Adjudicar Conjugation in Spanish
The Spanish verb adjudicar means to award, to adjudicate, and it is a verb you will use again and again once you know 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. Like every Spanish verb, adjudicar changes its ending for each person and tense, and this page gives you the complete picture: every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle, all from the verified conjugation tables. For example, in the present tense you say adjudico el contrato a la empresa ganadora, and in the preterite you say adjudiqué la vivienda a la familia. Work through the tables below, read the notes for each tense, and then test yourself with the examples, the common mistakes and the quiz at the end of the page.
Quick facts
- Infinitive: adjudicar
- English: to award, to adjudicate
- Verb type: irregular verb
- Ending: -ar
- Gerund: adjudicando
- Past participle: adjudicado
- Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + adjudicado)
- Spelling change: Spelling change: c becomes qu before e, so the present subjunctive is adjudique and the preterite first person is adjudiqué — the sound stays the same, only the spelling changes.
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for adjudicar, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one. Spelling change: c becomes qu before e, so the preterite first person is adjudiqué. In the present tense it is regular: adjudico.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from the verified conjugation tables for adjudicar. The imperfect subjunctive is shown in its -ra forms; the -se forms use the same stem. For reflexive verbs, the pronoun column shows the reflexive pronoun that goes before each form.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | adjudico |
| tú | adjudicas |
| él/ella/Ud. | adjudica |
| nosotros/as | adjudicamos |
| vosotros/as | adjudicáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | adjudican |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | adjudiqué |
| tú | adjudicaste |
| él/ella/Ud. | adjudicó |
| nosotros/as | adjudicamos |
| vosotros/as | adjudicasteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | adjudicaron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | adjudicaba |
| tú | adjudicabas |
| él/ella/Ud. | adjudicaba |
| nosotros/as | adjudicábamos |
| vosotros/as | adjudicabais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | adjudicaban |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | adjudicaré |
| tú | adjudicarás |
| él/ella/Ud. | adjudicará |
| nosotros/as | adjudicaremos |
| vosotros/as | adjudicaréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | adjudicarán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | adjudicaría |
| tú | adjudicarías |
| él/ella/Ud. | adjudicaría |
| nosotros/as | adjudicaríamos |
| vosotros/as | adjudicaríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | adjudicarían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he adjudicado |
| tú | has adjudicado |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha adjudicado |
| nosotros/as | hemos adjudicado |
| vosotros/as | habéis adjudicado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han adjudicado |
Pluperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había adjudicado |
| tú | habías adjudicado |
| él/ella/Ud. | había adjudicado |
| nosotros/as | habíamos adjudicado |
| vosotros/as | habíais adjudicado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían adjudicado |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré adjudicado |
| tú | habrás adjudicado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá adjudicado |
| nosotros/as | habremos adjudicado |
| vosotros/as | habréis adjudicado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán adjudicado |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría adjudicado |
| tú | habrías adjudicado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría adjudicado |
| nosotros/as | habríamos adjudicado |
| vosotros/as | habríais adjudicado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían adjudicado |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | adjudique |
| tú | adjudiques |
| él/ella/Ud. | adjudique |
| nosotros/as | adjudiquemos |
| vosotros/as | adjudiquéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | adjudiquen |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | adjudicara |
| tú | adjudicaras |
| él/ella/Ud. | adjudicara |
| nosotros/as | adjudicáramos |
| vosotros/as | adjudicarais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | adjudicaran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | adjudica |
| él/ella/Ud. | adjudique |
| nosotros/as | adjudiquemos |
| vosotros/as | adjudicad |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | adjudiquen |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | adjudiques |
| él/ella/Ud. | adjudique |
| nosotros/as | adjudiquemos |
| vosotros/as | adjudiquéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | adjudiquen |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Gerund | adjudicando | with estar for the progressive: estoy adjudicando |
| Past participle | adjudicado | with haber for the perfect tenses: he adjudicado |
How to use each tense
Present indicative
Use the present for routines, general facts and what is happening right now. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For adjudicar, the present looks like this in a real sentence: Adjudico el contrato a la empresa ganadora. Learn the present forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.
Preterite
Use the preterite for finished actions with a clear end, often with ayer, el año pasado or anoche. Note the spelling change: c becomes qu before e, so the present subjunctive is adjudique and the preterite first person is adjudiqué — the sound stays the same, only the spelling changes. For adjudicar, the preterite looks like this in a real sentence: Ayer, adjudiqué el premio al mejor estudiante. Learn the preterite forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.
