Alimentar Examples, Sentences and Quiz
Alimentar means “to feed”, and it is one of the verbs you will use every day in Spanish. Alimentar means to feed, and it is used for feeding children, animals and plants, and for feeding a fire or a machine. It is the non-reflexive partner of alimentarse, and it is fully regular. This page shows alimentar 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 alimento a los niños con verdura.” — I feed the children with vegetables.
Alimentar in real example sentences
The twelve sentences below are grouped by how alimentar 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 alimentar in the present tense, which is how you will meet it most often: routines, facts, and things happening now.
“Alimento a los niños con verdura.” — I feed the children with vegetables.
“¿Tú alimentas al perro dos veces al día?” — Do you feed the dog twice a day?
“Alimenta a las plantas con abono.” — He/she feeds the plants with fertiliser.
“Alimentamos al bebé con leche.” — We feed the baby with milk.
Talking about the past
The present is not the only tense you need. These sentences show alimentar in the past, so you can talk about what already happened.
“Ayer, yo alimenté a los niños con verdura.” — Yesterday, I fed the children with vegetables. (preterite)
“Él alimentaba al perro dos veces al día todos los días.” — He used to feed the dog twice a day 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 alimentar stays the same.
“Nosotros alimentaremos a las plantas con abono mañana.” — We will feed the plants with fertiliser tomorrow. (future)
“¿Tú has alimentado al bebé con leche?” — Have you fed the baby with milk? (present perfect)
More everyday uses
Four more present-tense sentences, covering the remaining persons, so you can see the whole table in action.
“Alimentáis a los niños con verdura.” — You feed the children with vegetables.
“Alimentan al perro dos veces al día.” — They feed the dog twice a day.
“Alimento a las plantas con abono.” — I feed the plants with fertiliser.
“Alimenta al bebé con leche.” — He/she feeds the baby with milk.
Alimentar 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 alimentar appears naturally, without anyone stopping to think about conjugation.
A short dialogue
Lucía: “¿Tú alimentas a los niños con verdura?” — Do you feed the children with vegetables?
Carlos: “Sí, yo alimento a los niños con verdura.” — Yes, I feed the children with vegetables.
Lucía: “Nosotros alimentamos al perro dos veces al día.” — We feed the dog twice a day.
Carlos: “Y ellos alimentan a las plantas con abono.” — And they feed the plants with fertiliser.
Lucía: “Vosotros alimentáis al bebé con leche.” — You feed the baby with milk.
Carlos: “Sí, y él alimenta al perro dos veces al día.” — Yes, and he feeds the dog twice a day.
A short paragraph
Lucía alimenta a los niños con verdura, y Carlos alimenta al perro dos veces al día. Nosotros alimentamos a las plantas con abono, y ellos alimentan al bebé con leche. Yo alimento a las plantas con abono, y mi padre alimenta al bebé con leche. Alimentar is part of everyday life, because to feed is something Spanish speakers do again and again, in every tense and every situation.
Common mistakes with alimentar
These are the errors learners actually make with alimentar. Each one shows the wrong version, the right version, and why the correction matters.
Wrong: “Yo alimenta a los niños con verdura.” Right: “Yo alimento a los niños con verdura.” Why: The person matters: alimenta is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is alimento. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
Wrong: “Ayer yo alimento al perro dos veces al día.” Right: “Ayer yo alimenté al perro dos veces al día.” Why: The present and the preterite are different tenses: alimento is happening now, while alimenté is a finished action in the past. Use the preterite with ayer.
Wrong: “Treating alimentar and alimentarse as identical in every context.” Right: “Alimentar means to feed, while alimentarse means to feed oneself.” Why: They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: alimentar fits sentences such as Alimento a los niños con verdura, while alimentarse belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
Wrong: “Yo soy alimentado al perro dos veces al día.” Right: “Yo he alimentado al perro dos veces al día.” Why: Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he alimentado, has alimentado, ha alimentado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
Wrong: “De niño, yo alimenté a las plantas con abono todos los días.” Right: “De niño, yo alimentaba a las plantas con abono todos los días.” Why: For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (alimentaba), not the preterite. The preterite (alimenté) is for one finished action.
