Dedicar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

dedicar means to dedicate, to devote, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Dedicar means to dedicate or to devote, and it covers dedicating a book to your mother, dedicating a song, devoting time to your children and devoting an afternoon to tidying. It takes a for the person, and it is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e. This page puts dedicar 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 dedicar, and the full tables are on the dedicar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo dedico el libro a su madre. — I dedicate the book to his mother.
  2. Él dedica una canción a su novia. — He/she dedicates a song to his girlfriend.
  3. Ayer, yo dediqué tiempo a sus hijos. — Yesterday, I dedicated time to his children.
  4. Antes, nosotros dedicábamos la tarde a ordenar la casa. — Before, we used to dedicate the afternoon to tidying the house.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú dedicarás el libro a su madre. — Tomorrow, you will dedicate the book to his mother.
  2. Yo dedicaría una canción a su novia. — I would dedicate a song to his girlfriend.
  3. Él ha dedicado tiempo a sus hijos. — He/she has dedicated time to his children.
  4. Espero que él dedique la tarde a ordenar la casa. — I hope he/she dedicates the afternoon to tidying the house.

With other people

  1. Nosotros dedicamos el libro a su madre. — We dedicate the book to his mother.
  2. Vosotros dedicáis una canción a su novia. — You all dedicate a song to his girlfriend.
  3. Antes, ellos dedicaban tiempo a sus hijos. — Before, they used to dedicate time to his children.
  4. Mañana, él dedicará la tarde a ordenar la casa. — Tomorrow, he/she will dedicate the afternoon to tidying the house.

Dedicar in context

Two short dialogues that use dedicar 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 dedico el libro a su madre." — "Today I dedicate the book to his mother."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, dediqué tiempo a sus hijos." — "Yesterday I dedicated time to his children."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú dedicarás una canción a su novia?" — "And tomorrow, will you will dedicate a song to his girlfriend?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros dedicamos la tarde a ordenar la casa." — "Tomorrow we dedicate the afternoon to tidying the house."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo dedicaría una canción a su novia si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would dedicate a song to his girlfriend if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él dedique el libro a su madre." — "I hope he dedicates the book to his mother."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha dedicado tiempo a sus hijos." — "Surely. He has already has dedicated time to his children."
  • 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 dedica el libro a su madre. — Right: Yo dedico el libro a su madre. — The person matters: dedica is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is dedico. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Yo dedicé una canción a su novia. — Right: Yo dediqué una canción a su novia. — In the preterite, the correct first-person form is dediqué, not dedicé. dedicar 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 dedicar and ofrecer as identical in every context. — Right: Dedicar means to dedicate, to devote, while ofrecer means to offer, the close verb. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: dedicar fits sentences such as Dedico el libro a su madre, while ofrecer belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy dedicado una canción a su novia. — Right: Yo he dedicado una canción a su novia. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he dedicado, has dedicado, ha dedicado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo dediqué tiempo a sus hijos todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo dedicaba tiempo a sus hijos todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (dedicaba), not the preterite. The preterite (dediqué) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on dedicar: 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 libro a su madre. (present tense) A. dedico B. dedicas C. dedica D. dedicamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ una canción a su novia. (preterite tense) A. dediqué B. dedicaste C. dedicamos D. dedicó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ tiempo a sus hijos. (future tense) A. dedicará B. dedicaremos C. dedicarás D. dedicaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ la tarde a ordenar la casa. (imperfect tense) A. dedicabais B. dedicábamos C. dedicaba D. dedicabas

  5. What does "Yo dedico el libro a su madre." mean in English? A. I dedicate the book to his mother. B. I dedicate a song to his girlfriend. C. I dedicate time to his children. D. I dedicate the afternoon to tidying the house.

  6. What does "Él dedicó una canción a su novia." mean in English? A. He/she dedicated the book to his mother. B. He/she dedicated time to his children. C. He/she dedicated the afternoon to tidying the house. D. He/she dedicated a song to his girlfriend.

  7. What does "Nosotros dedicaremos tiempo a sus hijos." mean in English? A. We will dedicate a song to his girlfriend. B. We will dedicate the afternoon to tidying the house. C. We will dedicate time to his children. D. We will dedicate the book to his mother.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo dedican una canción a su novia. B. Yo dedica una canción a su novia. C. Yo dedico una canción a su novia.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él dediqué tiempo a sus hijos. B. Él dedicó tiempo a sus hijos. C. Él dedicaron tiempo a sus hijos.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo dedique la tarde a ordenar la casa. B. Yo dedice la tarde a ordenar la casa. C. Yo dedique la tarde a ordenar la casa.

Answer key

  1. dedico — The yo present form of dedicar is dedico.
  2. dedicó — The el preterite form of dedicar is dedicó.
  3. dedicarás — The tu future form of dedicar is dedicarás.
  4. dedicábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of dedicar is dedicábamos.
  5. I dedicate the book to his mother. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form dedico, so the English is "I dedicate the book to his mother." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she dedicated a song to his girlfriend. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form dedicó, so the English is "He/she dedicated a song to his girlfriend." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will dedicate time to his children. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form dedicaremos, so the English is "We will dedicate time to his children." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo dedico una canción a su novia. — The correct sentence is "Yo dedico una canción a su novia." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él dedicó tiempo a sus hijos. — The correct sentence is "Él dedicó tiempo a sus hijos." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo dedique la tarde a ordenar la casa. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo dedique la tarde a ordenar la casa." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

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

Dedicar means to dedicate, to devote. Dedicar means to dedicate or to devote, and it covers dedicating a book to your mother, dedicating a song, devoting time to your children and devoting an afternoon to tidying. It takes a for the person, and it is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e. A good first sentence to remember is Yo dedico el libro a su madre. — "I dedicate the book to his mother."

What is the difference between dedicar and ofrecer?

Dedicar means to dedicate, to devote, while ofrecer means to offer, the close verb. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use dedicar when you mean to dedicate, to devote, as in Yo dedico una canción a su novia., and use ofrecer for to offer, the close verb.

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

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo dediqué una canción a su novia.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo dedicaba tiempo a sus hijos.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he dedicado una canción a su novia..

How do I practise dedicar?

Start with the dedicar conjugation page for the full tables, then the dedicar 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 dediqué and the subjunctive is dedique. Dedicar algo a alguien is to dedicate it to them.

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