Imperfect
Use the imperfect for background, habits and actions in progress in the past, often with de niño, antes or mientras. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For adjudicar, the imperfect looks like this in a real sentence: De niño, adjudicaba la vivienda a la familia. Learn the imperfect forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.
Future
Use the future for plans, predictions and promises, often with mañana, el año que viene or pronto. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For adjudicar, the future looks like this in a real sentence: Mañana, adjudicaré la obra al constructor. Learn the future forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.
Conditional
Use the conditional for polite requests, hypotheticals and what would happen, often with si clauses. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For adjudicar, the conditional looks like this in a real sentence: Adjudicaría el contrato a la empresa ganadora si pudiera. Learn the conditional forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.
Present perfect
Use the present perfect for recent actions and experiences, often with hoy, esta semana or ya. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For adjudicar, the present perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Hoy, he adjudicado el premio al mejor estudiante. Learn the present perfect forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.
Pluperfect
Use the pluperfect when one past action happened before another past action. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For adjudicar, the pluperfect looks like this in a real sentence: Había adjudicado la vivienda a la familia antes de salir. Learn the pluperfect forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.
Future perfect
Use the future perfect for something that will already be finished by a future time. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For adjudicar, the future perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Para mañana, habré adjudicado la obra al constructor. Learn the future perfect forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.
Conditional perfect
Use the conditional perfect for what would have happened under different conditions. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For adjudicar, the conditional perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Habría adjudicado el contrato a la empresa ganadora con más tiempo. Learn the conditional perfect forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.
Present subjunctive
Use the present subjunctive after expressions of wish, doubt, emotion and hope, such as espero que or quiero que. Note the spelling change: c becomes qu before e, so the present subjunctive is adjudique and the preterite first person is adjudiqué — the sound stays the same, only the spelling changes. For adjudicar, the present subjunctive looks like this in a real sentence: Espero que él adjudique el premio al mejor estudiante. Learn the present subjunctive forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
Use the imperfect subjunctive after past wishes and in si clauses about the past, and note the -ra forms shown here; the -se forms use the same stem. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For adjudicar, the imperfect subjunctive looks like this in a real sentence: Si él adjudicara la vivienda a la familia, todo cambiaría. Learn the imperfect subjunctive forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.
Imperative (affirmative)
Use the affirmative imperative for direct commands, instructions and invitations. Note the spelling change: c becomes qu before e, so the present subjunctive is adjudique and the preterite first person is adjudiqué — the sound stays the same, only the spelling changes. For adjudicar, the affirmative imperative looks like this in a real sentence: ¡Adjudica la obra al constructor! Learn the affirmative imperative forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.
Imperative (negative)
Use the negative imperative, always with no, to tell someone not to do something. Note the spelling change: c becomes qu before e, so the present subjunctive is adjudique and the preterite first person is adjudiqué — the sound stays the same, only the spelling changes. For adjudicar, the negative imperative looks like this in a real sentence: No adjudiques el contrato a la empresa ganadora. Learn the negative imperative forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with adjudicar, covering different tenses and persons. Each one uses a form from the tables above.
- Adjudico el contrato a la empresa ganadora. — I award the contract to the winning company.
- Adjudica el premio al mejor estudiante. — He/she awards the prize to the best student.
- Ayer, adjudiqué la vivienda a la familia. — Yesterday, I awarded the house to the family.
- Antes, nosotros adjudicábamos la obra al constructor. — Before, we used to award the building work to the builder.
- Mañana, tú adjudicarás el contrato a la empresa ganadora. — Tomorrow, you will award the contract to the winning company.
- 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.
- Él ha adjudicado la vivienda a la familia. — He has awarded the house to the family.
- Espero que él adjudique la obra al constructor. — I hope he awards the building work to the builder.
- 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.
- Ellos adjudicaban el premio al mejor estudiante cuando eran jóvenes. — They used to award the prize to the best student when they were young.
Common mistakes
- Wrong: Yo adjudica el contrato a la empresa ganadora. — Right: 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.
- Wrong: Espero que yo adjudice el premio al mejor estudiante. — Right: Espero que yo adjudique el premio al mejor estudiante. — Spelling change: c becomes qu before e, so the present subjunctive is adjudique, never adjudice.
- Wrong: Treating adjudicar and conceder as identical in every context. — Right: 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.
- Wrong: Yo soy adjudicado el premio al mejor estudiante. — Right: 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.
