Debilitarse Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Spanish
debilitarse means "to weaken" in English, and this page shows it in everyday use: real example sentences in several tenses, two short dialogues, the mistakes learners actually make, and a quiz to test yourself. You will see debilitarse with the illness in winter, lack of food, the summer heat and the operation — the situations where Spanish speakers really use it. A good first sentence to learn is: Cada día, yo me debilito con la enfermedad en invierno. — "Every day, I weaken with the illness in winter." Read the examples aloud, notice which tense each one uses, and then try the dialogues and the quiz.
debilitarse in everyday sentences
Twelve sentences with debilitarse, grouped by situation. Each one shows the verb in a different tense or person, with its English translation and a note on when to use that form.
Everyday use
- Cada día, yo me debilito con la enfermedad en invierno. — "Every day, I weaken with the illness in winter." The present tense fits a habit here.
- Ayer, yo me debilité por la falta de comida. — "Yesterday, I weakened from lack of food." The preterite fits one finished action.
- Antes, yo me debilitaba con el calor del verano. — "In the past, I used to weaken in the summer heat." The imperfect fits a repeated action in the past.
- Mañana, nosotros nos debilitaremos después de la operación. — "Tomorrow, we will weaken after the operation." The future tense fits a plan for tomorrow.
- Si pudieras, tú te debilitarías con la enfermedad en invierno. — "If you could, you would weaken with the illness in winter." The conditional fits something that would happen.
- Yo me he debilitado por la falta de comida. — "I have weakened from lack of food." The present perfect fits an action with present relevance.
More situations
- Normalmente, él se debilita con el calor del verano. — "Normally, he/she weakens in the summer heat." The present tense fits a general truth here.
- Ayer, él se debilitó después de la operación. — "Yesterday, he/she weakened after the operation." The preterite fits one finished action.
- Antes, nosotros nos debilitábamos con la enfermedad en invierno. — "In the past, we used to weaken with the illness in winter." The imperfect fits a repeated action in the past.
- Mañana, yo me debilitaré por la falta de comida. — "Tomorrow, I will weaken from lack of food." The future tense fits a plan for tomorrow.
- Espero que él se debilite con el calor del verano. — "I hope that he/she weakens in the summer heat." The present subjunctive follows espero que.
- ¡No te debilites después de la operación! — "Do not weaken after the operation!" The imperative fits a direct order or request.
The verb in context
Two short dialogues using debilitarse naturally. Notice how the verb changes person and tense as the conversation moves, and how the complements stay the same kind of situation: the illness in winter, lack of food, the summer heat and the operation.
Dialogue 1: talking about the illness in winter
Lucía: ¿Tú te debilitas con la enfermedad en invierno? — "Do you weaken with the illness in winter?" Pedro: Sí, yo me debilito con la enfermedad en invierno. — "I weaken with the illness in winter." Lucía: ¿Y ayer? — "And yesterday?" Pedro: Ayer, yo me debilité por la falta de comida. — "Yesterday, I weakened from lack of food." Lucía: Mañana, nosotros nos debilitaremos con el calor del verano. — "Tomorrow, we will weaken in the summer heat." Pedro: Si pudiera, yo me debilitaría después de la operación. — "If I could, I would weaken after the operation." Lucía: Antes, yo me debilitaba por la falta de comida. — "In the past, I used to weaken from lack of food." Pedro: Yo me he debilitado con la enfermedad en invierno. — "I have weakened with the illness in winter." Lucía: ¡No te debilites con el calor del verano! — "Do not weaken in the summer heat!"
In this dialogue debilitarse appears in the present, the preterite, the imperfect, the future, the conditional and the present perfect. That is the point: one verb, many tenses, and the complement tells you which situation you are in. Try the same dialogue with your own complements.
Dialogue 2: talking about the summer heat
Lucía: Él se debilita con el calor del verano. — "he/she weakens in the summer heat." Pedro: ¿De verdad? ¿Él se debilita con el calor del verano todos los días? — "Really? Does he/she weakens in the summer heat every day?" Lucía: Sí, y ellos se debilitan después de la operación. — "they weaken after the operation." Pedro: Ayer, ellos se debilitaron con el calor del verano. — "Yesterday, they weakened in the summer heat." Lucía: Espero que él se debilite después de la operación. — "I hope that he/she weakens after the operation." Pedro: Mañana, él se debilitará con el calor del verano. — "Tomorrow, he/she will weaken in the summer heat." Lucía: Antes, nosotros nos debilitábamos después de la operación. — "In the past, we used to weaken after the operation." Pedro: Nosotros nos debilitamos con la enfermedad en invierno también. — "we weaken with the illness in winter too."
This dialogue shows debilitarse in the third person and in the plural, which is where learners most often hesitate. Read it aloud with a partner, swapping the names and the complements for your own life, and the forms will start to feel automatic.
Common mistakes with debilitarse
The errors learners actually make with debilitarse in everyday use, each with the wrong form, the right form, and why it is wrong.
Mistake 1: Forgetting the reflexive pronoun
- Wrong: Yo debilito con la enfermedad en invierno.
