Comunicar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

comunicar means to communicate, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Comunicar means to communicate, and it is used for communicating news to the family, a change of plans by email, ideas in a meeting and a result to students. It is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e. This page puts comunicar 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 comunicar, and the full tables are on the comunicar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo comunico la noticia a la familia. — I communicate the news to the family.
  2. Él comunica el cambio de planes por correo. — He/she communicates the change of plans by email.
  3. Ayer, yo comuniqué sus ideas en la reunión. — Yesterday, I communicated his ideas at the meeting.
  4. Antes, nosotros comunicábamos el resultado a los alumnos. — Before, we used to communicate the result to the students.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú comunicarás la noticia a la familia. — Tomorrow, you will communicate the news to the family.
  2. Yo comunicaría el cambio de planes por correo. — I would communicate the change of plans by email.
  3. Él ha comunicado sus ideas en la reunión. — He/she has communicated his ideas at the meeting.
  4. Espero que él comunique el resultado a los alumnos. — I hope he/she communicates the result to the students.

With other people

  1. Nosotros comunicamos la noticia a la familia. — We communicate the news to the family.
  2. Vosotros comunicáis el cambio de planes por correo. — You all communicate the change of plans by email.
  3. Antes, ellos comunicaban sus ideas en la reunión. — Before, they used to communicate his ideas at the meeting.
  4. Mañana, él comunicará el resultado a los alumnos. — Tomorrow, he/she will communicate the result to the students.

Comunicar in context

Two short dialogues that use comunicar 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 comunico la noticia a la familia." — "Today I communicate the news to the family."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, comuniqué sus ideas en la reunión." — "Yesterday I communicated his ideas at the meeting."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú comunicarás el cambio de planes por correo?" — "And tomorrow, will you will communicate the change of plans by email?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros comunicamos el resultado a los alumnos." — "Tomorrow we communicate the result to the students."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo comunicaría el cambio de planes por correo si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would communicate the change of plans by email if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él comunique la noticia a la familia." — "I hope he communicates the news to the family."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha comunicado sus ideas en la reunión." — "Surely. He has already has communicated his ideas at the meeting."
  • 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 comunica la noticia a la familia. — Right: Yo comunico la noticia a la familia. — The person matters: comunica is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is comunico. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Yo comunicé el cambio de planes por correo. — Right: Yo comuniqué el cambio de planes por correo. — In the preterite, the correct first-person form is comuniqué, not comunicé. comunicar 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 comunicar and informar as identical in every context. — Right: Comunicar means to communicate, while informar means to inform, the formal partner. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: comunicar fits sentences such as Comunico la noticia a la familia, while informar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy comunicado el cambio de planes por correo. — Right: Yo he comunicado el cambio de planes por correo. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he comunicado, has comunicado, ha comunicado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo comuniqué sus ideas en la reunión todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo comunicaba sus ideas en la reunión todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (comunicaba), not the preterite. The preterite (comuniqué) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on comunicar: 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 ___ la noticia a la familia. (present tense) A. comunico B. comunicas C. comunica D. comunicamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ el cambio de planes por correo. (preterite tense) A. comuniqué B. comunicaste C. comunicamos D. comunicó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ sus ideas en la reunión. (future tense) A. comunicará B. comunicaremos C. comunicarás D. comunicaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ el resultado a los alumnos. (imperfect tense) A. comunicabais B. comunicábamos C. comunicaba D. comunicabas

  5. What does "Yo comunico la noticia a la familia." mean in English? A. I communicate the news to the family. B. I communicate the change of plans by email. C. I communicate his ideas at the meeting. D. I communicate the result to the students.

  6. What does "Él comunicó el cambio de planes por correo." mean in English? A. He/she communicated the news to the family. B. He/she communicated his ideas at the meeting. C. He/she communicated the result to the students. D. He/she communicated the change of plans by email.

  7. What does "Nosotros comunicaremos sus ideas en la reunión." mean in English? A. We will communicate the change of plans by email. B. We will communicate the result to the students. C. We will communicate his ideas at the meeting. D. We will communicate the news to the family.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo comunican el cambio de planes por correo. B. Yo comunica el cambio de planes por correo. C. Yo comunico el cambio de planes por correo.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él comuniqué sus ideas en la reunión. B. Él comunicó sus ideas en la reunión. C. Él comunicaron sus ideas en la reunión.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo comunique el resultado a los alumnos. B. Yo comunice el resultado a los alumnos. C. Yo comunique el resultado a los alumnos.

Answer key

  1. comunico — The yo present form of comunicar is comunico.
  2. comunicó — The el preterite form of comunicar is comunicó.
  3. comunicarás — The tu future form of comunicar is comunicarás.
  4. comunicábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of comunicar is comunicábamos.
  5. I communicate the news to the family. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form comunico, so the English is "I communicate the news to the family." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she communicated the change of plans by email. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form comunicó, so the English is "He/she communicated the change of plans by email." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will communicate his ideas at the meeting. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form comunicaremos, so the English is "We will communicate his ideas at the meeting." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo comunico el cambio de planes por correo. — The correct sentence is "Yo comunico el cambio de planes por correo." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él comunicó sus ideas en la reunión. — The correct sentence is "Él comunicó sus ideas en la reunión." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo comunique el resultado a los alumnos. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo comunique el resultado a los alumnos." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

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

Comunicar means to communicate. Comunicar means to communicate, and it is used for communicating news to the family, a change of plans by email, ideas in a meeting and a result to students. It is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e. A good first sentence to remember is Yo comunico la noticia a la familia. — "I communicate the news to the family."

What is the difference between comunicar and informar?

Comunicar means to communicate, while informar means to inform, the formal partner. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use comunicar when you mean to communicate, as in Yo comunico el cambio de planes por correo., and use informar for to inform, the formal partner.

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

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo comuniqué el cambio de planes por correo.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo comunicaba sus ideas en la reunión.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he comunicado el cambio de planes por correo..

How do I practise comunicar?

Start with the comunicar conjugation page for the full tables, then the comunicar 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 comuniqué and the subjunctive is comunique.

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