Dedicarse Examples, Sentences & Quiz

Introduction

dedicarse means to devote oneself to, and it is one of those verbs that shows up everywhere once you start listening for it. It is a spelling-changing -ar verb, reflexive verb, and this page puts it to work: real example sentences in several tenses, grouped by use, two short passages that show the verb in context, the mistakes learners make with it, a ten-question quiz and answers to common questions. If you only learn one sentence, make it «Me dedico todos los días» — I devote myself to every day. The rest of this page builds out from there, tense by tense, so you can use dedicarse the way native speakers do — in the present for habits, in the past for finished events, and in the subjunctive after wishes and doubts.

Dedicarse in real example sentences

In the present: everyday use

The present is where dedicarse lives most of the time — routines, facts and what is happening now:

  1. Me dedico todos los días. — I devote myself to every day.
  2. Te dedicas en el trabajo. — You devote yourself to at work.
  3. Se dedica con mi familia. — He devotes himself to with my family.
  4. Nos dedicamos por la mañana. — We devote ourselves to in the morning.

Talking about the past

In the past, choose the preterite for a finished event and the imperfect for a habit or background:

  1. Ayer me dediqué por la tarde. — Yesterday I devoted myself to in the afternoon.
  2. Antes, me dedicaba todos los días. — In the past, I used to devote myself to every day.
  3. La semana pasada se dedicó dos veces. — Last week He devoted himself to twice.

Plans and things already done

The future, the conditional and the present perfect round out the picture — plans, hypotheticals and recent events:

  1. Mañana me dedicaré sin falta. — Tomorrow I will devote myself to without fail.
  2. Si tuviera más tiempo, me dedicaría ahora mismo. — If I had more time, I would devote myself to right now.
  3. Hoy me he dedicado dos veces. — Today I have devoted myself to twice.

More everyday uses

The subjunctive, the imperative and the progressive cover wishes, commands and actions in progress:

  1. Espero que te dediques pronto. — I hope You devote yourself to soon.
  2. ¡No te dediques! — Don't devote yourself to!
  3. Ahora mismo me estoy dedicando. — Right now I am devoting myself to.

Dedicarse in context

A short dialogue

Ana: «Me dedico en el trabajo.» — I devote myself to at work. Luis: «¡Qué bien! Me dedico con mi familia.» — I devote myself to with my family. Ana: «Mañana me dedicaré sin falta.» — Tomorrow I will devote myself to without fail. Luis: «Si tuviera más tiempo, me dedicaría ahora mismo.» — If I had more time, I would devote myself to right now. Ana: «Hoy me he dedicado dos veces.» — Today I have devoted myself to twice.

A short paragraph

Ayer me dediqué por la tarde. Antes, me dedicaba todos los días. Hoy me he dedicado dos veces. Mañana me dedicaré sin falta.

Yesterday I devoted myself to in the afternoon. In the past, I used to devote myself to every day. Today I have devoted myself to twice. Tomorrow I will devote myself to without fail.

Common mistakes with dedicarse

1. Forgetting the reflexive pronoun

Wrong: yo dedico todos los días.

Right: me dedico todos los días.

dedicarse is reflexive: the pronoun me belongs before every conjugated form. Without it, you are using the non-reflexive verb, which means something different — doing the action to someone else instead of to yourself.

2. Missing the spelling change in the preterite

Wrong: Yo dedicé.

Right: Yo dediqué.

The spelling changes so the pronunciation stays the same: the yo form in the preterite is dediqué, not dedicé. The endings are regular — only the spelling of the stem-final letter adjusts before e and i.

3. Using the imperfect for a finished event

Wrong: Ayer me dedicaba.

Right: Ayer me dediqué.

Yesterday's finished action needs the preterite, dediqué. The imperfect dedicaba describes what used to happen or what was going on, not a single completed event.

4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

Wrong: Espero que te dedicas.

Right: Espero que te dediques.

After espero que, Spanish requires the subjunctive: dediques, not the indicative dedicas. Wishes, hopes and doubts all trigger this change.

