Adjudicar Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish
The present tense of adjudicar — “to award, to adjudicate” 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 adjudicar 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. 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. It is a spelling-change verb (c becomes qu before e), but the present tense itself is regular — the spelling change shows up in the subjunctive and the preterite. To see it in a real sentence: Adjudico el contrato a la empresa ganadora. — “I award the contract to the winning company.” Learn the six forms in the table below, and the present tense of adjudicar will be ready for everyday conversation.
Present tense conjugation table: adjudicar
Every person of adjudicar in the present tense. The gerund is adjudicando and the past participle is adjudicado.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | adjudico |
| tú | adjudicas |
| él/ella/Ud. | adjudica |
| nosotros/as | adjudicamos |
| vosotros/as | adjudicáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | adjudican |
How the present indicative of adjudicar is formed
The present indicative of adjudicar is built from the stem plus the present indicative 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 | adjudico |
| tú | -as | adjudicas |
| él/ella/Ud. | -a | adjudica |
| nosotros/as | -amos | adjudicamos |
| vosotros/as | -áis | adjudicáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | -an | adjudican |
Adjudicar is a spelling-change verb. In the present tense the forms are regular, so the table above follows the normal -ar endings. The spelling change appears when the ending starts with e: the present subjunctive is adjudique and the preterite first person is adjudiqué. The sound stays the same; only the spelling changes to keep it.
The gerund of adjudicar is adjudicando and the past participle is adjudicado. 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 adjudicar
The present tense is not one single use — it covers several situations, and adjudicar 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.
Routines and habits
Use the present for things you do regularly, every day or every week. The present is the tense of routine, and adjudicar fits naturally into daily life.
“Yo adjudico el contrato a la empresa ganadora todos los días.” — “I award the contract to the winning company every day.”
General facts
Use the present for facts that are true in general, not just today. When you state how something is, the present is the tense to use.
“Él adjudica el premio al mejor estudiante.” — “He/she awards the prize to the best student.”
What is happening right now
Use the present for what is happening at this moment. Spanish often uses the simple present where English uses the progressive, so adjudico can mean both “I award” and “I am awarding”.
“Ahora mismo, yo adjudico la vivienda a la familia.” — “Right now, I award the house to the family.”
Fixed plans in the near future
Use the present for a plan that is already fixed, such as something arranged for tomorrow. Spanish uses the present for near-future plans much more freely than English does.
“Mañana, yo adjudico la obra al constructor.” — “Tomorrow, I will award the building work to the builder.”
Questions and negatives
Use the present to ask about habits and to say what does not happen. The question and the negative use exactly the same forms as the statement.
“¿Tú adjudicas el contrato a la empresa ganadora?” — “Do you award the contract to the winning company?”
The present tense vs the closest tenses
Present — habit or general fact vs Preterite — one finished occasion
The present describes a habit, a routine or a general fact — something that happens again and again or that is true in general. The preterite reports one finished occasion in the past. Use the present when the action repeats or is still true, and the preterite when you are telling what happened once, on a specific day.
- Present — habit or general fact: Adjudica el premio al mejor estudiante. — “He/she awards the prize to the best student.”
- Preterite — one finished occasion: Adjudicó el premio al mejor estudiante. — the same idea, placed in the preterite.
Present — now vs Imperfect — a past habit or background
The present talks about now. The imperfect talks about the past as a background — a repeated habit, an ongoing situation, something that used to happen. If you can add “used to” in English, the imperfect is usually the right choice; if it is happening now or always, use the present.
- Present — now: Adjudican la vivienda a la familia. — “They award the house to the family.”
- Imperfect — a past habit or background: Adjudicaban la vivienda a la familia. — the same idea, placed in the imperfect.
Present — now or a fixed plan vs Future — what will happen
The present describes what happens now, what you do regularly, or a plan that is already fixed. The future describes what will happen later — a promise, a prediction, a plan that is not yet under way. Spanish often uses the present for near-future plans, but the future is the form for a clear statement about tomorrow.
- Present — now or a fixed plan: Adjudicas la obra al constructor. — “You award the building work to the builder.”
- Future — what will happen: Adjudicarás la obra al constructor. — the same idea, placed in the future.
Examples: adjudicar in the present tense
Seven sentences that show adjudicar in the present tense only, across all six persons. Read each one aloud, notice the ending, and check the translation.
- Yo adjudico el contrato a la empresa ganadora. — “I award the contract to the winning company.”
- Tú adjudicas el premio al mejor estudiante. — “You award the prize to the best student.”
- Él adjudica la vivienda a la familia. — “He awards the house to the family.”
- Nosotros adjudicamos la obra al constructor. — “We award the building work to the builder.”
- Vosotros adjudicáis el contrato a la empresa ganadora. — “You (plural) award the contract to the winning company.”
- Ellos adjudican el premio al mejor estudiante. — “They award the prize to the best student.”
- ¿Tú adjudicas la vivienda a la familia? — “Do you award the house to the family?”
