Adjudicar Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Spanish

adjudicar means “to award, to adjudicate” in English, and this page shows you how it actually sounds in everyday Spanish — not just the conjugation table, but the verb in real sentences, in short dialogues, and in the mistakes learners make with it. Adjudicar means to award or to adjudicate, to give a contract, a prize or a property to someone by official decision. It is a formal verb used in law, business and public works, and it is a spelling-change verb: c becomes qu before e. Below you will find twelve example sentences grouped by tense, two short dialogues, the most common mistakes with corrections, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. If you want the full tables first, start with the full conjugation of adjudicar; if you want to study one tense in depth, see the adjudicar present tense page.

adjudicar in everyday use: examples with translations

In the present tense

  1. Yo adjudico el contrato a la empresa ganadora. — “I award the contract to the winning company.”
  2. Él adjudica el premio al mejor estudiante. — “He awards the prize to the best student.”
  3. Nosotros adjudicamos la vivienda a la familia. — “We award the house to the family.”
  4. Ellos adjudican la obra al constructor. — “They award the building work to the builder.”

In the past

  1. Ayer, yo adjudiqué el premio al mejor estudiante. — “Yesterday, I awarded the prize to the best student.”
  2. Antes, nosotros adjudicábamos la vivienda a la familia. — “Before, we used to award the house to the family.”
  3. Él adjudicó la obra al constructor. — “He awarded the building work to the builder.”
  4. Yo ya había adjudicado el contrato a la empresa ganadora antes de salir. — “I had already awarded the contract to the winning company before leaving.”

Plans, hopes and possibilities

  1. Mañana, tú adjudicarás el contrato a la empresa ganadora. — “Tomorrow, you will award the contract to the winning company.”
  2. Yo adjudicaría el premio al mejor estudiante si tuviera más tiempo. — “I would award the prize to the best student if I had more time.”
  3. Él ha adjudicado la vivienda a la familia. — “He has awarded the house to the family.”
  4. Espero que él adjudique la obra al constructor. — “I hope he awards the building work to the builder.”

adjudicar in conversation

Two short dialogues that use adjudicar the way people really speak it. Notice how the verb changes with the person, and how the same verb fits different situations.

Two friends talk about their day.

  • Ana: Yo adjudico el contrato a la empresa ganadora. — “I award the contract to the winning company.”
  • Bea: Él adjudica el premio al mejor estudiante. — “He awards the prize to the best student.”
  • Ana: Ayer, yo adjudiqué el premio al mejor estudiante. — “Yesterday, I awarded the prize to the best student.”
  • Bea: Mañana, tú adjudicarás el contrato a la empresa ganadora. — “Tomorrow, you will award the contract to the winning company.”

At home, talking about tomorrow.

  • Luis: Nosotros adjudicamos la vivienda a la familia. — “We award the house to the family.”
  • Marta: Antes, nosotros adjudicábamos la vivienda a la familia. — “Before, we used to award the house to the family.”
  • Luis: Yo adjudicaría el premio al mejor estudiante si tuviera más tiempo. — “I would award the prize to the best student if I had more time.”
  • Marta: Espero que él adjudique la obra al constructor. — “I hope he awards the building work to the builder.”

A short scene with adjudicar

A short scene shows how adjudicar works across the day. In the morning: Adjudico el contrato a la empresa ganadora. In the afternoon: Adjudica el premio al mejor estudiante. Yesterday it was different: Ayer, adjudiqué la vivienda a la familia. And tomorrow: Mañana, adjudicaré la obra al constructor. Four small moments, four tenses, one verb — that is how adjudicar sounds in real life. Try changing the person in each sentence: say it about yourself, about a friend, and about your family, and the forms will start to feel automatic.

Common mistakes with adjudicar

The errors learners actually make with adjudicar, each with the wrong form, the right form, and why the right form is right.

✗ Yo adjudica el contrato a la empresa ganadora.

✓ Correct: Yo adjudico el contrato a la empresa ganadora.

The person matters: adjudica is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is adjudico. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.

✗ Espero que yo adjudice el premio al mejor estudiante.

✓ Correct: Espero que yo adjudique el premio al mejor estudiante.

Spelling change: c becomes qu before e, so the present subjunctive is adjudique, never adjudice.

✗ Treating adjudicar and conceder as identical in every context.

✓ Correct: Adjudicar means to award, to adjudicate, while conceder means to grant.

They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: adjudicar fits sentences such as Adjudico el contrato a la empresa ganadora, while conceder belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.

✗ Yo soy adjudicado el premio al mejor estudiante.

✓ Correct: Yo he adjudicado el premio al mejor estudiante.

Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he adjudicado, has adjudicado, ha adjudicado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.

✗ De niño, yo adjudiqué la vivienda a la familia todos los días.

✓ Correct: De niño, yo adjudicaba la vivienda a la familia todos los días.

