Atacar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

atacar means to attack, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Atacar means to attack, and it covers attacking an enemy, a city, a goalkeeper with a shot and, figuratively, attacking a problem head-on. It is the opposite of defender, and it is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e. This page puts atacar 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 atacar, and the full tables are on the atacar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo ataco al enemigo al amanecer. — I attack the enemy at dawn.
  2. Él ataca la ciudad con artillería. — He/she attacks the city with artillery.
  3. Ayer, yo ataqué al portero con un disparo. — Yesterday, I attacked the goalkeeper with a shot.
  4. Antes, nosotros atacábamos el problema de frente. — Before, we used to attack the problem head-on.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú atacarás al enemigo al amanecer. — Tomorrow, you will attack the enemy at dawn.
  2. Yo atacaría la ciudad con artillería. — I would attack the city with artillery.
  3. Él ha atacado al portero con un disparo. — He/she has attacked the goalkeeper with a shot.
  4. Espero que él ataque el problema de frente. — I hope he/she attacks the problem head-on.

With other people

  1. Nosotros atacamos al enemigo al amanecer. — We attack the enemy at dawn.
  2. Vosotros atacáis la ciudad con artillería. — You all attack the city with artillery.
  3. Antes, ellos atacaban al portero con un disparo. — Before, they used to attack the goalkeeper with a shot.
  4. Mañana, él atacará el problema de frente. — Tomorrow, he/she will attack the problem head-on.

Atacar in context

Two short dialogues that use atacar 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 ataco al enemigo al amanecer." — "Today I attack the enemy at dawn."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, ataqué al portero con un disparo." — "Yesterday I attacked the goalkeeper with a shot."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú atacarás la ciudad con artillería?" — "And tomorrow, will you will attack the city with artillery?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros atacamos el problema de frente." — "Tomorrow we attack the problem head-on."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo atacaría la ciudad con artillería si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would attack the city with artillery if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él ataque al enemigo al amanecer." — "I hope he attacks the enemy at dawn."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha atacado al portero con un disparo." — "Surely. He has already has attacked the goalkeeper with a shot."
  • 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 ataca al enemigo al amanecer. — Right: Yo ataco al enemigo al amanecer. — The person matters: ataca is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is ataco. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Yo atacé la ciudad con artillería. — Right: Yo ataqué la ciudad con artillería. — In the preterite, the correct first-person form is ataqué, not atacé. atacar is a spelling-change verb: c becomes qu before e, so the written form changes to keep the same sound. The regular-looking form is wrong.
  3. Wrong: Treating atacar and defender as identical in every context. — Right: Atacar means to attack, while defender means to defend, its opposite. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: atacar fits sentences such as Ataco al enemigo al amanecer, while defender belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy atacado la ciudad con artillería. — Right: Yo he atacado la ciudad con artillería. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he atacado, has atacado, ha atacado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo ataqué al portero con un disparo todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo atacaba al portero con un disparo todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (atacaba), not the preterite. The preterite (ataqué) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on atacar: 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 enemigo al amanecer. (present tense) A. ataco B. atacas C. ataca D. atacamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ la ciudad con artillería. (preterite tense) A. ataqué B. atacaste C. atacamos D. atacó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ al portero con un disparo. (future tense) A. atacará B. atacaremos C. atacarás D. atacaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ el problema de frente. (imperfect tense) A. atacabais B. atacábamos C. atacaba D. atacabas

  5. What does "Yo ataco al enemigo al amanecer." mean in English? A. I attack the enemy at dawn. B. I attack the city with artillery. C. I attack the goalkeeper with a shot. D. I attack the problem head-on.

  6. What does "Él atacó la ciudad con artillería." mean in English? A. He/she attacked the enemy at dawn. B. He/she attacked the goalkeeper with a shot. C. He/she attacked the problem head-on. D. He/she attacked the city with artillery.

  7. What does "Nosotros atacaremos al portero con un disparo." mean in English? A. We will attack the city with artillery. B. We will attack the problem head-on. C. We will attack the goalkeeper with a shot. D. We will attack the enemy at dawn.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo atacan la ciudad con artillería. B. Yo ataca la ciudad con artillería. C. Yo ataco la ciudad con artillería.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él ataqué al portero con un disparo. B. Él atacó al portero con un disparo. C. Él atacaron al portero con un disparo.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo ataque el problema de frente. B. Yo atace el problema de frente. C. Yo ataque el problema de frente.

Answer key

  1. ataco — The yo present form of atacar is ataco.
  2. atacó — The el preterite form of atacar is atacó.
  3. atacarás — The tu future form of atacar is atacarás.
  4. atacábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of atacar is atacábamos.
  5. I attack the enemy at dawn. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form ataco, so the English is "I attack the enemy at dawn." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she attacked the city with artillery. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form atacó, so the English is "He/she attacked the city with artillery." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will attack the goalkeeper with a shot. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form atacaremos, so the English is "We will attack the goalkeeper with a shot." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo ataco la ciudad con artillería. — The correct sentence is "Yo ataco la ciudad con artillería." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él atacó al portero con un disparo. — The correct sentence is "Él atacó al portero con un disparo." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo ataque el problema de frente. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo ataque el problema de frente." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

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

Atacar means to attack. Atacar means to attack, and it covers attacking an enemy, a city, a goalkeeper with a shot and, figuratively, attacking a problem head-on. It is the opposite of defender, and it is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e. A good first sentence to remember is Yo ataco al enemigo al amanecer. — "I attack the enemy at dawn."

What is the difference between atacar and defender?

Atacar means to attack, while defender means to defend, its opposite. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use atacar when you mean to attack, as in Yo ataco la ciudad con artillería., and use defender for to defend, its opposite.

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

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo ataqué la ciudad con artillería.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo atacaba al portero con un disparo.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he atacado la ciudad con artillería..

How do I practise atacar?

Start with the atacar conjugation page for the full tables, then the atacar in the present tense page for the tense in focus, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure. Spelling change: c becomes qu before e, so the preterite is ataqué and the subjunctive is ataque. Atacar de frente is to attack head-on.

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