Criticar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

criticar means to criticise, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Criticar means to criticise, and it covers criticising a film on a blog, criticising the government in a debate and criticising a colleague's work or a restaurant's food. It is the opposite of alabar, to praise, and it is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e. This page puts criticar 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 criticar, and the full tables are on the criticar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo critico la película en su blog. — I criticise the film on his blog.
  2. Él critica al gobierno en el debate. — He/she criticises the government in the debate.
  3. Ayer, yo critiqué el trabajo de su compañero. — Yesterday, I criticised his colleague's work.
  4. Antes, nosotros criticábamos la comida del restaurante. — Before, we used to criticise the restaurant's food.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú criticarás la película en su blog. — Tomorrow, you will criticise the film on his blog.
  2. Yo criticaría al gobierno en el debate. — I would criticise the government in the debate.
  3. Él ha criticado el trabajo de su compañero. — He/she has criticised his colleague's work.
  4. Espero que él critique la comida del restaurante. — I hope he/she criticises the restaurant's food.

With other people

  1. Nosotros criticamos la película en su blog. — We criticise the film on his blog.
  2. Vosotros criticáis al gobierno en el debate. — You all criticise the government in the debate.
  3. Antes, ellos criticaban el trabajo de su compañero. — Before, they used to criticise his colleague's work.
  4. Mañana, él criticará la comida del restaurante. — Tomorrow, he/she will criticise the restaurant's food.

Criticar in context

Two short dialogues that use criticar 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 critico la película en su blog." — "Today I criticise the film on his blog."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, critiqué el trabajo de su compañero." — "Yesterday I criticised his colleague's work."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú criticarás al gobierno en el debate?" — "And tomorrow, will you will criticise the government in the debate?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros criticamos la comida del restaurante." — "Tomorrow we criticise the restaurant's food."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo criticaría al gobierno en el debate si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would criticise the government in the debate if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él critique la película en su blog." — "I hope he criticises the film on his blog."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha criticado el trabajo de su compañero." — "Surely. He has already has criticised his colleague's work."
  • 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 critica la película en su blog. — Right: Yo critico la película en su blog. — The person matters: critica is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is critico. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Yo criticé al gobierno en el debate. — Right: Yo critiqué al gobierno en el debate. — In the preterite, the correct first-person form is critiqué, not criticé. criticar 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 criticar and alabar as identical in every context. — Right: Criticar means to criticise, while alabar means to praise, its opposite. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: criticar fits sentences such as Critico la película en su blog, while alabar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy criticado al gobierno en el debate. — Right: Yo he criticado al gobierno en el debate. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he criticado, has criticado, ha criticado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo critiqué el trabajo de su compañero todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo criticaba el trabajo de su compañero todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (criticaba), not the preterite. The preterite (critiqué) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on criticar: 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 película en su blog. (present tense) A. critico B. criticas C. critica D. criticamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ al gobierno en el debate. (preterite tense) A. critiqué B. criticaste C. criticamos D. criticó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ el trabajo de su compañero. (future tense) A. criticará B. criticaremos C. criticarás D. criticaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ la comida del restaurante. (imperfect tense) A. criticabais B. criticábamos C. criticaba D. criticabas

  5. What does "Yo critico la película en su blog." mean in English? A. I criticise the film on his blog. B. I criticise the government in the debate. C. I criticise his colleague's work. D. I criticise the restaurant's food.

  6. What does "Él criticó al gobierno en el debate." mean in English? A. He/she criticised the film on his blog. B. He/she criticised his colleague's work. C. He/she criticised the restaurant's food. D. He/she criticised the government in the debate.

  7. What does "Nosotros criticaremos el trabajo de su compañero." mean in English? A. We will criticise the government in the debate. B. We will criticise the restaurant's food. C. We will criticise his colleague's work. D. We will criticise the film on his blog.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo critican al gobierno en el debate. B. Yo critica al gobierno en el debate. C. Yo critico al gobierno en el debate.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él critiqué el trabajo de su compañero. B. Él criticó el trabajo de su compañero. C. Él criticaron el trabajo de su compañero.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo critique la comida del restaurante. B. Yo critice la comida del restaurante. C. Yo critique la comida del restaurante.

Answer key

  1. critico — The yo present form of criticar is critico.
  2. criticó — The el preterite form of criticar is criticó.
  3. criticarás — The tu future form of criticar is criticarás.
  4. criticábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of criticar is criticábamos.
  5. I criticise the film on his blog. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form critico, so the English is "I criticise the film on his blog." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she criticised the government in the debate. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form criticó, so the English is "He/she criticised the government in the debate." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will criticise his colleague's work. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form criticaremos, so the English is "We will criticise his colleague's work." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo critico al gobierno en el debate. — The correct sentence is "Yo critico al gobierno en el debate." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él criticó el trabajo de su compañero. — The correct sentence is "Él criticó el trabajo de su compañero." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo critique la comida del restaurante. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo critique la comida del restaurante." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

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

Criticar means to criticise. Criticar means to criticise, and it covers criticising a film on a blog, criticising the government in a debate and criticising a colleague's work or a restaurant's food. It is the opposite of alabar, to praise, and it is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e. A good first sentence to remember is Yo critico la película en su blog. — "I criticise the film on his blog."

What is the difference between criticar and alabar?

Criticar means to criticise, while alabar means to praise, its opposite. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use criticar when you mean to criticise, as in Yo critico al gobierno en el debate., and use alabar for to praise, its opposite.

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

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo critiqué al gobierno en el debate.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo criticaba el trabajo de su compañero.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he criticado al gobierno en el debate..

How do I practise criticar?

Start with the criticar conjugation page for the full tables, then the criticar 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 critiqué and the subjunctive is critique. Criticar algo is to criticise it.

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