Atraer Examples, Sentences and Quiz
Atraer means “to attract”, and it is one of the verbs you will use every day in Spanish. Atraer means to attract, and it is used for attracting tourists, attracting attention and a magnet attracting metal. It follows the pattern of traer, with the present atraigo, the preterite atraje, the gerund atrayendo and the participle atraído. This page shows atraer 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 atraigo a muchos turistas en verano.” — I attract many tourists in summer.
Atraer in real example sentences
The twelve sentences below are grouped by how atraer 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 atraer in the present tense, which is how you will meet it most often: routines, facts, and things happening now.
“Atraigo a muchos turistas en verano.” — I attract many tourists in summer.
“¿Tú atraes la atención de todos?” — Do you attract everyone's attention?
“Atrae a los clientes con ofertas.” — He/she attracts customers with offers.
“Atraemos a los jóvenes con música.” — We attract young people with music.
Talking about the past
The present is not the only tense you need. These sentences show atraer in the past, so you can talk about what already happened.
“Ayer, yo atraje a muchos turistas en verano.” — Yesterday, I attracted many tourists in summer. (preterite)
“Él atraía la atención de todos todos los días.” — He used to attract everyone's attention 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 atraer stays the same.
“Nosotros atraeremos a los clientes con ofertas mañana.” — We will attract customers with offers tomorrow. (future)
“¿Tú has atraído a los jóvenes con música?” — Have you attracted young people with music? (present perfect)
More everyday uses
Four more present-tense sentences, covering the remaining persons, so you can see the whole table in action.
“Atraéis a muchos turistas en verano.” — You attract many tourists in summer.
“Atraen la atención de todos.” — They attract everyone's attention.
“Atraigo a los clientes con ofertas.” — I attract customers with offers.
“Atrae a los jóvenes con música.” — He/she attracts young people with music.
Atraer 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 atraer appears naturally, without anyone stopping to think about conjugation.
A short dialogue
Lucía: “¿Tú atraes a muchos turistas en verano?” — Do you attract many tourists in summer?
Carlos: “Sí, yo atraigo a muchos turistas en verano.” — Yes, I attract many tourists in summer.
Lucía: “Nosotros atraemos la atención de todos.” — We attract everyone's attention.
Carlos: “Y ellos atraen a los clientes con ofertas.” — And they attract customers with offers.
Lucía: “Vosotros atraéis a los jóvenes con música.” — You attract young people with music.
Carlos: “Sí, y él atrae la atención de todos.” — Yes, and he attracts everyone's attention.
A short paragraph
Lucía atrae a muchos turistas en verano, y Carlos atrae la atención de todos. Nosotros atraemos a los clientes con ofertas, y ellos atraen a los jóvenes con música. Yo atraigo a los clientes con ofertas, y mi padre atrae a los jóvenes con música. Atraer is part of everyday life, because to attract is something Spanish speakers do again and again, in every tense and every situation.
Common mistakes with atraer
These are the errors learners actually make with atraer. Each one shows the wrong version, the right version, and why the correction matters.
Wrong: “Yo atrae a muchos turistas en verano.” Right: “Yo atraigo a muchos turistas en verano.” Why: The person matters: atrae is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is atraigo. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
Wrong: “Ayer yo atraí la atención de todos.” Right: “Ayer yo atraje la atención de todos.” Why: Atraer has an irregular preterite: the correct first-person form is atraje, not the regular atraí. Learn the preterite forms in the table as a set.
Wrong: “Treating atraer and repeler as identical in every context.” Right: “Atraer means to attract, while repeler means to repel.” Why: They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: atraer fits sentences such as Atraigo a muchos turistas en verano, while repeler belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
Wrong: “Yo soy atraído la atención de todos.” Right: “Yo he atraído la atención de todos.” Why: Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he atraído, has atraído, ha atraído. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
Wrong: “De niño, yo atraje a los clientes con ofertas todos los días.” Right: “De niño, yo atraía a los clientes con ofertas todos los días.” Why: For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (atraía), not the preterite. The preterite (atraje) is for one finished action.
Quiz: atraer in use
Ten questions on atraer 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 muchos turistas en verano.” (Many tourists in summer.)
- (a) atraéis
- (b) atraigo
- (c) atraes
Answer: atraéis — The vosotros/as form of atraer in the present is atraéis.
2. Complete the sentence: “Ellos ______ la atención de todos.” (Everyone's attention.)
- (a) atraigo
- (b) atraes
- (c) atraen
Answer: atraen — The ellos/ellas/Uds. form of atraer in the present is atraen.
3. Complete the sentence: “Yo ______ a muchos turistas en verano.” (Many tourists in summer.)
- (a) atrajo
- (b) atraje
- (c) atrajiste
Answer: atraje — The yo form of atraer in the preterite is atraje.
4. Complete the sentence: “Él ______ la atención de todos.” (Everyone's attention.)
- (a) atraía
- (b) atraías
- (c) atraíamos
Answer: atraía — The él/ella/Ud. form of atraer in the imperfect is atraía.
5. Complete the sentence: “Nosotros ______ a los clientes con ofertas.” (Customers with offers.)
- (a) atraeré
- (b) atraerás
- (c) atraeremos
Answer: atraeremos — The nosotros/as form of atraer in the future is atraeremos.
6. What does atraer mean in English?
- (a) to contract (a debt, a disease)
- (b) to attract
- (c) to repel
Answer: to attract — Atraer means “to attract”. The other options are the meanings of different verbs.
7. Which sentence is correct?
- (a) Yo atraigo a muchos turistas en verano.
- (b) Ellos atrae a muchos turistas en verano.
- (c) Yo atraigo la atención de todos ayer.
Answer: Yo atraigo a muchos turistas en verano. — “Yo atraigo a muchos turistas en verano.” is correct. The other two sentences contain the mistakes explained in the section above.
8. How do you say “I attract many tourists in summer.” in Spanish?
- (a) Yo atraen a muchos turistas en verano.
- (b) Yo atraje a muchos turistas en verano.
- (c) Yo atraigo a muchos turistas en verano.
Answer: Yo atraigo a muchos turistas en verano. — “Yo atraigo a muchos turistas en verano.” 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 atraer in the present tense?
- (a) atraes
- (b) atraemos
- (c) atraigo
Answer: atraemos — The nosotros form is atraemos.
10. Which of these sentences is in the present tense?
- (a) Ayer, yo atraje a muchos turistas en verano.
- (b) Nosotros atraeremos a muchos turistas en verano mañana.
- (c) Yo atraigo a muchos turistas en verano.
Answer: Yo atraigo a muchos turistas en verano. — “Yo atraigo a muchos turistas en verano.” is in the present tense. The other two are in the preterite and the future.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say 'I attract' in Spanish?
Say 'Yo atraigo a muchos turistas en verano'. The complement follows directly, as in the examples above. For a routine, add a time expression: 'Yo atraigo a muchos turistas en verano todos los días'.
How do you say 'I attract' in the past?
For one finished action, say 'Ayer, yo atraje la atención de todos'. For a repeated habit, say 'Yo atraía la atención de todos todos los días'. For something already done, say 'Yo he atraído la atención de todos'.
What is the difference between atraer and repeler?
Atraer means to attract, while repeler means to repel. They are easy to confuse because they appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use atraer when you mean to attract, as in Atraigo a muchos turistas en verano.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of atraer — every tense of atraer in one place.
- Atraer in the preterite 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 atraer and other verbs.
- Conjugation practice — drill the forms of atraer until they are automatic.