Calificar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

calificar means to grade, to qualify, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Calificar means to grade or to qualify, and it covers grading students, rating work as excellent, qualifying a team for a tournament and rating a film with five stars. It is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e. This page puts calificar 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 calificar, and the full tables are on the calificar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo califico a los alumnos con notas. — I grade the students with marks.
  2. Él califica el trabajo como excelente. — He/she grades the work as excellent.
  3. Ayer, yo califiqué al equipo en el torneo. — Yesterday, I graded the team in the tournament.
  4. Antes, nosotros calificábamos la película con cinco estrellas. — Before, we used to grade the film with five stars.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú calificarás a los alumnos con notas. — Tomorrow, you will grade the students with marks.
  2. Yo calificaría el trabajo como excelente. — I would grade the work as excellent.
  3. Él ha calificado al equipo en el torneo. — He/she has graded the team in the tournament.
  4. Espero que él califique la película con cinco estrellas. — I hope he/she grades the film with five stars.

With other people

  1. Nosotros calificamos a los alumnos con notas. — We grade the students with marks.
  2. Vosotros calificáis el trabajo como excelente. — You all grade the work as excellent.
  3. Antes, ellos calificaban al equipo en el torneo. — Before, they used to grade the team in the tournament.
  4. Mañana, él calificará la película con cinco estrellas. — Tomorrow, he/she will grade the film with five stars.

Calificar in context

Two short dialogues that use calificar 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 califico a los alumnos con notas." — "Today I grade the students with marks."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, califiqué al equipo en el torneo." — "Yesterday I graded the team in the tournament."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú calificarás el trabajo como excelente?" — "And tomorrow, will you will grade the work as excellent?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros calificamos la película con cinco estrellas." — "Tomorrow we grade the film with five stars."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo calificaría el trabajo como excelente si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would grade the work as excellent if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él califique a los alumnos con notas." — "I hope he grades the students with marks."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha calificado al equipo en el torneo." — "Surely. He has already has graded the team in the tournament."
  • 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 califica a los alumnos con notas. — Right: Yo califico a los alumnos con notas. — The person matters: califica is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is califico. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Yo calificé el trabajo como excelente. — Right: Yo califiqué el trabajo como excelente. — In the preterite, the correct first-person form is califiqué, not calificé. calificar is a spelling-change verb: c becomes qu before e, so the written form changes to keep the same sound. The regular-looking form is wrong.
  3. Wrong: Treating calificar and evaluar as identical in every context. — Right: Calificar means to grade, to qualify, while evaluar means to evaluate, the formal partner. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: calificar fits sentences such as Califico a los alumnos con notas, while evaluar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy calificado el trabajo como excelente. — Right: Yo he calificado el trabajo como excelente. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he calificado, has calificado, ha calificado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo califiqué al equipo en el torneo todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo calificaba al equipo en el torneo todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (calificaba), not the preterite. The preterite (califiqué) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on calificar: 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 los alumnos con notas. (present tense) A. califico B. calificas C. califica D. calificamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ el trabajo como excelente. (preterite tense) A. califiqué B. calificaste C. calificamos D. calificó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ al equipo en el torneo. (future tense) A. calificará B. calificaremos C. calificarás D. calificaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ la película con cinco estrellas. (imperfect tense) A. calificabais B. calificábamos C. calificaba D. calificabas

  5. What does "Yo califico a los alumnos con notas." mean in English? A. I grade the students with marks. B. I grade the work as excellent. C. I grade the team in the tournament. D. I grade the film with five stars.

  6. What does "Él calificó el trabajo como excelente." mean in English? A. He/she graded the students with marks. B. He/she graded the team in the tournament. C. He/she graded the film with five stars. D. He/she graded the work as excellent.

  7. What does "Nosotros calificaremos al equipo en el torneo." mean in English? A. We will grade the work as excellent. B. We will grade the film with five stars. C. We will grade the team in the tournament. D. We will grade the students with marks.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo califican el trabajo como excelente. B. Yo califica el trabajo como excelente. C. Yo califico el trabajo como excelente.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él califiqué al equipo en el torneo. B. Él calificó al equipo en el torneo. C. Él calificaron al equipo en el torneo.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo califique la película con cinco estrellas. B. Yo califice la película con cinco estrellas. C. Yo califique la película con cinco estrellas.

Answer key

  1. califico — The yo present form of calificar is califico.
  2. calificó — The el preterite form of calificar is calificó.
  3. calificarás — The tu future form of calificar is calificarás.
  4. calificábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of calificar is calificábamos.
  5. I grade the students with marks. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form califico, so the English is "I grade the students with marks." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she graded the work as excellent. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form calificó, so the English is "He/she graded the work as excellent." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will grade the team in the tournament. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form calificaremos, so the English is "We will grade the team in the tournament." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo califico el trabajo como excelente. — The correct sentence is "Yo califico el trabajo como excelente." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él calificó al equipo en el torneo. — The correct sentence is "Él calificó al equipo en el torneo." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo califique la película con cinco estrellas. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo califique la película con cinco estrellas." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

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

Calificar means to grade, to qualify. Calificar means to grade or to qualify, and it covers grading students, rating work as excellent, qualifying a team for a tournament and rating a film with five stars. It is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e. A good first sentence to remember is Yo califico a los alumnos con notas. — "I grade the students with marks."

What is the difference between calificar and evaluar?

Calificar means to grade, to qualify, while evaluar means to evaluate, the formal partner. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use calificar when you mean to grade, to qualify, as in Yo califico el trabajo como excelente., and use evaluar for to evaluate, the formal partner.

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

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo califiqué el trabajo como excelente.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo calificaba al equipo en el torneo.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he calificado el trabajo como excelente..

How do I practise calificar?

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

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