Common mistakes with adjudicar in the present tense
These are the errors learners actually make with adjudicar in the present tense. Each one shows the wrong form, the right form, and why the right form is right.
✗ Yo adjudicar el contrato a la empresa ganadora. (using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form).
✓ Correct: Yo adjudico el contrato a la empresa ganadora.
The infinitive is not a conjugated form. With yo, the present tense of adjudicar is adjudico, not the infinitive adjudicar.
✗ Vosotros adjudicais el contrato a la empresa ganadora. (forgetting the accent on the vosotros form).
✓ Correct: Vosotros adjudicáis el contrato a la empresa ganadora.
The vosotros present form carries a written accent: adjudicáis, not adjudicais. The accent marks the stressed vowel, and leaving it out is a spelling mistake.
✗ Ayer, yo adjudico el premio al mejor estudiante. (using the present for a finished past action).
✓ Correct: Ayer, yo adjudiqué el premio al mejor estudiante.
The present and the preterite are different tenses: adjudico is happening now, while adjudiqué is a finished action in the past. Use the preterite with ayer.
✗ Treating adjudicar and conceder as identical in every context. (confusing adjudicar with conceder).
✓ 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.
Quiz: adjudicar in the present tense
Eight questions on the present tense of adjudicar. Choose the best answer for each one, then check the answer key below — every answer is explained.
1. Which is the correct present tense form of adjudicar for tú?
- a) adjudicas
- b) adjudico
- c) adjudica
- d) adjudican
2. Complete the sentence: Yo ______ el contrato a la empresa ganadora. — “I award the contract to the winning company.”
- a) adjudica
- b) adjudicamos
- c) adjudicas
- d) adjudico
3. Complete the sentence: Él ______ el premio al mejor estudiante. — “He/she awards the prize to the best student.” (present tense)
- a) adjudicaba
- b) adjudicará
- c) adjudica
- d) adjudicó
4. Which is the correct present tense form of adjudicar for nosotros?
- a) adjudican
- b) adjudicamos
- c) adjudico
- d) adjudica
5. Which sentence uses adjudicar correctly in the present tense?
- a) Él adjudicó el premio al mejor estudiante.
- b) Él adjudica el premio al mejor estudiante.
- c) Él adjudicará el premio al mejor estudiante.
- d) Ellos adjudica el premio al mejor estudiante.
6. Complete the sentence: Ellos ______ la vivienda a la familia. — “They award the house to the family.”
- a) adjudico
- b) adjudica
- c) adjudicamos
- d) adjudican
7. Complete the question: ¿Tú ______ la obra al constructor? — “Do you award the building work to the builder?”
- a) adjudica
- b) adjudicarás
- c) adjudicas
- d) adjudico
8. What is the gerund of adjudicar?
- a) adjudiqué
- b) adjudicando
- c) adjudicado
- d) adjudico
Answer key
a) adjudicas — The tú form is adjudicas. The -s ending belongs to tú in the present; adjudico is yo, adjudica is él/ella and adjudican is ellos/ellas.
d) adjudico — The sentence needs the yo form in the present: adjudico. The other options are the wrong person.
c) adjudica — The sentence needs the él/ella/Ud. form in the present: adjudica. The other options are the preterite, the imperfect and the future.
b) adjudicamos — Nosotros takes adjudicamos. In the present the nosotros ending for -ar verbs is -amos, attached to the stem.
b) 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 use the wrong person or the wrong tense.
d) adjudican — The subject is ellos/ellas/Uds., so the present form is adjudican.
c) adjudicas — The question needs the tú form in the present: adjudicas.
b) adjudicando — The gerund is adjudicando. It is the form you use with estar for the progressive (estar + gerund), and it is not the past participle adjudicado.
Frequently asked questions
Is adjudicar regular in the present tense?
Yes. Adjudicar is a regular -ar verb in the present tense, so the forms follow the standard endings: adjudico, adjudicas, adjudica, adjudicamos, adjudicáis and adjudican.
What is the gerund and the past participle of adjudicar?
The gerund is adjudicando and the past participle is adjudicado. Use the gerund with estar for the progressive, and the participle with haber for the perfect tenses.
How do you say “I award” in Spanish?
Say adjudico. For example: Adjudico el contrato a la empresa ganadora. — “I award the contract to the winning company.”
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”. The full conjugation of adjudicar is on its own page.
Related links
- Full conjugation of adjudicar — every tense and mood, with the complete tables.
- adjudicar examples and quiz — more sentences, dialogues and a longer quiz.
- Spanish Present tense guide — how the present tense works for all Spanish verbs.
- Spanish verbs — the full list of Spanish verbs on VerbFlow.
- Complete list of Spanish irregular verbs — where this verb's pattern is listed.
- Administrar conjugation — another -ar verb to compare with adjudicar.
- Acuñar conjugation — another -ar verb to compare with adjudicar.
- Afianzar conjugation — another -ar verb to compare with adjudicar.
- Present Tense Conjugator — practise this verb in the interactive tool.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — test yourself on Spanish verbs.