Dificultar Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish

The present tense of dificultar — "to make difficult" in English — is the form you need for what happens now, for habits and for general truths. This page gives you the full present conjugation table for dificultar with all six persons, explains exactly how the tense is formed for this verb, shows when to use it with real examples, and finishes with a quiz so you can test yourself. 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. To see it in a real sentence: Él dificulta la tarea con reglas nuevas. — "He/she makes difficult the task with new rules." Work through the table below, then the formation notes, the usage rules and the contrast with the preterite, and test yourself at the end.

Present tense conjugation table: dificultar

Every person of dificultar in the present tense. The gerund is dificultando and the past participle is dificultado.

Present indicative

Person Form
yo dificulto
tú dificultas
él/ella/Ud. dificulta
nosotros/as dificultamos
vosotros/as dificultáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. dificultan

How the present indicative of dificultar is formed

The present indicative of dificultar is built from the stem dificult- plus the present endings for -ar verbs. Take the infinitive, drop the -ar ending, and add the ending that matches the person. The table below shows the endings, and the full table above shows them attached to the stem.

Person Ending Form
yo -o dificulto
tú -as dificultas
él/ella/Ud. -a dificulta
nosotros/as -amos dificultamos
vosotros/as -áis dificultáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. -an dificultan

The gerund of dificultar is dificultando and the past participle is dificultado. Both are regular for this verb, and the participle is the form you need for all the perfect tenses with haber.

When to use the present tense of dificultar

The present tense is not one single use — it covers several situations, and dificultar appears in all of them. The five uses below are the ones you will meet most often, each with an example that shows the verb in a natural sentence.

Habits and routines

The present tense describes things you do regularly. If you do it every day, every week or every morning, the present is the tense to use. For dificultar, this use looks like this: "Yo dificulto la tarea con reglas nuevas." — "I make difficult the task with new rules." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

General facts

The present tense states facts that are generally true, not tied to one moment. It is the tense for definitions and permanent situations. For dificultar, this use looks like this: "Él dificulta el acceso por las obras." — "He/she makes difficult access because of the roadworks." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

What is happening now

The present tense also covers what is happening at this moment, especially with verbs that describe an action in progress. For dificultar, this use looks like this: "Nosotros dificultamos la comunicación con el ruido." — "We make difficult communication with the noise." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

Timetables and schedules

The present tense is used for fixed plans and timetables, such as trains, classes and opening times, even when they refer to the future. For dificultar, this use looks like this: "Ellos dificultan el viaje con el mal tiempo." — "They make difficult the journey with the bad weather." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

Instructions and requests

The present tense appears in instructions and polite requests, where it sounds softer than a direct command. For dificultar, this use looks like this: "Tú dificultas la tarea con reglas nuevas." — "You make difficult the task with new rules." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

The present tense vs the preterite

Learners often mix up the present and the preterite with dificultar. The rule is simple: the present is for habits, facts and what is happening now, while the preterite is for one finished action in the past. The three pairs below show the same idea in both tenses, so you can feel the difference.

Pair 1: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Yo dificulto la tarea con reglas nuevas." — "I make difficult the task with new rules."
  • Preterite: "Yo dificulté la tarea con reglas nuevas." — "I made difficult the task with new rules." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Pair 2: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Él dificulta el acceso por las obras." — "He/she makes difficult access because of the roadworks."
  • Preterite: "Él dificultó el acceso por las obras." — "He/she made difficult access because of the roadworks." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Pair 3: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Nosotros dificultamos la comunicación con el ruido." — "We make difficult communication with the noise."
  • Preterite: "Nosotros dificultamos la comunicación con el ruido." — "We made difficult communication with the noise." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Example sentences in the present tense

Eight natural sentences with dificultar in the present tense only. Each one uses a form from the table above.

  1. Yo dificulto la tarea con reglas nuevas. — I make difficult the task with new rules.
  2. Tú dificultas el acceso por las obras. — You make difficult access because of the roadworks.
  3. Él dificulta la comunicación con el ruido. — He/she makes difficult communication with the noise.
  4. Nosotros dificultamos el viaje con el mal tiempo. — We make difficult the journey with the bad weather.
  5. Vosotros dificultáis la tarea con reglas nuevas. — You all make difficult the task with new rules.
  6. Ellos dificultan el acceso por las obras. — They make difficult access because of the roadworks.
  7. Yo dificulto la comunicación con el ruido. — I make difficult communication with the noise.
  8. Él dificulta el viaje con el mal tiempo. — He/she makes difficult the journey with the bad weather.

Common mistakes

  1. 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.
  2. Wrong: Ayer, yo dificulto la comunicación con el ruido. — Right: Ayer, yo dificulté la comunicación con el ruido. — Ayer means yesterday, so it needs the preterite (dificulté), not the present (dificulto). The present is for now, not for yesterday.
  3. 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.
  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. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.

Quiz: test yourself

Eight questions on the present tense of dificultar. Choose the right form, then 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: Tú ___ el acceso por las obras. (present tense) A. dificultas B. dificulto C. dificulta D. dificultamos

  3. Complete the sentence: Él ___ la comunicación con el ruido. (present tense) A. dificulta B. dificulto C. dificultas D. dificultamos

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ el viaje con el mal tiempo. (present tense) A. dificultamos B. dificulto C. dificultas D. dificulta

  5. Complete the sentence: Vosotros ___ la tarea con reglas nuevas. (present tense) A. dificultáis B. dificulto C. dificultas D. dificulta

  6. Complete the sentence: Ellos ___ el acceso por las obras. (present tense) A. dificultan B. dificulto C. dificultas D. dificulta

  7. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ la comunicación con el ruido. (present tense) A. dificulto B. dificultas C. dificulta D. dificultamos

  8. Complete the sentence: Él ___ el viaje con el mal tiempo. (present tense) A. dificulta B. dificulto C. dificultas D. dificultamos

Answer key

  1. dificulto — The yo present form of dificultar is dificulto. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  2. dificultas — The tu present form of dificultar is dificultas. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  3. dificulta — The el present form of dificultar is dificulta. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  4. dificultamos — The nosotros present form of dificultar is dificultamos. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  5. dificultáis — The vosotros present form of dificultar is dificultáis. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  6. dificultan — The ellos present form of dificultar is dificultan. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  7. dificulto — The yo present form of dificultar is dificulto. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  8. dificulta — The el present form of dificultar is dificulta. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.

Frequently asked questions

When do I use the present tense of dificultar?

Use the present tense of dificultar for habits, facts and what is happening now. For example: Yo dificulto la tarea con reglas nuevas. — "I make difficult the task with new rules." The usage rules above give five situations with examples.

How is the present tense of dificultar formed?

Take the stem dificult- and add the present endings for -ar verbs. The full table is at the top of this page.

What is the difference between the present and the preterite of dificultar?

The present describes a habit or a present fact, while the preterite describes a finished action. Compare Yo dificulto el acceso por las obras. with Yo dificulté el acceso por las obras. — the verb is the same, but the time meaning changes.

How do I practise the present tense of dificultar?

Drill the six forms in the table above until you can say them without looking, then use the dificultar examples and quiz page for more sentences, and test yourself with the Dificultar conjugation page for the full picture across all tenses.

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