- Wrong: De niño, yo adjudiqué la vivienda a la familia todos los días. — Right: 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: test yourself
Ten questions on adjudicar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
Complete the sentence: Yo ___ el contrato a la empresa ganadora. (present tense) A. adjudico B. adjudicas C. adjudica D. adjudicamos
Complete the sentence: Ayer, él ___ el premio al mejor estudiante. (preterite) A. adjudiqué B. adjudicaste C. adjudicaron D. adjudicó
Complete the sentence: Antes, nosotros ___ la vivienda a la familia. (imperfect) A. adjudicabas B. adjudicaban C. adjudicábamos D. adjudicaba
Complete the sentence: Mañana, tú ___ la obra al constructor. (future) A. adjudicaremos B. adjudicarás C. adjudicaré D. adjudicará
Complete the sentence: Yo ___ el contrato a la empresa ganadora si pudiera. (conditional) A. adjudicaría B. adjudicarías C. adjudicarían D. adjudico
Complete the sentence: Espero que él ___ el premio al mejor estudiante. (present subjunctive) A. adjudiques B. adjudiquemos C. adjudico D. adjudique
Complete the sentence: Si yo ___ la vivienda a la familia, todo cambiaría. (imperfect subjunctive, -ra form) A. adjudicáramos B. adjudico C. adjudicara D. adjudicaras
Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ la obra al constructor. (present perfect) A. han adjudicado B. hemos adjudicado C. he adjudicado D. has adjudicado
Complete the command: ¡___ el contrato a la empresa ganadora! (affirmative imperative, tú) A. adjudica B. adjudique C. adjudiquemos D. adjudicad
Which is the gerund of adjudicar, used with estar for the progressive? A. adjudicado B. adjudico C. adjudiqué D. adjudicando
Answer key
- adjudico — The first-person present of adjudicar is adjudico. The other options are the tú, él/ella and nosotros forms.
- adjudicó — The third-person preterite of adjudicar is adjudicó, the form for a single finished action in the past.
- adjudicábamos — The nosotros imperfect of adjudicar is adjudicábamos, used here for a repeated past habit.
- adjudicarás — The second-person future of adjudicar is adjudicarás.
- adjudicaría — The first-person conditional of adjudicar is adjudicaría, the form for what would happen.
- adjudique — After espero que, the subjunctive is required: the third-person present subjunctive of adjudicar is adjudique.
- adjudicara — The first-person imperfect subjunctive (-ra) of adjudicar is adjudicara.
- hemos adjudicado — The nosotros present perfect of adjudicar is hemos adjudicado: hemos + adjudicado.
- adjudica — The affirmative tú imperative of adjudicar is adjudica.
- adjudicando — The gerund of adjudicar is adjudicando: estoy adjudicando. The participle adjudicado is used with haber instead.
Frequently asked questions
What does adjudicar mean in English?
Adjudicar means to award, to adjudicate. It is used in everyday situations such as Adjudico el contrato a la empresa ganadora. The exact English wording depends on the context, but the core meaning stays the same across the tenses.
Is adjudicar regular or irregular?
Adjudicar is a spelling-change verb, so it is not fully regular. Spelling change: c becomes qu before e, so the present subjunctive is adjudique and the preterite first person is adjudiqué — the sound stays the same, only the spelling changes. The other tenses follow the regular -ar endings. Learn the changed forms from the tables above rather than applying the regular spelling.
What is the difference between adjudicar and conceder?
Adjudicar means to award, to adjudicate, while conceder means to grant. They are easy to confuse because they appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use adjudicar when you mean to award, to adjudicate, as in Adjudico el contrato a la empresa ganadora, and use conceder for to grant. When in doubt, check the object of the sentence — it usually shows which verb fits.
How do I say “I award” in the past?
It depends on the kind of past. For one finished action, use the preterite: yo adjudiqué el premio al mejor estudiante. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: yo adjudicaba la vivienda a la familia. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: yo he adjudicado el premio al mejor estudiante.
How do I practise adjudicar?
Start with the present tense table, then drill the preterite and the imperfect, since those two past tenses cause the most mistakes. Try the adjudicar examples and quiz page for more sentences, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure.
Related links
- Adjudicar in the present tense — the full present-tense table for adjudicar.
- Adjudicar examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice for adjudicar.
- Spanish verbs — the Spanish hub, with every verb and tense guide.
- 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.
- Spanish Verb Conjugator — conjugate any Spanish verb in every tense.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — test yourself on real conjugated forms.