- Right: Yo me debilito con la enfermedad en invierno.
- Why: debilitarse is reflexive, so the pronoun is part of the verb: Yo me debilito con la enfermedad en invierno.. Without me the sentence is incomplete.
Mistake 2: Using the infinitive as a conjugated form
- Wrong: Yo debilitarse con la enfermedad en invierno.
- Right: Yo me debilito con la enfermedad en invierno.
- Why: The infinitive debilitarse is the dictionary form, not a conjugated form. In a sentence with yo you need the present-tense form debilito.
Mistake 3: Using the present tense for yesterday
- Wrong: Ayer, yo me debilito por la falta de comida.
- Right: Ayer, yo me debilité por la falta de comida.
- Why: Ayer means yesterday, so the action is finished and needs the preterite: Ayer, yo me debilité por la falta de comida. — "Yesterday, I weakened from lack of food."
Mistake 4: Mixing up the gerund and the participle
- Wrong: Me estoy debilitado con el calor del verano.
- Right: Me estoy debilitando con el calor del verano.
- Why: After estar you need the gerund debilitando for the progressive. The participle debilitado goes with haber in the perfect tenses (me he debilitado), never after estar.
Mistake 5: Using the él form for nosotros
- Wrong: Nosotros nos debilita con la enfermedad en invierno.
- Right: Nosotros nos debilitamos con la enfermedad en invierno.
- Why: The person and the ending must match: nosotros takes debilitamos, while debilita belongs to él and ella.
Quiz: debilitarse in use
Test yourself with ten questions on debilitarse. The answers are explained, so read them even when you get a question right.
1. What is the yo form of debilitarse in the present tense?
- (a) debilitamos
- (b) debilito
- (c) debilitas
- (d) debilita
Answer: (b) debilito. The yo form is debilito.
2. What is the tú form of debilitarse in the present tense?
- (a) debilitas
- (b) debilito
- (c) debilita
- (d) debilitamos
Answer: (a) debilitas. The tú form is debilitas.
3. What is the él/ella form of debilitarse in the present tense?
- (a) debilito
- (b) debilitas
- (c) debilitamos
- (d) debilita
Answer: (d) debilita. The él/ella form is debilita.
4. Complete the sentence: Cada día, yo ___ con la enfermedad en invierno.
- (a) debilita
- (b) debilitamos
- (c) debilito
- (d) debilitas
Answer: (c) debilito. The sentence needs the yo form debilito.
5. Complete the sentence: Ayer, yo ___ por la falta de comida.
- (a) debilitamos
- (b) debilité
- (c) debilitaste
- (d) debilitó
Answer: (b) debilité. Ayer needs the preterite, and the yo form is debilité.
6. Complete the sentence: Antes, yo ___ con el calor del verano.
- (a) debilitaba
- (b) debilitabas
- (c) debilitábamos
- (d) debilitabais
Answer: (a) debilitaba. Antes needs the imperfect, and the yo form is debilitaba.
7. Complete the sentence: Mañana, yo ___ después de la operación.
- (a) debilitarás
- (b) debilitará
- (c) debilitaremos
- (d) debilitaré
Answer: (d) debilitaré. Mañana needs the future, and the yo form is debilitaré.
8. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ con la enfermedad en invierno.
- (a) te has debilitado
- (b) se ha debilitado
- (c) nos hemos debilitado
- (d) me he debilitado
Answer: (d) me he debilitado. The present perfect uses haber plus the participle: me he debilitado.
9. Complete the sentence: Espero que él ___ con el calor del verano.
- (a) debilitéis
- (b) debilite
- (c) debilites
- (d) debilitemos
Answer: (b) debilite. After espero que Spanish needs the subjunctive, and the él form is debilite.
10. What does debilitarse mean in English?
- (a) to clear up
- (b) to weaken
- (c) to hoard, to monopolise
- (d) to have an accident
Answer: (b) to weaken. debilitarse means "to weaken" in English.
Frequently asked questions about debilitarse
What does debilitarse mean?
debilitarse means "to weaken" in English. Use it when you talk about the illness in winter, lack of food, the summer heat and the operation — for example: Cada día, yo me debilito con la enfermedad en invierno. — "Every day, I weaken with the illness in winter."
Is debilitarse reflexive?
Yes. debilitarse is reflexive, so it always travels with a pronoun: me, te, se, nos, os, se. Cada día, yo me debilito con la enfermedad en invierno. — "Every day, I weaken with the illness in winter." If you drop the pronoun, the sentence is incomplete.
What is the most common mistake with debilitarse?
Forgetting the reflexive pronoun. Learners write the bare form — for example, Yo debilito con la enfermedad en invierno — when the verb needs its pronoun: Cada día, yo me debilito con la enfermedad en invierno. — "Every day, I weaken with the illness in winter." Keep the pronoun with the verb and the mistake disappears.
How can I practise debilitarse?
Take the quiz above, then make your own sentences: change the person in each example, change the complement to something from your own life, and say the sentence aloud. The verb quiz and the verb translator on this site give you more practice with the same forms.