Avanzar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

avanzar means to advance, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Avanzar means to advance, and it is used for advancing towards a goal with the ball, advancing on a project every week, traffic advancing slowly and advancing in your Spanish studies. It is a spelling-change verb: the z becomes c before e, so the preterite is avancé. This page puts avanzar 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 avanzar, and the full tables are on the avanzar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo avanzo hacia la meta con el balón. — I advance towards the goal with the ball.
  2. Él avanza en el proyecto cada semana. — He/she advances on the project every week.
  3. Ayer, yo avancé lento por el tráfico. — Yesterday, I advanced slowly because of the traffic.
  4. Antes, nosotros avanzábamos en sus estudios de español. — Before, we used to advance in his Spanish studies.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú avanzarás hacia la meta con el balón. — Tomorrow, you will advance towards the goal with the ball.
  2. Yo avanzaría en el proyecto cada semana. — I would advance on the project every week.
  3. Él ha avanzado lento por el tráfico. — He/she has advanced slowly because of the traffic.
  4. Espero que él avance en sus estudios de español. — I hope he/she advances in his Spanish studies.

With other people

  1. Nosotros avanzamos hacia la meta con el balón. — We advance towards the goal with the ball.
  2. Vosotros avanzáis en el proyecto cada semana. — You all advance on the project every week.
  3. Antes, ellos avanzaban lento por el tráfico. — Before, they used to advance slowly because of the traffic.
  4. Mañana, él avanzará en sus estudios de español. — Tomorrow, he/she will advance in his Spanish studies.

Avanzar in context

Two short dialogues that use avanzar 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 avanzo hacia la meta con el balón." — "Today I advance towards the goal with the ball."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, avancé lento por el tráfico." — "Yesterday I advanced slowly because of the traffic."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú avanzarás en el proyecto cada semana?" — "And tomorrow, will you will advance on the project every week?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros avanzamos en sus estudios de español." — "Tomorrow we advance in his Spanish studies."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo avanzaría en el proyecto cada semana si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would advance on the project every week if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él avance hacia la meta con el balón." — "I hope he advances towards the goal with the ball."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha avanzado lento por el tráfico." — "Surely. He has already has advanced slowly because of the traffic."
  • 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 avanza hacia la meta con el balón. — Right: Yo avanzo hacia la meta con el balón. — The person matters: avanza is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is avanzo. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Yo avanzé en el proyecto cada semana. — Right: Yo avancé en el proyecto cada semana. — In the preterite, the correct first-person form is avancé, not avanzé. avanzar is a spelling-change verb: z becomes c before e, so the written form changes to keep the same sound. The regular-looking form is wrong.
  3. Wrong: Treating avanzar and progresar as identical in every context. — Right: Avanzar means to advance, while progresar means to progress, the formal synonym. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: avanzar fits sentences such as Avanzo hacia la meta con el balón, while progresar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy avanzado en el proyecto cada semana. — Right: Yo he avanzado en el proyecto cada semana. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he avanzado, has avanzado, ha avanzado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo avancé lento por el tráfico todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo avanzaba lento por el tráfico todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (avanzaba), not the preterite. The preterite (avancé) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on avanzar: 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 ___ hacia la meta con el balón. (present tense) A. avanzo B. avanzas C. avanza D. avanzamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ en el proyecto cada semana. (preterite tense) A. avancé B. avanzaste C. avanzamos D. avanzó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ lento por el tráfico. (future tense) A. avanzará B. avanzaremos C. avanzarás D. avanzaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ en sus estudios de español. (imperfect tense) A. avanzabais B. avanzábamos C. avanzaba D. avanzabas

  5. What does "Yo avanzo hacia la meta con el balón." mean in English? A. I advance towards the goal with the ball. B. I advance on the project every week. C. I advance slowly because of the traffic. D. I advance in his Spanish studies.

  6. What does "Él avanzó en el proyecto cada semana." mean in English? A. He/she advanced towards the goal with the ball. B. He/she advanced slowly because of the traffic. C. He/she advanced in his Spanish studies. D. He/she advanced on the project every week.

  7. What does "Nosotros avanzaremos lento por el tráfico." mean in English? A. We will advance on the project every week. B. We will advance in his Spanish studies. C. We will advance slowly because of the traffic. D. We will advance towards the goal with the ball.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo avanzan en el proyecto cada semana. B. Yo avanza en el proyecto cada semana. C. Yo avanzo en el proyecto cada semana.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él avancé lento por el tráfico. B. Él avanzó lento por el tráfico. C. Él avanzaron lento por el tráfico.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo avance en sus estudios de español. B. Yo avanze en sus estudios de español. C. Yo avance en sus estudios de español.

Answer key

  1. avanzo — The yo present form of avanzar is avanzo.
  2. avanzó — The el preterite form of avanzar is avanzó.
  3. avanzarás — The tu future form of avanzar is avanzarás.
  4. avanzábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of avanzar is avanzábamos.
  5. I advance towards the goal with the ball. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form avanzo, so the English is "I advance towards the goal with the ball." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she advanced on the project every week. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form avanzó, so the English is "He/she advanced on the project every week." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will advance slowly because of the traffic. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form avanzaremos, so the English is "We will advance slowly because of the traffic." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo avanzo en el proyecto cada semana. — The correct sentence is "Yo avanzo en el proyecto cada semana." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él avanzó lento por el tráfico. — The correct sentence is "Él avanzó lento por el tráfico." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo avance en sus estudios de español. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo avance en sus estudios de español." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

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

Avanzar means to advance. Avanzar means to advance, and it is used for advancing towards a goal with the ball, advancing on a project every week, traffic advancing slowly and advancing in your Spanish studies. It is a spelling-change verb: the z becomes c before e, so the preterite is avancé. A good first sentence to remember is Yo avanzo hacia la meta con el balón. — "I advance towards the goal with the ball."

What is the difference between avanzar and progresar?

Avanzar means to advance, while progresar means to progress, the formal synonym. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use avanzar when you mean to advance, as in Yo avanzo en el proyecto cada semana., and use progresar for to progress, the formal synonym.

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

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo avancé en el proyecto cada semana.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo avanzaba lento por el tráfico.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he avanzado en el proyecto cada semana..

How do I practise avanzar?

Start with the avanzar conjugation page for the full tables, then the avanzar in the present tense page for the tense in focus, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure. Spelling change: z becomes c before e, so the preterite is avancé and the subjunctive is avance.

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