Introduction

contagiarse means “to catch (an illness)”, and it is one of the verbs you will use every day in Spanish. It is the verb for expressing “to catch (an illness)” in everyday Spanish — in conversation, at work, and at home. This page shows contagiarse 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 form unless the sentence is clearly marked as past or future. For a first taste: “Yo me contagio de gripe por la mañana.” — “I catch with the flu.”

contagiarse in real example sentences

The twelve sentences below are grouped by how contagiarse 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 {verb} in the present tense, which is how you will meet it most often: routines, facts, and things happening now.

  1. “Yo me contagio de gripe cada día.” — “I catch with the flu.”
  2. “Tú te contagias de gripe cada día.” — “you catch with the flu.”
  3. “Él se contagia de gripe siempre.” — “He catches with the flu.”
  4. “Nosotros nos contagiamos de gripe todos los días.” — “We catch with the flu.”

Talking about the past

The present is not the only tense you need. These sentences show {verb} in the past, so you can talk about what already happened. 5. “Yo me contagié de gripe ayer.” — “I catched with the flu.” (preterite) 6. “Él se contagió de gripe ayer.” — “He catched with the flu.” (preterite) 7. “Yo me contagiaba de gripe cuando era joven.” — “I used to catch with the flu.” (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 {verb} stays the same. 8. “Nosotros nos contagiaremos de gripe mañana.” — “We will catch with the flu.” (future) 9. “Tú te has contagiado de gripe hoy.” — “you have catched with the flu.” (present-perfect) 10. “Espero que yo me contagie de gripe.” — “I hope that I catch with the flu.” (present-subjunctive)

More everyday uses

Two more present-tense sentences, covering the remaining persons, so you can see the whole table in action. 11. “Vosotros os contagiáis de gripe cada semana.” — “You catch with the flu.” 12. “Ellos se contagian de gripe normalmente.” — “They catch with the flu.”

contagiarse 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 contagiarse appears naturally, without anyone stopping to think about conjugation.

Dialogue on the phone

Lucía: “¿Tú te contagias de gripe?” — Do you catch with the flu?

Pedro: “Sí, yo me contagio de gripe cada día. Es parte de mi rutina.” — Yes, I catch with the flu every day. It is part of my routine.

Lucía: “¿Y ayer? ¿También te contagias de gripe?” — And yesterday? Did you catch with the flu too?

Pedro: “Sí, ayer yo me contagié de gripe. Mañana nosotros contagiaremos de gripe otra vez.” — Yes, yesterday I catched with the flu. Tomorrow we will catch with the flu again.

A short paragraph

Él se contagia de gripe cada día — that one sentence already tells you a lot about how contagiarse works in real Spanish: who does it, when, and with what. Around it you can build a whole paragraph: what happened yesterday, what is happening now, and what will happen tomorrow, all with the same verb. When you write your own paragraph, start with the present — yo contagio de gripe — then add one past sentence and one future sentence, and you have practised three tenses with one verb. That is the fastest way to make contagiarse yours: use it in a story, not only in a table.

Common mistakes

Forgetting the accent in the preterite

The yo preterite form is contagié, with an accent on the stressed vowel. Writing it without the accent — contagie — is a spelling error, and in speech the stress lands in the wrong place. Preterite yo forms that end in a vowel carry that accent, so check it every time you write the preterite of contagiarse.

Mixing up present and preterite nosotros

For contagiarse, the nosotros form is the same in the present and the preterite: contagiamos. Only the context tells you which tense is meant, so pay attention to the time words around it — cada día points to the present, ayer points to the preterite. Do not invent a different form for one of the tenses.

Dropping the reflexive pronoun

Because contagiarse is reflexive, it always needs its pronoun: yo me contagio de gripe, not yo contagio de gripe. Without me, the sentence either means something else or means nothing at all. The pronouns are me, te, se, nos, os, se — learn them with the verb, not as an afterthought.

Using ser instead of haber in perfect tenses

Spanish perfect tenses always use haber, never ser: yo he contagiado de gripe. English speakers sometimes reach for soy because English uses to be in some passives, but soy contagiado is not the present perfect of contagiarse — it is a passive construction with a different meaning.

Confusing contagiarse with conservar

contagiarse and conservar look similar, and learners mix them up. They are different verbs with different meanings, so check which one the sentence needs before you conjugate. If you can substitute the English meaning of contagiarse — catch — the sentence needs contagiarse; if it needs the meaning of conservar, use that verb instead.

Quiz

Test yourself on the forms above. Choose the best answer, then check the key below.

1. What is the yo form of contagiarse in the present?

  • A. contagias
  • B. contagia
  • C. contagiamos
  • D. contagio

2. What is the tu form of contagiarse in the preterite?

  • A. contagiamos
  • B. contagiaste
  • C. contagié
  • D. contagió

3. What is the el form of contagiarse in the imperfect?

  • A. contagiabas
  • B. contagiábamos
  • C. contagiabais
  • D. contagiaba

4. What is the nosotros form of contagiarse in the future?

  • A. contagiará
  • B. contagiaremos
  • C. contagiaré
  • D. contagiarás

5. What is the vosotros form of contagiarse in the present perfect?

  • A. he contagiado
  • B. has contagiado
  • C. ha contagiado
  • D. habéis contagiado

6. What is the ellos form of contagiarse in the present subjunctive?

  • A. contagie
  • B. contagien
  • C. contagie
  • D. contagies

7. What is the yo form of contagiarse in the preterite?

  • A. contagiaste
  • B. contagió
  • C. contagiamos
  • D. contagié

8. What is the tu form of contagiarse in the imperfect?

  • A. contagiábamos
  • B. contagiabas
  • C. contagiaba
  • D. contagiaba

9. What is the el form of contagiarse in the future?

  • A. contagiaré
  • B. contagiarás
  • C. contagiaremos
  • D. contagiará

10. What is the nosotros form of contagiarse in the conditional?

  • A. contagiaría
  • B. contagiaríamos
  • C. contagiaría
  • D. contagiarías

Answer key

  1. contagio — The present table gives yo = contagio.
  2. contagiaste — The preterite table gives tu = contagiaste.
  3. contagiaba — The imperfect table gives el = contagiaba.
  4. contagiaremos — The future table gives nosotros = contagiaremos.
  5. habéis contagiado — The present perfect table gives vosotros = habéis contagiado.
  6. contagien — The present subjunctive table gives ellos = contagien.
  7. contagié — The preterite table gives yo = contagié.
  8. contagiabas — The imperfect table gives tu = contagiabas.
  9. contagiará — The future table gives el = contagiará.
  10. contagiaríamos — The conditional table gives nosotros = contagiaríamos.

Frequently asked questions

How do I use contagiarse in a sentence?

Put the subject first, then the conjugated form, then the rest: “Yo me contagio de gripe.” — “I catch with the flu.” Do not forget the reflexive pronoun: it goes before the verb. Change the form for the person and the tense, but keep the sentence pattern the same.

What is the most useful form of contagiarse to learn first?

Learn the present yo form contagio first, then the preterite yo form contagié and the participle contagiado. With those three you can talk about the present, the past and the perfect tenses. Add the gerund contagiando next, and you can describe actions in progress too.

Is contagiarse reflexive?

Yes — contagiarse is reflexive, so it always takes me, te, se, nos, os or se. You say yo me contagio, never just yo contagio. The pronoun goes before the conjugated verb, or attached to the infinitive and gerund.

Where can I see the full conjugation of contagiarse?

On the main conjugation page for contagiarse, which has every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle, plus notes, examples and a quiz. The present-tense page covers one tense in depth if that is what you need right now.

Related links