For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (adjudicaba), not the preterite. The preterite (adjudiqué) is for one finished action.

Quiz: adjudicar in use

Ten questions on adjudicar — its forms, its tenses and its everyday use. Choose the best answer for each one, then check the answer key below, where every answer is explained.

1. Complete the sentence: Él ______ el premio al mejor estudiante. — “He/she awards the prize to the best student.”

  • a) adjudica
  • b) adjudico
  • c) adjudicas
  • d) adjudicamos

2. Complete the sentence: Ayer, yo ______ la vivienda a la familia. — “Yesterday, I awarded the house to the family.”

  • a) adjudicaste
  • b) adjudicó
  • c) adjudicaron
  • d) adjudiqué

3. Complete the sentence: Ellos ______ la obra al constructor cuando eran jóvenes. — “They used to award the building work to the builder when they were young.”

  • a) adjudicabas
  • b) adjudicábamos
  • c) adjudicaban
  • d) adjudicaba

4. Complete the sentence: Mañana, nosotros ______ el contrato a la empresa ganadora. — “Tomorrow, we will award the contract to the winning company.”

  • a) adjudicarán
  • b) adjudicaremos
  • c) adjudicaré
  • d) adjudicarás

5. Complete the sentence: Él ______ el premio al mejor estudiante si pudiera. — “He would award the prize to the best student if he could.”

  • a) adjudicaría
  • b) adjudicarías
  • c) adjudicaríamos
  • d) adjudico

6. Complete the sentence: Yo ______ la vivienda a la familia. — “I have awarded the house to the family.”

  • a) has adjudicado
  • b) ha adjudicado
  • c) han adjudicado
  • d) he adjudicado

7. Complete the sentence: Espero que tú ______ la obra al constructor. — “I hope you award the building work to the builder.”

  • a) adjudiquemos
  • b) adjudico
  • c) adjudiques
  • d) adjudique

8. Which is the past participle of adjudicar, used with haber in the perfect tenses?

  • a) adjudiqué
  • b) adjudicado
  • c) adjudicando
  • d) adjudico

9. What does adjudicar mean in English?

  • a) to award, to adjudicate
  • b) to grant
  • c) to manage, to administer
  • d) to adduce, to cite

10. Which sentence is correct?

  • a) Él adjudica el premio al mejor estudiante.
  • b) Él adjudico el premio al mejor estudiante.
  • c) Nosotros adjudica la vivienda a la familia.
  • d) Yo adjudica el contrato a la empresa ganadora.

Answer key

  1. a) adjudica — The sentence needs the él/ella/Ud. form in the present: adjudica.

  2. d) adjudiqué — The sentence needs the yo form in the preterite: adjudiqué, for one finished action yesterday.

  3. c) adjudicaban — The sentence needs the ellos/ellas form in the imperfect: adjudicaban, for a repeated past habit.

  4. b) adjudicaremos — The sentence needs the nosotros form in the future: adjudicaremos.

  5. a) adjudicaría — The sentence needs the él/ella/Ud. form in the conditional: adjudicaría.

  6. d) he adjudicado — The sentence needs the yo form in the present perfect: he adjudicado, haber + adjudicado.

  7. c) adjudiques — After espero que, the subjunctive is required: the tú present subjunctive is adjudiques.

  8. b) adjudicado — The past participle is adjudicado: he adjudicado, has adjudicado, ha adjudicado. The gerund adjudicando is used with estar instead.

  9. a) to award, to adjudicate — adjudicar means to award, to adjudicate. The other options are the meanings of different verbs.

  10. a) Él adjudica el premio al mejor estudiante. — Él adjudica el premio al mejor estudiante. is correct: the verb agrees with its subject. The other sentences mix up the person and the form.

Frequently asked questions

How do I use adjudicar in everyday conversation?

Start with the phrases in the examples above — especially the common combinations such as Adjudico el contrato a la empresa ganadora and Adjudica el premio al mejor estudiante. Use the present tense for habits and general facts, and the preterite for things that happened once. Say the sentences aloud until the forms feel automatic, then swap in your own details: your own town, your own family, your own routine.

What is the difference between adjudicar and conceder?

Adjudicar means “to award, to adjudicate”, while conceder means “to grant”. They are related words that learners often meet together, but they are not interchangeable — use adjudicar when you mean “to award, to adjudicate” and conceder when you mean “to grant”.

Which tense do I need most with adjudicar?

The present tense, for habits, routines and general facts — that is where you will use adjudicar most. The preterite comes next, for things that happened once and ended. The examples on this page use both, plus the imperfect, the future and the present perfect, so you can see the verb across the tenses you actually need.

Is adjudicar formal or informal?

Adjudicar is neutral — it is used in both formal and informal Spanish, at home, at work and at school. There is no special formal version of it; the same forms work in a conversation with a friend and in a letter to a company. What changes is the situation, not the verb.

Related links