Bendecir Examples, Sentences and Quiz
Bendecir means “to bless”, and it is one of the verbs you will use every day in Spanish. Bendecir means to bless, and it is used for blessing a person, a house, food or a marriage. It follows the pattern of decir, with the present bendigo and the preterite bendije, though its participle is regular, bendecido. This page shows bendecir 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 bendigo a sus hijos antes de dormir.” — I bless his children before bedtime.
Bendecir in real example sentences
The twelve sentences below are grouped by how bendecir 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 bendecir in the present tense, which is how you will meet it most often: routines, facts, and things happening now.
“Bendigo a sus hijos antes de dormir.” — I bless his children before bedtime.
“¿Tú bendices la casa nueva de la familia?” — Do you bless the family's new house?
“Bendice la mesa antes de comer.” — He/she blesses the table before eating.
“Bendecimos a los novios en la boda.” — We bless the bride and groom at the wedding.
Talking about the past
The present is not the only tense you need. These sentences show bendecir in the past, so you can talk about what already happened.
“Ayer, yo bendije a sus hijos antes de dormir.” — Yesterday, I blessed his children before bedtime. (preterite)
“Él bendecía la casa nueva de la familia todos los días.” — He used to bless the family's new house 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 bendecir stays the same.
“Nosotros bendeciremos la mesa antes de comer mañana.” — We will bless the table before eating tomorrow. (future)
“¿Tú has bendecido a los novios en la boda?” — Have you blessed the bride and groom at the wedding? (present perfect)
More everyday uses
Four more present-tense sentences, covering the remaining persons, so you can see the whole table in action.
“Bendecís a sus hijos antes de dormir.” — You bless his children before bedtime.
“Bendicen la casa nueva de la familia.” — They bless the family's new house.
“Bendigo la mesa antes de comer.” — I bless the table before eating.
“Bendice a los novios en la boda.” — He/she blesses the bride and groom at the wedding.
Bendecir 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 bendecir appears naturally, without anyone stopping to think about conjugation.
A short dialogue
Lucía: “¿Tú bendices a sus hijos antes de dormir?” — Do you bless his children before bedtime?
Carlos: “Sí, yo bendigo a sus hijos antes de dormir.” — Yes, I bless his children before bedtime.
Lucía: “Nosotros bendecimos la casa nueva de la familia.” — We bless the family's new house.
Carlos: “Y ellos bendicen la mesa antes de comer.” — And they bless the table before eating.
Lucía: “Vosotros bendecís a los novios en la boda.” — You bless the bride and groom at the wedding.
Carlos: “Sí, y él bendice la casa nueva de la familia.” — Yes, and he blesses the family's new house.
A short paragraph
Lucía bendice a sus hijos antes de dormir, y Carlos bendice la casa nueva de la familia. Nosotros bendecimos la mesa antes de comer, y ellos bendicen a los novios en la boda. Yo bendigo la mesa antes de comer, y mi padre bendice a los novios en la boda. Bendecir is part of everyday life, because to bless is something Spanish speakers do again and again, in every tense and every situation.
Common mistakes with bendecir
These are the errors learners actually make with bendecir. Each one shows the wrong version, the right version, and why the correction matters.
Wrong: “Yo bendice a sus hijos antes de dormir.” Right: “Yo bendigo a sus hijos antes de dormir.” Why: The person matters: bendice is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is bendigo. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
Wrong: “Yo bendeco la casa nueva de la familia.” Right: “Yo bendigo la casa nueva de la familia.” Why: Bendecir is a stem-changing verb (e → i), so the stem changes in the present singular and third-person plural. The nosotros form keeps the original stem.
Wrong: “Treating bendecir and maldecir as identical in every context.” Right: “Bendecir means to bless, while maldecir means to curse.” Why: They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: bendecir fits sentences such as Bendigo a sus hijos antes de dormir, while maldecir belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
Wrong: “Yo soy bendecido la casa nueva de la familia.” Right: “Yo he bendecido la casa nueva de la familia.” Why: Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he bendecido, has bendecido, ha bendecido. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
Wrong: “De niño, yo bendije la mesa antes de comer todos los días.” Right: “De niño, yo bendecía la mesa antes de comer todos los días.” Why: For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (bendecía), not the preterite. The preterite (bendije) is for one finished action.
