Bautizar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

bautizar means to baptise, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Bautizar means to baptise, and it is used for baptising a child in church, naming a child after a grandfather and, figuratively, naming a boat in the harbour. It is a spelling-change verb: the z becomes c before e, so the preterite is bauticé. This page puts bautizar 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 bautizar, and the full tables are on the bautizar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo bautizo al niño en la iglesia. — I baptise the child in church.
  2. Él bautiza con el nombre de su abuelo. — He/she baptises with his grandfather's name.
  3. Ayer, yo bauticé el barco en el puerto. — Yesterday, I baptised the boat in the harbour.
  4. Antes, nosotros bautizábamos a su hija en primavera. — Before, we used to baptise his daughter in spring.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú bautizarás al niño en la iglesia. — Tomorrow, you will baptise the child in church.
  2. Yo bautizaría con el nombre de su abuelo. — I would baptise with his grandfather's name.
  3. Él ha bautizado el barco en el puerto. — He/she has baptised the boat in the harbour.
  4. Espero que él bautice a su hija en primavera. — I hope he/she baptises his daughter in spring.

With other people

  1. Nosotros bautizamos al niño en la iglesia. — We baptise the child in church.
  2. Vosotros bautizáis con el nombre de su abuelo. — You all baptise with his grandfather's name.
  3. Antes, ellos bautizaban el barco en el puerto. — Before, they used to baptise the boat in the harbour.
  4. Mañana, él bautizará a su hija en primavera. — Tomorrow, he/she will baptise his daughter in spring.

Bautizar in context

Two short dialogues that use bautizar 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 bautizo al niño en la iglesia." — "Today I baptise the child in church."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, bauticé el barco en el puerto." — "Yesterday I baptised the boat in the harbour."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú bautizarás con el nombre de su abuelo?" — "And tomorrow, will you will baptise with his grandfather's name?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros bautizamos a su hija en primavera." — "Tomorrow we baptise his daughter in spring."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo bautizaría con el nombre de su abuelo si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would baptise with his grandfather's name if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él bautice al niño en la iglesia." — "I hope he baptises the child in church."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha bautizado el barco en el puerto." — "Surely. He has already has baptised the boat in the harbour."
  • 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 bautiza al niño en la iglesia. — Right: Yo bautizo al niño en la iglesia. — The person matters: bautiza is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is bautizo. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Yo bautizé con el nombre de su abuelo. — Right: Yo bauticé con el nombre de su abuelo. — In the preterite, the correct first-person form is bauticé, not bautizé. bautizar 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 bautizar and nombrar as identical in every context. — Right: Bautizar means to baptise, while nombrar means to name, for the naming sense. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: bautizar fits sentences such as Bautizo al niño en la iglesia, while nombrar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy bautizado con el nombre de su abuelo. — Right: Yo he bautizado con el nombre de su abuelo. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he bautizado, has bautizado, ha bautizado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo bauticé el barco en el puerto todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo bautizaba el barco en el puerto todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (bautizaba), not the preterite. The preterite (bauticé) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on bautizar: 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 niño en la iglesia. (present tense) A. bautizo B. bautizas C. bautiza D. bautizamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ con el nombre de su abuelo. (preterite tense) A. bauticé B. bautizaste C. bautizamos D. bautizó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ el barco en el puerto. (future tense) A. bautizará B. bautizaremos C. bautizarás D. bautizaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ a su hija en primavera. (imperfect tense) A. bautizabais B. bautizábamos C. bautizaba D. bautizabas

  5. What does "Yo bautizo al niño en la iglesia." mean in English? A. I baptise the child in church. B. I baptise with his grandfather's name. C. I baptise the boat in the harbour. D. I baptise his daughter in spring.

  6. What does "Él bautizó con el nombre de su abuelo." mean in English? A. He/she baptised the child in church. B. He/she baptised the boat in the harbour. C. He/she baptised his daughter in spring. D. He/she baptised with his grandfather's name.

  7. What does "Nosotros bautizaremos el barco en el puerto." mean in English? A. We will baptise with his grandfather's name. B. We will baptise his daughter in spring. C. We will baptise the boat in the harbour. D. We will baptise the child in church.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo bautizan con el nombre de su abuelo. B. Yo bautiza con el nombre de su abuelo. C. Yo bautizo con el nombre de su abuelo.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él bauticé el barco en el puerto. B. Él bautizó el barco en el puerto. C. Él bautizaron el barco en el puerto.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo bautice a su hija en primavera. B. Yo bautize a su hija en primavera. C. Yo bautice a su hija en primavera.

Answer key

  1. bautizo — The yo present form of bautizar is bautizo.
  2. bautizó — The el preterite form of bautizar is bautizó.
  3. bautizarás — The tu future form of bautizar is bautizarás.
  4. bautizábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of bautizar is bautizábamos.
  5. I baptise the child in church. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form bautizo, so the English is "I baptise the child in church." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she baptised with his grandfather's name. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form bautizó, so the English is "He/she baptised with his grandfather's name." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will baptise the boat in the harbour. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form bautizaremos, so the English is "We will baptise the boat in the harbour." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo bautizo con el nombre de su abuelo. — The correct sentence is "Yo bautizo con el nombre de su abuelo." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él bautizó el barco en el puerto. — The correct sentence is "Él bautizó el barco en el puerto." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo bautice a su hija en primavera. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo bautice a su hija en primavera." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

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

Bautizar means to baptise. Bautizar means to baptise, and it is used for baptising a child in church, naming a child after a grandfather and, figuratively, naming a boat in the harbour. It is a spelling-change verb: the z becomes c before e, so the preterite is bauticé. A good first sentence to remember is Yo bautizo al niño en la iglesia. — "I baptise the child in church."

What is the difference between bautizar and nombrar?

Bautizar means to baptise, while nombrar means to name, for the naming sense. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use bautizar when you mean to baptise, as in Yo bautizo con el nombre de su abuelo., and use nombrar for to name, for the naming sense.

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

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo bauticé con el nombre de su abuelo.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo bautizaba el barco en el puerto.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he bautizado con el nombre de su abuelo..

How do I practise bautizar?

Start with the bautizar conjugation page for the full tables, then the bautizar 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 bauticé and the subjunctive is bautice.

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