Besar Examples, Sentences and Quiz
Besar means “to kiss”, and it is one of the verbs you will use every day in Spanish. Besar means to kiss, and it is used for kissing family, a partner or a friend on the cheek, as well as in expressions such as besar la mano. It takes the person kissed as its direct object, with no preposition, and it is fully regular, so the forms are the easy part — the social context does the work. This page shows besar 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 beso a su madre en la mejilla.” — I kiss his mother on the cheek.
Besar in real example sentences
The twelve sentences below are grouped by how besar 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 besar in the present tense, which is how you will meet it most often: routines, facts, and things happening now.
“Beso a su madre en la mejilla.” — I kiss his mother on the cheek.
“¿Tú besas a los niños antes de dormir?” — Do you kiss the children before bedtime?
“Besa en la frente con cariño.” — He/she kisses on the forehead with love.
“Besamos a su novia al despedirse.” — We kiss his girlfriend as they say goodbye.
Talking about the past
The present is not the only tense you need. These sentences show besar in the past, so you can talk about what already happened.
“Ayer, yo besé a su madre en la mejilla.” — Yesterday, I kissed his mother on the cheek. (preterite)
“Él besaba a los niños antes de dormir todos los días.” — He used to kiss the children before bedtime 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 besar stays the same.
“Nosotros besaremos en la frente con cariño mañana.” — We will kiss on the forehead with love tomorrow. (future)
“¿Tú has besado a su novia al despedirse?” — Have you kissed his girlfriend as they say goodbye? (present perfect)
More everyday uses
Four more present-tense sentences, covering the remaining persons, so you can see the whole table in action.
“Besáis a su madre en la mejilla.” — You kiss his mother on the cheek.
“Besan a los niños antes de dormir.” — They kiss the children before bedtime.
“Beso en la frente con cariño.” — I kiss on the forehead with love.
“Besa a su novia al despedirse.” — He/she kisses his girlfriend as they say goodbye.
Besar 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 besar appears naturally, without anyone stopping to think about conjugation.
A short dialogue
Lucía: “¿Tú besas a su madre en la mejilla?” — Do you kiss his mother on the cheek?
Carlos: “Sí, yo beso a su madre en la mejilla.” — Yes, I kiss his mother on the cheek.
Lucía: “Nosotros besamos a los niños antes de dormir.” — We kiss the children before bedtime.
Carlos: “Y ellos besan en la frente con cariño.” — And they kiss on the forehead with love.
Lucía: “Vosotros besáis a su novia al despedirse.” — You kiss his girlfriend as they say goodbye.
Carlos: “Sí, y él besa a los niños antes de dormir.” — Yes, and he kisses the children before bedtime.
A short paragraph
Lucía besa a su madre en la mejilla, y Carlos besa a los niños antes de dormir. Nosotros besamos en la frente con cariño, y ellos besan a su novia al despedirse. Yo beso en la frente con cariño, y mi padre besa a su novia al despedirse. Besar is part of everyday life, because to kiss is something Spanish speakers do again and again, in every tense and every situation.
Common mistakes with besar
These are the errors learners actually make with besar. Each one shows the wrong version, the right version, and why the correction matters.
Wrong: “Yo besa a su madre en la mejilla.” Right: “Yo beso a su madre en la mejilla.” Why: The person matters: besa is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is beso. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
Wrong: “Ayer yo beso a los niños antes de dormir.” Right: “Ayer yo besé a los niños antes de dormir.” Why: The present and the preterite are different tenses: beso is happening now, while besé is a finished action in the past. Use the preterite with ayer.
Wrong: “Treating besar and abrazar as identical in every context.” Right: “Besar means to kiss, while abrazar means to hug.” Why: They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: besar fits sentences such as Beso a su madre en la mejilla, while abrazar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
Wrong: “Yo soy besado a los niños antes de dormir.” Right: “Yo he besado a los niños antes de dormir.” Why: Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he besado, has besado, ha besado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
Wrong: “De niño, yo besé en la frente con cariño todos los días.” Right: “De niño, yo besaba en la frente con cariño todos los días.” Why: For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (besaba), not the preterite. The preterite (besé) is for one finished action.
Quiz: besar in use
Ten questions on besar 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 su madre en la mejilla.” (His mother on the cheek.)
- (a) besáis
- (b) beso
- (c) besas
Answer: besáis — The vosotros/as form of besar in the present is besáis.
2. Complete the sentence: “Ellos ______ a los niños antes de dormir.” (The children before bedtime.)
- (a) beso
- (b) besas
- (c) besan
Answer: besan — The ellos/ellas/Uds. form of besar in the present is besan.
3. Complete the sentence: “Yo ______ a su madre en la mejilla.” (His mother on the cheek.)
- (a) besó
- (b) besé
- (c) besaste
Answer: besé — The yo form of besar in the preterite is besé.
4. Complete the sentence: “Él ______ a los niños antes de dormir.” (The children before bedtime.)
- (a) besaba
- (b) besabas
- (c) besábamos
Answer: besaba — The él/ella/Ud. form of besar in the imperfect is besaba.
5. Complete the sentence: “Nosotros ______ en la frente con cariño.” (On the forehead with love.)
- (a) besaré
- (b) besarás
- (c) besaremos
Answer: besaremos — The nosotros/as form of besar in the future is besaremos.
6. What does besar mean in English?
- (a) to chirp, to squeak
- (b) to kiss
- (c) to hug
Answer: to kiss — Besar means “to kiss”. The other options are the meanings of different verbs.
7. Which sentence is correct?
- (a) Yo beso a su madre en la mejilla.
- (b) Ellos besa a su madre en la mejilla.
- (c) Yo beso a los niños antes de dormir ayer.
Answer: Yo beso a su madre en la mejilla. — “Yo beso a su madre en la mejilla.” is correct. The other two sentences contain the mistakes explained in the section above.
8. How do you say “I kiss his mother on the cheek.” in Spanish?
- (a) Yo besan a su madre en la mejilla.
- (b) Yo besé a su madre en la mejilla.
- (c) Yo beso a su madre en la mejilla.
Answer: Yo beso a su madre en la mejilla. — “Yo beso a su madre en la mejilla.” 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 besar in the present tense?
- (a) besas
- (b) besamos
- (c) beso
Answer: besamos — The nosotros form is besamos.
10. Which of these sentences is in the present tense?
- (a) Ayer, yo besé a su madre en la mejilla.
- (b) Nosotros besaremos a su madre en la mejilla mañana.
- (c) Yo beso a su madre en la mejilla.
Answer: Yo beso a su madre en la mejilla. — “Yo beso a su madre en la mejilla.” is in the present tense. The other two are in the preterite and the future.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say 'I kiss' in Spanish?
Say 'Yo beso a su madre en la mejilla'. The complement follows directly, as in the examples above. For a routine, add a time expression: 'Yo beso a su madre en la mejilla todos los días'.
How do you say 'I kiss' in the past?
For one finished action, say 'Ayer, yo besé a los niños antes de dormir'. For a repeated habit, say 'Yo besaba a los niños antes de dormir todos los días'. For something already done, say 'Yo he besado a los niños antes de dormir'.
What is the difference between besar and abrazar?
Besar means to kiss, while abrazar means to hug. They are easy to confuse because they appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use besar when you mean to kiss, as in Beso a su madre en la mejilla.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of besar — every tense of besar in one place.
- Besar in the present 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 besar and other verbs.
- Conjugation practice — drill the forms of besar until they are automatic.