.)
- (a) adelantaba
- (b) adelantabas
- (c) adelantábamos
Answer: adelantaba — The él/ella/Ud. form of adelantar in the imperfect is adelantaba.
5. Complete the sentence: “Nosotros ______ a sus compañeros en el trabajo.” (His colleagues at work.)
- (a) adelantaré
- (b) adelantarás
- (c) adelantaremos
Answer: adelantaremos — The nosotros/as form of adelantar in the future is adelantaremos.
6. What does adelantar mean in English?
- (a) to turn, to rotate
- (b) to overtake, to advance
- (c) to go back
Answer: to overtake, to advance — Adelantar means “to overtake, to advance”. The other options are the meanings of different verbs.
7. Which sentence is correct?
- (a) Yo adelanto al camión en la autopista.
- (b) Ellos adelanta al camión en la autopista.
- (c) Yo adelanto la reunión al lunes ayer.
Answer: Yo adelanto al camión en la autopista. — “Yo adelanto al camión en la autopista.” is correct. The other two sentences contain the mistakes explained in the section above.
8. How do you say “I overtake the lorry on the motorway.” in Spanish?
- (a) Yo adelantan al camión en la autopista.
- (b) Yo adelanté al camión en la autopista.
- (c) Yo adelanto al camión en la autopista.
Answer: Yo adelanto al camión en la autopista. — “Yo adelanto al camión en la autopista.” is the correct translation. The second option uses the wrong person's form, and the third uses the preterite.
9. What is the nosotros form of adelantar in the present tense?
- (a) adelantas
- (b) adelantamos
- (c) adelanto
Answer: adelantamos — The nosotros form is adelantamos.
10. Which of these sentences is in the present tense?
- (a) Ayer, yo adelanté al camión en la autopista.
- (b) Nosotros adelantaremos al camión en la autopista mañana.
- (c) Yo adelanto al camión en la autopista.
Answer: Yo adelanto al camión en la autopista. — “Yo adelanto al camión en la autopista.” is in the present tense. The other two are in the preterite and the future.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say 'I overtake' in Spanish?
Say 'Yo adelanto al camión en la autopista'. The complement follows directly, as in the examples above. For a routine, add a time expression: 'Yo adelanto al camión en la autopista todos los días'.
How do you say 'I overtake' in the past?
For one finished action, say 'Ayer, yo adelanté la reunión al lunes'. For a repeated habit, say 'Yo adelantaba la reunión al lunes todos los días'. For something already done, say 'Yo he adelantado la reunión al lunes'.
What is the difference between adelantar and retroceder?
Adelantar means to overtake, to advance, while retroceder means to go back. They are easy to confuse because they appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use adelantar when you mean to overtake, to advance, as in Adelanto al camión en la autopista.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of adelantar — every tense of adelantar in one place.
- Adelantar in the present tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Spanish verbs — the hub for every Spanish verb on VerbFlow.
- Verb quiz — test yourself on adelantar and other verbs.
- Conjugation practice — drill the forms of adelantar until they are automatic.