Avisar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

avisar means to warn, to notify, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Avisar means to warn or to notify, and it covers telling someone about a meeting, a water cut or a change of plan in advance. It takes de for the thing warned about, and it is a fully regular -ar verb. It is lighter than advertir, which warns of danger. This page puts avisar 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 avisar, and the full tables are on the avisar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo aviso a María de la reunión. — I notify María about the meeting.
  2. Él avisa al médico del dolor. — He/she notifies the doctor about the pain.
  3. Ayer, yo avisé a los vecinos del corte de agua. — Yesterday, I notified the neighbours about the water cut.
  4. Antes, nosotros avisábamos con tiempo antes de salir. — Before, we used to notify in good time before leaving.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú avisarás a María de la reunión. — Tomorrow, you will notify María about the meeting.
  2. Yo avisaría al médico del dolor. — I would notify the doctor about the pain.
  3. Él ha avisado a los vecinos del corte de agua. — He/she has notified the neighbours about the water cut.
  4. Espero que él avise con tiempo antes de salir. — I hope he/she notifies in good time before leaving.

With other people

  1. Nosotros avisamos a María de la reunión. — We notify María about the meeting.
  2. Vosotros avisáis al médico del dolor. — You all notify the doctor about the pain.
  3. Antes, ellos avisaban a los vecinos del corte de agua. — Before, they used to notify the neighbours about the water cut.
  4. Mañana, él avisará con tiempo antes de salir. — Tomorrow, he/she will notify in good time before leaving.

Avisar in context

Two short dialogues that use avisar 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 aviso a María de la reunión." — "Today I notify María about the meeting."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, avisé a los vecinos del corte de agua." — "Yesterday I notified the neighbours about the water cut."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú avisarás al médico del dolor?" — "And tomorrow, will you will notify the doctor about the pain?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros avisamos con tiempo antes de salir." — "Tomorrow we notify in good time before leaving."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo avisaría al médico del dolor si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would notify the doctor about the pain if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él avise a María de la reunión." — "I hope he notifies María about the meeting."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha avisado a los vecinos del corte de agua." — "Surely. He has already has notified the neighbours about the water cut."
  • 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 avisa a María de la reunión. — Right: Yo aviso a María de la reunión. — The person matters: avisa is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is aviso. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Vosotros avisais al médico del dolor. — Right: Vosotros avisáis al médico del dolor. — The vosotros present form carries a written accent: avisáis, not avisais. The accent marks the stressed vowel.
  3. Wrong: Treating avisar and advertir as identical in every context. — Right: Avisar means to warn, to notify, while advertir means to warn about a danger. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: avisar fits sentences such as Aviso a María de la reunión, while advertir belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy avisado al médico del dolor. — Right: Yo he avisado al médico del dolor. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he avisado, has avisado, ha avisado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo avisé a los vecinos del corte de agua todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo avisaba a los vecinos del corte de agua todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (avisaba), not the preterite. The preterite (avisé) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on avisar: 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 ___ a María de la reunión. (present tense) A. aviso B. avisas C. avisa D. avisamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ al médico del dolor. (preterite tense) A. avisé B. avisaste C. avisamos D. avisó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ a los vecinos del corte de agua. (future tense) A. avisará B. avisaremos C. avisarás D. avisaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ con tiempo antes de salir. (imperfect tense) A. avisabais B. avisábamos C. avisaba D. avisabas

  5. What does "Yo aviso a María de la reunión." mean in English? A. I notify María about the meeting. B. I notify the doctor about the pain. C. I notify the neighbours about the water cut. D. I notify in good time before leaving.

  6. What does "Él avisó al médico del dolor." mean in English? A. He/she notified María about the meeting. B. He/she notified the neighbours about the water cut. C. He/she notified in good time before leaving. D. He/she notified the doctor about the pain.

  7. What does "Nosotros avisaremos a los vecinos del corte de agua." mean in English? A. We will notify the doctor about the pain. B. We will notify in good time before leaving. C. We will notify the neighbours about the water cut. D. We will notify María about the meeting.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo avisan al médico del dolor. B. Yo avisa al médico del dolor. C. Yo aviso al médico del dolor.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él avisé a los vecinos del corte de agua. B. Él avisó a los vecinos del corte de agua. C. Él avisaron a los vecinos del corte de agua.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo avise con tiempo antes de salir. B. Yo avisen con tiempo antes de salir. C. Yo avise con tiempo antes de salir.

Answer key

  1. aviso — The yo present form of avisar is aviso.
  2. avisó — The el preterite form of avisar is avisó.
  3. avisarás — The tu future form of avisar is avisarás.
  4. avisábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of avisar is avisábamos.
  5. I notify María about the meeting. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form aviso, so the English is "I notify María about the meeting." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she notified the doctor about the pain. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form avisó, so the English is "He/she notified the doctor about the pain." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will notify the neighbours about the water cut. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form avisaremos, so the English is "We will notify the neighbours about the water cut." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo aviso al médico del dolor. — The correct sentence is "Yo aviso al médico del dolor." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él avisó a los vecinos del corte de agua. — The correct sentence is "Él avisó a los vecinos del corte de agua." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo avise con tiempo antes de salir. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo avise con tiempo antes de salir." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

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

Avisar means to warn, to notify. Avisar means to warn or to notify, and it covers telling someone about a meeting, a water cut or a change of plan in advance. It takes de for the thing warned about, and it is a fully regular -ar verb. It is lighter than advertir, which warns of danger. A good first sentence to remember is Yo aviso a María de la reunión. — "I notify María about the meeting."

What is the difference between avisar and advertir?

Avisar means to warn, to notify, while advertir means to warn about a danger. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use avisar when you mean to warn, to notify, as in Yo aviso al médico del dolor., and use advertir for to warn about a danger.

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

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo avisé al médico del dolor.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo avisaba a los vecinos del corte de agua.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he avisado al médico del dolor..

How do I practise avisar?

Start with the avisar conjugation page for the full tables, then the avisar in the present tense page for the tense in focus, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure. Avisar is fully regular: avisé, avisaba, avisaré. Avisar de algo is to give advance warning about it.

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