Quiz: alimentar in use
Ten questions on alimentar in real sentences. Choose the correct answer for each one, then check the answer key. Every answer is explained.
1. Complete the sentence: “Vosotros ______ a los niños con verdura.” (The children with vegetables.)
- (a) alimentáis
- (b) alimento
- (c) alimentas
Answer: alimentáis — The vosotros/as form of alimentar in the present is alimentáis.
2. Complete the sentence: “Ellos ______ al perro dos veces al día.” (The dog twice a day.)
- (a) alimento
- (b) alimentas
- (c) alimentan
Answer: alimentan — The ellos/ellas/Uds. form of alimentar in the present is alimentan.
3. Complete the sentence: “Yo ______ a los niños con verdura.” (The children with vegetables.)
- (a) alimentó
- (b) alimenté
- (c) alimentaste
Answer: alimenté — The yo form of alimentar in the preterite is alimenté.
4. Complete the sentence: “Él ______ al perro dos veces al día.” (The dog twice a day.)
- (a) alimentaba
- (b) alimentabas
- (c) alimentábamos
Answer: alimentaba — The él/ella/Ud. form of alimentar in the imperfect is alimentaba.
5. Complete the sentence: “Nosotros ______ a las plantas con abono.” (The plants with fertiliser.)
- (a) alimentaré
- (b) alimentarás
- (c) alimentaremos
Answer: alimentaremos — The nosotros/as form of alimentar in the future is alimentaremos.
6. What does alimentar mean in English?
- (a) to suckle
- (b) to feed
- (c) to feed oneself
Answer: to feed — Alimentar means “to feed”. The other options are the meanings of different verbs.
7. Which sentence is correct?
- (a) Yo alimento a los niños con verdura.
- (b) Ellos alimenta a los niños con verdura.
- (c) Yo alimento al perro dos veces al día ayer.
Answer: Yo alimento a los niños con verdura. — “Yo alimento a los niños con verdura.” is correct. The other two sentences contain the mistakes explained in the section above.
8. How do you say “I feed the children with vegetables.” in Spanish?
- (a) Yo alimentan a los niños con verdura.
- (b) Yo alimenté a los niños con verdura.
- (c) Yo alimento a los niños con verdura.
Answer: Yo alimento a los niños con verdura. — “Yo alimento a los niños con verdura.” 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 alimentar in the present tense?
- (a) alimentas
- (b) alimentamos
- (c) alimento
Answer: alimentamos — The nosotros form is alimentamos.
10. Which of these sentences is in the present tense?
- (a) Ayer, yo alimenté a los niños con verdura.
- (b) Nosotros alimentaremos a los niños con verdura mañana.
- (c) Yo alimento a los niños con verdura.
Answer: Yo alimento a los niños con verdura. — “Yo alimento a los niños con verdura.” is in the present tense. The other two are in the preterite and the future.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say 'I feed' in Spanish?
Say 'Yo alimento a los niños con verdura'. The complement follows directly, as in the examples above. For a routine, add a time expression: 'Yo alimento a los niños con verdura todos los días'.
How do you say 'I feed' in the past?
For one finished action, say 'Ayer, yo alimenté al perro dos veces al día'. For a repeated habit, say 'Yo alimentaba al perro dos veces al día todos los días'. For something already done, say 'Yo he alimentado al perro dos veces al día'.
What is the difference between alimentar and alimentarse?
Alimentar means to feed, while alimentarse means to feed oneself. They are easy to confuse because they appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use alimentar when you mean to feed, as in Alimento a los niños con verdura.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of alimentar — every tense of alimentar in one place.
- Alimentar 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 alimentar and other verbs.
- Conjugation practice — drill the forms of alimentar until they are automatic.