Atacar Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish

The present tense of atacar — "to attack" in English — is the form you need for what happens now, for habits and for general truths. This page gives you the full present conjugation table for atacar with all six persons, explains exactly how the tense is formed for this verb, shows when to use it with real examples, and finishes with a quiz so you can test yourself. 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. To see it in a real sentence: Él ataca al enemigo al amanecer. — "He/she attacks the enemy at dawn." Work through the table below, then the formation notes, the usage rules and the contrast with the preterite, and test yourself at the end.

Present tense conjugation table: atacar

Every person of atacar in the present tense. The gerund is atacando and the past participle is atacado.

Present indicative

Person Form
yo ataco
tú atacas
él/ella/Ud. ataca
nosotros/as atacamos
vosotros/as atacáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. atacan

How the present indicative of atacar is formed

The present indicative of atacar is built from the stem atac- plus the present endings for -ar verbs. Take the infinitive, drop the -ar ending, and add the ending that matches the person. The table below shows the endings, and the full table above shows them attached to the stem.

Person Ending Form
yo -o ataco
tú -as atacas
él/ella/Ud. -a ataca
nosotros/as -amos atacamos
vosotros/as -áis atacáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. -an atacan

atacar is a spelling-change verb: c becomes qu before e. That is why the written form changes in some persons — the sound stays the same, and only the spelling adapts. In this tense, watch the first-person form ataco in particular.

The gerund of atacar is atacando and the past participle is atacado. Both are regular for this verb, and the participle is the form you need for all the perfect tenses with haber.

When to use the present tense of atacar

The present tense is not one single use — it covers several situations, and atacar appears in all of them. The five uses below are the ones you will meet most often, each with an example that shows the verb in a natural sentence.

Habits and routines

The present tense describes things you do regularly. If you do it every day, every week or every morning, the present is the tense to use. For atacar, this use looks like this: "Yo ataco al enemigo al amanecer." — "I attack the enemy at dawn." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

General facts

The present tense states facts that are generally true, not tied to one moment. It is the tense for definitions and permanent situations. For atacar, this use looks like this: "Él ataca la ciudad con artillería." — "He/she attacks the city with artillery." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

What is happening now

The present tense also covers what is happening at this moment, especially with verbs that describe an action in progress. For atacar, this use looks like this: "Nosotros atacamos al portero con un disparo." — "We attack the goalkeeper with a shot." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

Timetables and schedules

The present tense is used for fixed plans and timetables, such as trains, classes and opening times, even when they refer to the future. For atacar, this use looks like this: "Ellos atacan el problema de frente." — "They attack the problem head-on." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

Instructions and requests

The present tense appears in instructions and polite requests, where it sounds softer than a direct command. For atacar, this use looks like this: "Tú atacas al enemigo al amanecer." — "You attack the enemy at dawn." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

The present tense vs the preterite

Learners often mix up the present and the preterite with atacar. The rule is simple: the present is for habits, facts and what is happening now, while the preterite is for one finished action in the past. The three pairs below show the same idea in both tenses, so you can feel the difference.

Pair 1: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Yo ataco al enemigo al amanecer." — "I attack the enemy at dawn."
  • Preterite: "Yo ataqué al enemigo al amanecer." — "I attacked the enemy at dawn." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Pair 2: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Él ataca la ciudad con artillería." — "He/she attacks the city with artillery."
  • Preterite: "Él atacó la ciudad con artillería." — "He/she attacked the city with artillery." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Pair 3: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Nosotros atacamos al portero con un disparo." — "We attack the goalkeeper with a shot."
  • Preterite: "Nosotros atacamos al portero con un disparo." — "We attacked the goalkeeper with a shot." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Example sentences in the present tense

Eight natural sentences with atacar in the present tense only. Each one uses a form from the table above.

  1. Yo ataco al enemigo al amanecer. — I attack the enemy at dawn.
  2. Tú atacas la ciudad con artillería. — You attack the city with artillery.
  3. Él ataca al portero con un disparo. — He/she attacks the goalkeeper with a shot.
  4. Nosotros atacamos el problema de frente. — We attack the problem head-on.
  5. Vosotros atacáis al enemigo al amanecer. — You all attack the enemy at dawn.
  6. Ellos atacan la ciudad con artillería. — They attack the city with artillery.
  7. Yo ataco al portero con un disparo. — I attack the goalkeeper with a shot.
  8. Él ataca el problema de frente. — He/she attacks the problem head-on.

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Vosotros atacais la ciudad con artillería. — Right: Vosotros atacáis la ciudad con artillería. — The vosotros present form carries a written accent: atacáis, not atacais.
  2. Wrong: Ayer, yo ataco al portero con un disparo. — Right: Ayer, yo ataqué al portero con un disparo. — Ayer means yesterday, so it needs the preterite (ataqué), not the present (ataco). The present is for now, not for yesterday.
  3. 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.
  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. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.

Quiz: test yourself

Eight questions on the present tense of atacar. Choose the right form, then 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: Tú ___ la ciudad con artillería. (present tense) A. atacas B. ataco C. ataca D. atacamos

  3. Complete the sentence: Él ___ al portero con un disparo. (present tense) A. ataca B. ataco C. atacas D. atacamos

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ el problema de frente. (present tense) A. atacamos B. ataco C. atacas D. ataca

  5. Complete the sentence: Vosotros ___ al enemigo al amanecer. (present tense) A. atacáis B. ataco C. atacas D. ataca

  6. Complete the sentence: Ellos ___ la ciudad con artillería. (present tense) A. atacan B. ataco C. atacas D. ataca

  7. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ al portero con un disparo. (present tense) A. ataco B. atacas C. ataca D. atacamos

  8. Complete the sentence: Él ___ el problema de frente. (present tense) A. ataca B. ataco C. atacas D. atacamos

Answer key

  1. ataco — The yo present form of atacar is ataco. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  2. atacas — The tu present form of atacar is atacas. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  3. ataca — The el present form of atacar is ataca. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  4. atacamos — The nosotros present form of atacar is atacamos. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  5. atacáis — The vosotros present form of atacar is atacáis. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  6. atacan — The ellos present form of atacar is atacan. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  7. ataco — The yo present form of atacar is ataco. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  8. ataca — The el present form of atacar is ataca. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.

Frequently asked questions

When do I use the present tense of atacar?

Use the present tense of atacar for habits, facts and what is happening now. For example: Yo ataco al enemigo al amanecer. — "I attack the enemy at dawn." The usage rules above give five situations with examples.

How is the present tense of atacar formed?

Take the stem atac- and add the present endings for -ar verbs. The full table is at the top of this page. Remember the spelling change: c becomes qu before e.

What is the difference between the present and the preterite of atacar?

The present describes a habit or a present fact, while the preterite describes a finished action. Compare Yo ataco la ciudad con artillería. with Yo ataqué la ciudad con artillería. — the verb is the same, but the time meaning changes.

How do I practise the present tense of atacar?

Drill the six forms in the table above until you can say them without looking, then use the atacar examples and quiz page for more sentences, and test yourself with the Atacar conjugation page for the full picture across all tenses.

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