Arriesgar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

arriesgar means to risk, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Arriesgar means to risk, and it is used for risking money on the stock market, risking your life for friends, risking too much on a business and risking your reputation. It is a spelling-change verb: the g becomes gu before e. This page puts arriesgar 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 arriesgar, and the full tables are on the arriesgar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo arriesgo su dinero en la bolsa. — I risk his money on the stock market.
  2. Él arriesga la vida por sus amigos. — He/she risks his life for his friends.
  3. Ayer, yo arriesgué demasiado en el negocio. — Yesterday, I risked too much on the business.
  4. Antes, nosotros arriesgábamos su reputación con esa decisión. — Before, we used to risk his reputation with that decision.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú arriesgarás su dinero en la bolsa. — Tomorrow, you will risk his money on the stock market.
  2. Yo arriesgaría la vida por sus amigos. — I would risk his life for his friends.
  3. Él ha arriesgado demasiado en el negocio. — He/she has risked too much on the business.
  4. Espero que él arriesgue su reputación con esa decisión. — I hope he/she risks his reputation with that decision.

With other people

  1. Nosotros arriesgamos su dinero en la bolsa. — We risk his money on the stock market.
  2. Vosotros arriesgáis la vida por sus amigos. — You all risk his life for his friends.
  3. Antes, ellos arriesgaban demasiado en el negocio. — Before, they used to risk too much on the business.
  4. Mañana, él arriesgará su reputación con esa decisión. — Tomorrow, he/she will risk his reputation with that decision.

Arriesgar in context

Two short dialogues that use arriesgar 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 arriesgo su dinero en la bolsa." — "Today I risk his money on the stock market."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, arriesgué demasiado en el negocio." — "Yesterday I risked too much on the business."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú arriesgarás la vida por sus amigos?" — "And tomorrow, will you will risk his life for his friends?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros arriesgamos su reputación con esa decisión." — "Tomorrow we risk his reputation with that decision."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo arriesgaría la vida por sus amigos si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would risk his life for his friends if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él arriesgue su dinero en la bolsa." — "I hope he risks his money on the stock market."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha arriesgado demasiado en el negocio." — "Surely. He has already has risked too much on the business."
  • 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 arriesga su dinero en la bolsa. — Right: Yo arriesgo su dinero en la bolsa. — The person matters: arriesga is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is arriesgo. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Yo arriesgé la vida por sus amigos. — Right: Yo arriesgué la vida por sus amigos. — In the preterite, the correct first-person form is arriesgué, not arriesgé. arriesgar is a spelling-change verb: g becomes gu before e, so the written form changes to keep the same sound. The regular-looking form is wrong.
  3. Wrong: Treating arriesgar and apostar as identical in every context. — Right: Arriesgar means to risk, while apostar means to bet, the close verb. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: arriesgar fits sentences such as Arriesgo su dinero en la bolsa, while apostar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy arriesgado la vida por sus amigos. — Right: Yo he arriesgado la vida por sus amigos. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he arriesgado, has arriesgado, ha arriesgado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo arriesgué demasiado en el negocio todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo arriesgaba demasiado en el negocio todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (arriesgaba), not the preterite. The preterite (arriesgué) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on arriesgar: 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 ___ su dinero en la bolsa. (present tense) A. arriesgo B. arriesgas C. arriesga D. arriesgamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ la vida por sus amigos. (preterite tense) A. arriesgué B. arriesgaste C. arriesgamos D. arriesgó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ demasiado en el negocio. (future tense) A. arriesgará B. arriesgaremos C. arriesgarás D. arriesgaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ su reputación con esa decisión. (imperfect tense) A. arriesgabais B. arriesgábamos C. arriesgaba D. arriesgabas

  5. What does "Yo arriesgo su dinero en la bolsa." mean in English? A. I risk his money on the stock market. B. I risk his life for his friends. C. I risk too much on the business. D. I risk his reputation with that decision.

  6. What does "Él arriesgó la vida por sus amigos." mean in English? A. He/she risked his money on the stock market. B. He/she risked too much on the business. C. He/she risked his reputation with that decision. D. He/she risked his life for his friends.

  7. What does "Nosotros arriesgaremos demasiado en el negocio." mean in English? A. We will risk his life for his friends. B. We will risk his reputation with that decision. C. We will risk too much on the business. D. We will risk his money on the stock market.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo arriesgan la vida por sus amigos. B. Yo arriesga la vida por sus amigos. C. Yo arriesgo la vida por sus amigos.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él arriesgué demasiado en el negocio. B. Él arriesgó demasiado en el negocio. C. Él arriesgaron demasiado en el negocio.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo arriesgue su reputación con esa decisión. B. Yo arriesge su reputación con esa decisión. C. Yo arriesgue su reputación con esa decisión.

Answer key

  1. arriesgo — The yo present form of arriesgar is arriesgo.
  2. arriesgó — The el preterite form of arriesgar is arriesgó.
  3. arriesgarás — The tu future form of arriesgar is arriesgarás.
  4. arriesgábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of arriesgar is arriesgábamos.
  5. I risk his money on the stock market. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form arriesgo, so the English is "I risk his money on the stock market." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she risked his life for his friends. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form arriesgó, so the English is "He/she risked his life for his friends." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will risk too much on the business. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form arriesgaremos, so the English is "We will risk too much on the business." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo arriesgo la vida por sus amigos. — The correct sentence is "Yo arriesgo la vida por sus amigos." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él arriesgó demasiado en el negocio. — The correct sentence is "Él arriesgó demasiado en el negocio." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo arriesgue su reputación con esa decisión. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo arriesgue su reputación con esa decisión." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

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

Arriesgar means to risk. Arriesgar means to risk, and it is used for risking money on the stock market, risking your life for friends, risking too much on a business and risking your reputation. It is a spelling-change verb: the g becomes gu before e. A good first sentence to remember is Yo arriesgo su dinero en la bolsa. — "I risk his money on the stock market."

What is the difference between arriesgar and apostar?

Arriesgar means to risk, while apostar means to bet, the close verb. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use arriesgar when you mean to risk, as in Yo arriesgo la vida por sus amigos., and use apostar for to bet, the close verb.

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

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo arriesgué la vida por sus amigos.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo arriesgaba demasiado en el negocio.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he arriesgado la vida por sus amigos..

How do I practise arriesgar?

Start with the arriesgar conjugation page for the full tables, then the arriesgar in the present tense page for the tense in focus, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure. Spelling change: g becomes gu before e, so the preterite is arriesgué and the subjunctive is arriesgue. Arriesgarse, with the pronoun, means to take a risk yourself.

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