Debatir Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

debatir means to debate, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Debatir means to debate, and it is used for debating a topic in class, in parliament and in a public discussion. It suggests a structured exchange of arguments rather than a quarrel, and it is a regular -ir verb. This page puts debatir 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 debatir, and the full tables are on the debatir conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo debato el tema en clase. — I debate the topic in class.
  2. Él debate sobre el cambio climático. — He/she debates climate change.
  3. Ayer, yo debatí la propuesta en el parlamento. — Yesterday, I debated the proposal in parliament.
  4. Antes, nosotros debatíamos con los alumnos cada semana. — Before, we used to debate with the students every week.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú debatirás el tema en clase. — Tomorrow, you will debate the topic in class.
  2. Yo debatiría sobre el cambio climático. — I would debate climate change.
  3. Él ha debatido la propuesta en el parlamento. — He/she has debated the proposal in parliament.
  4. Espero que él debata con los alumnos cada semana. — I hope he/she debates with the students every week.

With other people

  1. Nosotros debatimos el tema en clase. — We debate the topic in class.
  2. Vosotros debatís sobre el cambio climático. — You all debate climate change.
  3. Antes, ellos debatían la propuesta en el parlamento. — Before, they used to debate the proposal in parliament.
  4. Mañana, él debatirá con los alumnos cada semana. — Tomorrow, he/she will debate with the students every week.

Debatir in context

Two short dialogues that use debatir 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 debato el tema en clase." — "Today I debate the topic in class."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, debatí la propuesta en el parlamento." — "Yesterday I debated the proposal in parliament."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú debatirás sobre el cambio climático?" — "And tomorrow, will you will debate climate change?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros debatimos con los alumnos cada semana." — "Tomorrow we debate with the students every week."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo debatiría sobre el cambio climático si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would debate climate change if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él debata el tema en clase." — "I hope he debates the topic in class."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha debatido la propuesta en el parlamento." — "Surely. He has already has debated the proposal in parliament."
  • 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 debate el tema en clase. — Right: Yo debato el tema en clase. — The person matters: debate is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is debato. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Vosotros debatis sobre el cambio climático. — Right: Vosotros debatís sobre el cambio climático. — The vosotros present form carries a written accent: debatís, not debatis. The accent marks the stressed vowel.
  3. Wrong: Treating debatir and discutir as identical in every context. — Right: Debatir means to debate, while discutir means to discuss or argue. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: debatir fits sentences such as Debato el tema en clase, while discutir belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy debatido sobre el cambio climático. — Right: Yo he debatido sobre el cambio climático. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he debatido, has debatido, ha debatido. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo debatí la propuesta en el parlamento todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo debatía la propuesta en el parlamento todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (debatía), not the preterite. The preterite (debatí) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on debatir: 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 ___ el tema en clase. (present tense) A. debato B. debates C. debate D. debatimos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ sobre el cambio climático. (preterite tense) A. debatí B. debatiste C. debatimos D. debatió

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ la propuesta en el parlamento. (future tense) A. debatirá B. debatiremos C. debatirás D. debatiré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ con los alumnos cada semana. (imperfect tense) A. debatíais B. debatíamos C. debatía D. debatías

  5. What does "Yo debato el tema en clase." mean in English? A. I debate the topic in class. B. I debate climate change. C. I debate the proposal in parliament. D. I debate with the students every week.

  6. What does "Él debatió sobre el cambio climático." mean in English? A. He/she debated the topic in class. B. He/she debated the proposal in parliament. C. He/she debated with the students every week. D. He/she debated climate change.

  7. What does "Nosotros debatiremos la propuesta en el parlamento." mean in English? A. We will debate climate change. B. We will debate with the students every week. C. We will debate the proposal in parliament. D. We will debate the topic in class.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo debaten sobre el cambio climático. B. Yo debate sobre el cambio climático. C. Yo debato sobre el cambio climático.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él debatí la propuesta en el parlamento. B. Él debatió la propuesta en el parlamento. C. Él debatieron la propuesta en el parlamento.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo debata con los alumnos cada semana. B. Yo debatan con los alumnos cada semana. C. Yo debata con los alumnos cada semana.

Answer key

  1. debato — The yo present form of debatir is debato.
  2. debatió — The el preterite form of debatir is debatió.
  3. debatirás — The tu future form of debatir is debatirás.
  4. debatíamos — The nosotros imperfect form of debatir is debatíamos.
  5. I debate the topic in class. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form debato, so the English is "I debate the topic in class." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she debated climate change. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form debatió, so the English is "He/she debated climate change." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will debate the proposal in parliament. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form debatiremos, so the English is "We will debate the proposal in parliament." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo debato sobre el cambio climático. — The correct sentence is "Yo debato sobre el cambio climático." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él debatió la propuesta en el parlamento. — The correct sentence is "Él debatió la propuesta en el parlamento." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo debata con los alumnos cada semana. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo debata con los alumnos cada semana." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

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

Debatir means to debate. Debatir means to debate, and it is used for debating a topic in class, in parliament and in a public discussion. It suggests a structured exchange of arguments rather than a quarrel, and it is a regular -ir verb. A good first sentence to remember is Yo debato el tema en clase. — "I debate the topic in class."

What is the difference between debatir and discutir?

Debatir means to debate, while discutir means to discuss or argue. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use debatir when you mean to debate, as in Yo debato sobre el cambio climático., and use discutir for to discuss or argue.

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

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo debatí sobre el cambio climático.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo debatía la propuesta en el parlamento.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he debatido sobre el cambio climático..

How do I practise debatir?

Start with the debatir conjugation page for the full tables, then the debatir in the present tense page for the tense in focus, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure. Debatir is a regular -ir verb: debatí, debatía, debatiré. It is the formal verb for a structured debate, not a quarrel.

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