Destacar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

destacar means to stand out, to highlight, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Destacar means to stand out or to highlight, and it covers standing out in a team for your effort, highlighting a price on a poster and highlighting the importance of a subject. It is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e, so the preterite is destaqué. This page puts destacar 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 destacar, and the full tables are on the destacar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo destaco en el equipo por su esfuerzo. — I stand out in the team for his effort.
  2. Él destaca el precio en el cartel. — He/she stands out the price on the poster.
  3. Ayer, yo destaqué la importancia del tema. — Yesterday, I stood out the importance of the subject.
  4. Antes, nosotros destacábamos entre los alumnos de la clase. — Before, we used to stand out among the students in the class.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú destacarás en el equipo por su esfuerzo. — Tomorrow, you will stand out in the team for his effort.
  2. Yo destacaría el precio en el cartel. — I would stand out the price on the poster.
  3. Él ha destacado la importancia del tema. — He/she has stood out the importance of the subject.
  4. Espero que él destaque entre los alumnos de la clase. — I hope he/she stands out among the students in the class.

With other people

  1. Nosotros destacamos en el equipo por su esfuerzo. — We stand out in the team for his effort.
  2. Vosotros destacáis el precio en el cartel. — You all stand out the price on the poster.
  3. Antes, ellos destacaban la importancia del tema. — Before, they used to stand out the importance of the subject.
  4. Mañana, él destacará entre los alumnos de la clase. — Tomorrow, he/she will stand out among the students in the class.

Destacar in context

Two short dialogues that use destacar 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 destaco en el equipo por su esfuerzo." — "Today I stand out in the team for his effort."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, destaqué la importancia del tema." — "Yesterday I stood out the importance of the subject."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú destacarás el precio en el cartel?" — "And tomorrow, will you will stand out the price on the poster?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros destacamos entre los alumnos de la clase." — "Tomorrow we stand out among the students in the class."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo destacaría el precio en el cartel si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would stand out the price on the poster if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él destaque en el equipo por su esfuerzo." — "I hope he stands out in the team for his effort."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha destacado la importancia del tema." — "Surely. He has already has stood out the importance of the subject."
  • 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 destaca en el equipo por su esfuerzo. — Right: Yo destaco en el equipo por su esfuerzo. — The person matters: destaca is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is destaco. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Yo destacé el precio en el cartel. — Right: Yo destaqué el precio en el cartel. — In the preterite, the correct first-person form is destaqué, not destacé. destacar 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 destacar and resaltar as identical in every context. — Right: Destacar means to stand out, to highlight, while resaltar means to highlight, the close synonym. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: destacar fits sentences such as Destaco en el equipo por su esfuerzo, while resaltar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy destacado el precio en el cartel. — Right: Yo he destacado el precio en el cartel. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he destacado, has destacado, ha destacado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo destaqué la importancia del tema todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo destacaba la importancia del tema todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (destacaba), not the preterite. The preterite (destaqué) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on destacar: 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 ___ en el equipo por su esfuerzo. (present tense) A. destaco B. destacas C. destaca D. destacamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ el precio en el cartel. (preterite tense) A. destaqué B. destacaste C. destacamos D. destacó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ la importancia del tema. (future tense) A. destacará B. destacaremos C. destacarás D. destacaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ entre los alumnos de la clase. (imperfect tense) A. destacabais B. destacábamos C. destacaba D. destacabas

  5. What does "Yo destaco en el equipo por su esfuerzo." mean in English? A. I stand out in the team for his effort. B. I stand out the price on the poster. C. I stand out the importance of the subject. D. I stand out among the students in the class.

  6. What does "Él destacó el precio en el cartel." mean in English? A. He/she stood out in the team for his effort. B. He/she stood out the importance of the subject. C. He/she stood out among the students in the class. D. He/she stood out the price on the poster.

  7. What does "Nosotros destacaremos la importancia del tema." mean in English? A. We will stand out the price on the poster. B. We will stand out among the students in the class. C. We will stand out the importance of the subject. D. We will stand out in the team for his effort.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo destacan el precio en el cartel. B. Yo destaca el precio en el cartel. C. Yo destaco el precio en el cartel.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él destaqué la importancia del tema. B. Él destacó la importancia del tema. C. Él destacaron la importancia del tema.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo destaque entre los alumnos de la clase. B. Yo destace entre los alumnos de la clase. C. Yo destaque entre los alumnos de la clase.

Answer key

  1. destaco — The yo present form of destacar is destaco.
  2. destacó — The el preterite form of destacar is destacó.
  3. destacarás — The tu future form of destacar is destacarás.
  4. destacábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of destacar is destacábamos.
  5. I stand out in the team for his effort. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form destaco, so the English is "I stand out in the team for his effort." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she stood out the price on the poster. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form destacó, so the English is "He/she stood out the price on the poster." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will stand out the importance of the subject. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form destacaremos, so the English is "We will stand out the importance of the subject." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo destaco el precio en el cartel. — The correct sentence is "Yo destaco el precio en el cartel." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él destacó la importancia del tema. — The correct sentence is "Él destacó la importancia del tema." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo destaque entre los alumnos de la clase. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo destaque entre los alumnos de la clase." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

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

Destacar means to stand out, to highlight. Destacar means to stand out or to highlight, and it covers standing out in a team for your effort, highlighting a price on a poster and highlighting the importance of a subject. It is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e, so the preterite is destaqué. A good first sentence to remember is Yo destaco en el equipo por su esfuerzo. — "I stand out in the team for his effort."

What is the difference between destacar and resaltar?

Destacar means to stand out, to highlight, while resaltar means to highlight, the close synonym. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use destacar when you mean to stand out, to highlight, as in Yo destaco el precio en el cartel., and use resaltar for to highlight, the close synonym.

How do I say "I stand out" in the past?

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo destaqué el precio en el cartel.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo destacaba la importancia del tema.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he destacado el precio en el cartel..

How do I practise destacar?

Start with the destacar conjugation page for the full tables, then the destacar 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 destaqué and the subjunctive is destaque. Destacar en algo is to stand out in it.

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