5. Using the affirmative imperative after no

Wrong: No te dedica.

Right: No te dediques.

Negative commands use the subjunctive-based forms: no dediques. The affirmative dedica can never follow no.

Quiz: dedicarse in use

Test yourself on dedicarse in use. Choose the correct answer, then check the key below.

1. What is the tú form of dedicarse in the present indicative?

- (a) dedicas
- (b) dedico
- (c) dedicamos
- (d) dedica

2. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of dedicarse in the preterite?

- (a) dedicaste
- (b) dedicó
- (c) dediqué
- (d) dedicamos

3. What is the nosotros/as form of dedicarse in the future?

- (a) dedicaré
- (b) dedicarás
- (c) dedicaremos
- (d) dedicará

4. What is the vosotros/as form of dedicarse in the present perfect?

- (a) ha dedicado
- (b) has dedicado
- (c) habéis dedicado
- (d) he dedicado

5. What is the tú form of dedicarse in the imperfect?

- (a) dedicaba
- (b) dedicaba
- (c) dedicabas
- (d) dedicábamos

6. What is the gerund of dedicarse?

- (a) dedico
- (b) dedicado
- (c) dedicarse
- (d) dedicando

7. What is the past participle of dedicarse?

- (a) dediqué
- (b) dedicado
- (c) dedicarse
- (d) dedicando

8. Which sentence uses dedicarse correctly?

- (a) *Yo dedicas todos los días.*
- (b) *Yo dedica todos los días.*
- (c) *Yo dedicarse todos los días.*
- (d) *Me dedico todos los días.* — I devote myself to every day.

9. Which sentence uses dedicarse correctly?

- (a) *Ayer yo dedicaba por la tarde.*
- (b) *Ayer me dediqué por la tarde.* — Yesterday I devoted myself to in the afternoon.
- (c) *Ayer yo dedicarse por la tarde.*
- (d) *Ayer yo dedico por la tarde.*

10. What does dedicarse mean?

- (a) to get damaged
- (b) to devote oneself to
- (c) to betray
- (d) to sue

Answer key

1. (a) — In the present indicative, the tú form of dedicarse is dedicas. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 2. (b) — In the preterite, the él/ella/Ud. form of dedicarse is dedicó. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 3. (c) — In the future, the nosotros/as form of dedicarse is dedicaremos. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 4. (c) — In the present perfect, the vosotros/as form of dedicarse is habéis dedicado. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 5. (c) — In the imperfect, the tú form of dedicarse is dedicabas. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 6. (d) — The gerund of dedicarse is dedicando. It is used with estar for the progressive: «Estoy dedicando». 7. (b) — The past participle of dedicarse is dedicado. It follows haber in all the perfect tenses: «he dedicado». 8. (d) — Only this sentence pairs the right person with the right form of dedicarse; the others mix a person with another person's form, or use the infinitive instead of a conjugated form. 9. (b) — Only this sentence pairs the right person with the right form of dedicarse; the others mix a person with another person's form, or use the infinitive instead of a conjugated form. 10. (b) — dedicarse means «to devote oneself to».

Frequently asked questions

How do you say 'I devote myself to' in Spanish?

Say «Me dedico todos los días». That is the present-tense yo form, and it is the sentence you will use most with this verb.

How do you say 'I devoted myself to' about yesterday?

Say «Ayer me dediqué por la tarde». The preterite is the tense for a finished event: yesterday, last week, last night.

Is dedicarse reflexive?

Yes — dedicarse is reflexive, so every conjugated form takes its pronoun: me dedico, te dedicas, se dedica. The pronoun always comes before the verb, except in affirmative commands, where it attaches to the end.

Which tense do learners find hardest with dedicarse?

Most learners struggle with choosing between the preterite and the imperfect, not with the forms themselves. Use the preterite (dediqué) for a single finished event and the imperfect (dedicaba) for habits and background. After that, the subjunctive is the next step.

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