Dificultar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

dificultar means to make difficult, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Dificultar means to make difficult, and it is used for new rules making a task harder, roadworks making access difficult and noise making communication difficult. It is the opposite of facilitar, and it is a fully regular -ar verb. This page puts dificultar 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 dificultar, and the full tables are on the dificultar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo dificulto la tarea con reglas nuevas. — I make difficult the task with new rules.
  2. Él dificulta el acceso por las obras. — He/she makes difficult access because of the roadworks.
  3. Ayer, yo dificulté la comunicación con el ruido. — Yesterday, I made difficult communication with the noise.
  4. Antes, nosotros dificultábamos el viaje con el mal tiempo. — Before, we used to make difficult the journey with the bad weather.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú dificultarás la tarea con reglas nuevas. — Tomorrow, you will make difficult the task with new rules.
  2. Yo dificultaría el acceso por las obras. — I would make difficult access because of the roadworks.
  3. Él ha dificultado la comunicación con el ruido. — He/she has made difficult communication with the noise.
  4. Espero que él dificulte el viaje con el mal tiempo. — I hope he/she makes difficult the journey with the bad weather.

With other people

  1. Nosotros dificultamos la tarea con reglas nuevas. — We make difficult the task with new rules.
  2. Vosotros dificultáis el acceso por las obras. — You all make difficult access because of the roadworks.
  3. Antes, ellos dificultaban la comunicación con el ruido. — Before, they used to make difficult communication with the noise.
  4. Mañana, él dificultará el viaje con el mal tiempo. — Tomorrow, he/she will make difficult the journey with the bad weather.

Dificultar in context

Two short dialogues that use dificultar 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 dificulto la tarea con reglas nuevas." — "Today I make difficult the task with new rules."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, dificulté la comunicación con el ruido." — "Yesterday I made difficult communication with the noise."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú dificultarás el acceso por las obras?" — "And tomorrow, will you will make difficult access because of the roadworks?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros dificultamos el viaje con el mal tiempo." — "Tomorrow we make difficult the journey with the bad weather."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo dificultaría el acceso por las obras si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would make difficult access because of the roadworks if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él dificulte la tarea con reglas nuevas." — "I hope he makes difficult the task with new rules."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha dificultado la comunicación con el ruido." — "Surely. He has already has made difficult communication with the noise."
  • 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 dificulta la tarea con reglas nuevas. — Right: Yo dificulto la tarea con reglas nuevas. — The person matters: dificulta is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is dificulto. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Vosotros dificultais el acceso por las obras. — Right: Vosotros dificultáis el acceso por las obras. — The vosotros present form carries a written accent: dificultáis, not dificultais. The accent marks the stressed vowel.
  3. Wrong: Treating dificultar and facilitar as identical in every context. — Right: Dificultar means to make difficult, while facilitar means to make easy, its opposite. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: dificultar fits sentences such as Dificulto la tarea con reglas nuevas, while facilitar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy dificultado el acceso por las obras. — Right: Yo he dificultado el acceso por las obras. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he dificultado, has dificultado, ha dificultado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo dificulté la comunicación con el ruido todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo dificultaba la comunicación con el ruido todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (dificultaba), not the preterite. The preterite (dificulté) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on dificultar: 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 ___ la tarea con reglas nuevas. (present tense) A. dificulto B. dificultas C. dificulta D. dificultamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ el acceso por las obras. (preterite tense) A. dificulté B. dificultaste C. dificultamos D. dificultó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ la comunicación con el ruido. (future tense) A. dificultará B. dificultaremos C. dificultarás D. dificultaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ el viaje con el mal tiempo. (imperfect tense) A. dificultabais B. dificultábamos C. dificultaba D. dificultabas

  5. What does "Yo dificulto la tarea con reglas nuevas." mean in English? A. I make difficult the task with new rules. B. I make difficult access because of the roadworks. C. I make difficult communication with the noise. D. I make difficult the journey with the bad weather.

  6. What does "Él dificultó el acceso por las obras." mean in English? A. He/she made difficult the task with new rules. B. He/she made difficult communication with the noise. C. He/she made difficult the journey with the bad weather. D. He/she made difficult access because of the roadworks.

  7. What does "Nosotros dificultaremos la comunicación con el ruido." mean in English? A. We will make difficult access because of the roadworks. B. We will make difficult the journey with the bad weather. C. We will make difficult communication with the noise. D. We will make difficult the task with new rules.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo dificultan el acceso por las obras. B. Yo dificulta el acceso por las obras. C. Yo dificulto el acceso por las obras.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él dificulté la comunicación con el ruido. B. Él dificultó la comunicación con el ruido. C. Él dificultaron la comunicación con el ruido.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo dificulte el viaje con el mal tiempo. B. Yo dificulten el viaje con el mal tiempo. C. Yo dificulte el viaje con el mal tiempo.

Answer key

  1. dificulto — The yo present form of dificultar is dificulto.
  2. dificultó — The el preterite form of dificultar is dificultó.
  3. dificultarás — The tu future form of dificultar is dificultarás.
  4. dificultábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of dificultar is dificultábamos.
  5. I make difficult the task with new rules. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form dificulto, so the English is "I make difficult the task with new rules." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she made difficult access because of the roadworks. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form dificultó, so the English is "He/she made difficult access because of the roadworks." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will make difficult communication with the noise. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form dificultaremos, so the English is "We will make difficult communication with the noise." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo dificulto el acceso por las obras. — The correct sentence is "Yo dificulto el acceso por las obras." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él dificultó la comunicación con el ruido. — The correct sentence is "Él dificultó la comunicación con el ruido." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo dificulte el viaje con el mal tiempo. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo dificulte el viaje con el mal tiempo." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

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

Dificultar means to make difficult. Dificultar means to make difficult, and it is used for new rules making a task harder, roadworks making access difficult and noise making communication difficult. It is the opposite of facilitar, and it is a fully regular -ar verb. A good first sentence to remember is Yo dificulto la tarea con reglas nuevas. — "I make difficult the task with new rules."

What is the difference between dificultar and facilitar?

Dificultar means to make difficult, while facilitar means to make easy, its opposite. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use dificultar when you mean to make difficult, as in Yo dificulto el acceso por las obras., and use facilitar for to make easy, its opposite.

How do I say "I make difficult" in the past?

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo dificulté el acceso por las obras.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo dificultaba la comunicación con el ruido.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he dificultado el acceso por las obras..

How do I practise dificultar?

Start with the dificultar conjugation page for the full tables, then the dificultar in the present tense page for the tense in focus, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure. Dificultar is fully regular: dificulté, dificultaba, dificultaré. It is the opposite of facilitar in every sense.

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