Advertir Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

advertir means to warn, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Advertir means to warn, and it is used for warning a driver about a danger, warning children not to touch something and warning a friend about a risk. It is a stem-changing -ir verb: e to ie in the present, e to i in the third-person preterite and in the gerund, so it is one of the trickier verbs in this batch. This page puts advertir to work: twelve example sentences in different tenses and persons, grouped by use, then two short dialogues where the verb appears naturally, then the common mistakes to avoid, and finally a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every Spanish form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for advertir, and the full tables are on the advertir conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo advierto al conductor del peligro. — I warn the driver about the danger.
  2. Él advierte a los niños de no tocar nada. — He/she warns the children not to touch anything.
  3. Ayer, yo advertí a su amigo del riesgo. — Yesterday, I warned his friend about the risk.
  4. Antes, nosotros advertíamos de los cambios en el contrato. — Before, we used to warn of the changes in the contract.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú advertirás al conductor del peligro. — Tomorrow, you will warn the driver about the danger.
  2. Yo advertiría a los niños de no tocar nada. — I would warn the children not to touch anything.
  3. Él ha advertido a su amigo del riesgo. — He/she has warned his friend about the risk.
  4. Espero que él advierta de los cambios en el contrato. — I hope he/she warns of the changes in the contract.

With other people

  1. Nosotros advertimos al conductor del peligro. — We warn the driver about the danger.
  2. Vosotros advertís a los niños de no tocar nada. — You all warn the children not to touch anything.
  3. Antes, ellos advertían a su amigo del riesgo. — Before, they used to warn his friend about the risk.
  4. Mañana, él advertirá de los cambios en el contrato. — Tomorrow, he/she will warn of the changes in the contract.

Advertir in context

Two short dialogues that use advertir the way people really use it. Read them aloud — the verb forms will stick much faster in a conversation than in a table.

Dialogue 1: today and yesterday

  • Ana: "Hola, ¿qué tal?" — "Hello, how are you?"
  • Luis: "Hoy advierto al conductor del peligro." — "Today I warn the driver about the danger."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, advertí a su amigo del riesgo." — "Yesterday I warned his friend about the risk."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú advertirás a los niños de no tocar nada?" — "And tomorrow, will you will warn the children not to touch anything?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros advertimos de los cambios en el contrato." — "Tomorrow we warn of the changes in the contract."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo advertiría a los niños de no tocar nada si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would warn the children not to touch anything if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él advierta al conductor del peligro." — "I hope he warns the driver about the danger."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha advertido a su amigo del riesgo." — "Surely. He has already has warned his friend about the risk."
  • Marta: "Vale, nos vemos mañana." — "OK, see you tomorrow."

Notice how the same verb changes with the tense: the present for the plan, the conditional for the wish, the subjunctive after espero que, and the present perfect for what has already happened. That is the whole point of learning a verb across its tenses, not just in one form.

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Yo advierte al conductor del peligro. — Right: Yo advierto al conductor del peligro. — The person matters: advierte is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is advierto. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Yo adverto a los niños de no tocar nada. — Right: Yo advierto a los niños de no tocar nada. — In the present, the correct first-person form is advierto, not adverto. advertir is a stem-changing verb (e → ie), so the stem changes in the present singular and third-person plural forms, while nosotros and vosotros keep the original stem.
  3. Wrong: Treating advertir and avisar as identical in every context. — Right: Advertir means to warn, while avisar means to notify in advance. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: advertir fits sentences such as Advierto al conductor del peligro, while avisar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy advertido a los niños de no tocar nada. — Right: Yo he advertido a los niños de no tocar nada. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he advertido, has advertido, ha advertido. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo advertí a su amigo del riesgo todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo advertía a su amigo del riesgo todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (advertía), not the preterite. The preterite (advertí) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on advertir: four on the forms, three on the meaning, and three on spotting the correct sentence. Check the answer key below.

  1. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ al conductor del peligro. (present tense) A. advierto B. adviertes C. advierte D. advertimos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ a los niños de no tocar nada. (preterite tense) A. advertí B. advertiste C. advertimos D. advirtió

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ a su amigo del riesgo. (future tense) A. advertirá B. advertiremos C. advertirás D. advertiré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ de los cambios en el contrato. (imperfect tense) A. advertíais B. advertíamos C. advertía D. advertías

  5. What does "Yo advierto al conductor del peligro." mean in English? A. I warn the driver about the danger. B. I warn the children not to touch anything. C. I warn his friend about the risk. D. I warn of the changes in the contract.

  6. What does "Él advirtió a los niños de no tocar nada." mean in English? A. He/she warned the driver about the danger. B. He/she warned his friend about the risk. C. He/she warned of the changes in the contract. D. He/she warned the children not to touch anything.

  7. What does "Nosotros advertiremos a su amigo del riesgo." mean in English? A. We will warn the children not to touch anything. B. We will warn of the changes in the contract. C. We will warn his friend about the risk. D. We will warn the driver about the danger.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo adverto a los niños de no tocar nada. B. Yo advierte a los niños de no tocar nada. C. Yo advierto a los niños de no tocar nada.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él advertí a su amigo del riesgo. B. Él advirtió a su amigo del riesgo. C. Él advertió a su amigo del riesgo.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo advierta de los cambios en el contrato. B. Yo adverta de los cambios en el contrato. C. Yo advierta de los cambios en el contrato.

Answer key

  1. advierto — The yo present form of advertir is advierto.
  2. advirtió — The el preterite form of advertir is advirtió.
  3. advertirás — The tu future form of advertir is advertirás.
  4. advertíamos — The nosotros imperfect form of advertir is advertíamos.
  5. I warn the driver about the danger. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form advierto, so the English is "I warn the driver about the danger." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she warned the children not to touch anything. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form advirtió, so the English is "He/she warned the children not to touch anything." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will warn his friend about the risk. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form advertiremos, so the English is "We will warn his friend about the risk." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo advierto a los niños de no tocar nada. — The correct sentence is "Yo advierto a los niños de no tocar nada." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él advirtió a su amigo del riesgo. — The correct sentence is "Él advirtió a su amigo del riesgo." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo advierta de los cambios en el contrato. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo advierta de los cambios en el contrato." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

What does advertir mean, and when do I use it?

Advertir means to warn. Advertir means to warn, and it is used for warning a driver about a danger, warning children not to touch something and warning a friend about a risk. It is a stem-changing -ir verb: e to ie in the present, e to i in the third-person preterite and in the gerund, so it is one of the trickier verbs in this batch. A good first sentence to remember is Yo advierto al conductor del peligro. — "I warn the driver about the danger."

What is the difference between advertir and avisar?

Advertir means to warn, while avisar means to notify in advance. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use advertir when you mean to warn, as in Yo advierto a los niños de no tocar nada., and use avisar for to notify in advance.

How do I say "I warn" in the past?

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo advertí a los niños de no tocar nada.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo advertía a su amigo del riesgo.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he advertido a los niños de no tocar nada..

How do I practise advertir?

Start with the advertir conjugation page for the full tables, then the advertir in the present tense page for the tense in focus, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure. The stem changes e to ie, and in the third-person preterite e becomes i: advirtió, advirtieron. The gerund is advirtiendo.

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