Quiz: bendecir in use
Ten questions on bendecir 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 sus hijos antes de dormir.” (His children before bedtime.)
- (a) bendecís
- (b) bendigo
- (c) bendices
Answer: bendecís — The vosotros/as form of bendecir in the present is bendecís.
2. Complete the sentence: “Ellos ______ la casa nueva de la familia.” (The family's new house.)
- (a) bendigo
- (b) bendices
- (c) bendicen
Answer: bendicen — The ellos/ellas/Uds. form of bendecir in the present is bendicen.
3. Complete the sentence: “Yo ______ a sus hijos antes de dormir.” (His children before bedtime.)
- (a) bendijo
- (b) bendije
- (c) bendijiste
Answer: bendije — The yo form of bendecir in the preterite is bendije.
4. Complete the sentence: “Él ______ la casa nueva de la familia.” (The family's new house.)
- (a) bendecía
- (b) bendecías
- (c) bendecíamos
Answer: bendecía — The él/ella/Ud. form of bendecir in the imperfect is bendecía.
5. Complete the sentence: “Nosotros ______ la mesa antes de comer.” (The table before eating.)
- (a) bendeciré
- (b) bendecirás
- (c) bendeciremos
Answer: bendeciremos — The nosotros/as form of bendecir in the future is bendeciremos.
6. What does bendecir mean in English?
- (a) to predict
- (b) to bless
- (c) to curse
Answer: to bless — Bendecir means “to bless”. The other options are the meanings of different verbs.
7. Which sentence is correct?
- (a) Yo bendigo a sus hijos antes de dormir.
- (b) Ellos bendice a sus hijos antes de dormir.
- (c) Yo bendigo la casa nueva de la familia ayer.
Answer: Yo bendigo a sus hijos antes de dormir. — “Yo bendigo a sus hijos antes de dormir.” is correct. The other two sentences contain the mistakes explained in the section above.
8. How do you say “I bless his children before bedtime.” in Spanish?
- (a) Yo bendicen a sus hijos antes de dormir.
- (b) Yo bendije a sus hijos antes de dormir.
- (c) Yo bendigo a sus hijos antes de dormir.
Answer: Yo bendigo a sus hijos antes de dormir. — “Yo bendigo a sus hijos antes de dormir.” 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 bendecir in the present tense?
- (a) bendices
- (b) bendecimos
- (c) bendigo
Answer: bendecimos — The nosotros form is bendecimos.
10. Which of these sentences is in the present tense?
- (a) Ayer, yo bendije a sus hijos antes de dormir.
- (b) Nosotros bendeciremos a sus hijos antes de dormir mañana.
- (c) Yo bendigo a sus hijos antes de dormir.
Answer: Yo bendigo a sus hijos antes de dormir. — “Yo bendigo a sus hijos antes de dormir.” is in the present tense. The other two are in the preterite and the future.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say 'I bless' in Spanish?
Say 'Yo bendigo a sus hijos antes de dormir'. The complement follows directly, as in the examples above. For a routine, add a time expression: 'Yo bendigo a sus hijos antes de dormir todos los días'.
How do you say 'I bless' in the past?
For one finished action, say 'Ayer, yo bendije la casa nueva de la familia'. For a repeated habit, say 'Yo bendecía la casa nueva de la familia todos los días'. For something already done, say 'Yo he bendecido la casa nueva de la familia'.
What is the difference between bendecir and maldecir?
Bendecir means to bless, while maldecir means to curse. They are easy to confuse because they appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use bendecir when you mean to bless, as in Bendigo a sus hijos antes de dormir.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of bendecir — every tense of bendecir in one place.
- Bendecir 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 bendecir and other verbs.
- Conjugation practice — drill the forms of bendecir until they are automatic.