Digerir Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Spanish

digerir means "to digest" in English, and this page shows you how it actually sounds in everyday Spanish — not just the conjugation table, but the verb in real sentences, in short dialogues, and in the mistakes learners make with it. Digerir means to digest food, and figuratively to digest an idea or bad news: digerir las malas noticias poco a poco. The stem changes e to ie in the present. Below you will find twelve example sentences grouped by use, two short dialogues, the most common mistakes with corrections, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. If you want the full tables first, start with the full conjugation of digerir; if you want to study one tense in depth, see the digerir present tense page.

digerir in everyday use: examples with translations

Everyday present uses

How the verb sounds in the present, the future and in hypotheticals — the forms you will use most often.

  1. Yo digiero la comida con dificultad — "I digest food with difficulty"
  2. Mi amigo digiere las malas noticias poco a poco — "My friend digests the bad news little by little"
  3. Mañana, tú digerirás la cena antes de dormir — "Tomorrow, you will digest dinner before sleeping"
  4. Yo digeriría una idea nueva si pudiera — "I would digest a new idea if I could"

Talking about the past

The same verb in the past: one finished action, a habit, something that has just happened, and something that had already happened.

  1. Ayer, yo digerí la comida con dificultad — "Yesterday, I digested food with difficulty"
  2. Antes, nosotros digeríamos las malas noticias poco a poco — "Before, we used to digest the bad news little by little"
  3. Él ha digerido la cena antes de dormir — "He has digested dinner before sleeping"
  4. Yo ya había digerido una idea nueva antes de salir — "I already had digested a new idea before leaving"

Wishes, conditions and commands

The verb after espero que, in si clauses, as a command — and in the conditional perfect, for what would have happened.

  1. Espero que él digiera la comida con dificultad — "I hope he digests food with difficulty"
  2. Si yo digiriera las malas noticias poco a poco, todo cambiaría — "If I digested the bad news little by little, everything would change"
  3. Digiere la cena antes de dormir. — "Digest dinner before sleeping."
  4. Yo habría digerido una idea nueva con más tiempo — "I would have digested a new idea with more time"

digerir in conversation

Two short dialogues that use digerir the way people really speak it. Notice how the verb changes with the person, and how the same verb fits different situations.

Two friends talk about it.

  • Lucía: Hola, ¿qué tal? — "Hello, how are you?"
  • Lucía: Yo digiero la comida con dificultad — "I digest food with difficulty"
  • Marcos: Él digiere las malas noticias poco a poco — "He digests the bad news little by little"
  • Lucía: Ayer, yo digerí la cena antes de dormir — "Yesterday, I digested dinner before sleeping"
  • Marcos: Mañana, tú digerirás una idea nueva — "Tomorrow, you will digest a new idea"

A practical exchange.

  • Marcos: Hola, ¿qué tal? — "Hello, how are you?"
  • Marcos: Digiere el almuerzo en una hora. — "Digest lunch in an hour."
  • Lucía: Él ha digerido la comida con dificultad — "He has digested food with difficulty"
  • Marcos: Espero que él digiera las malas noticias poco a poco — "I hope he digests the bad news little by little"
  • Lucía: Antes, yo digería la cena antes de dormir — "Before, I used to digest dinner before sleeping"

Common mistakes with digerir

The errors learners actually make with digerir, each with the wrong form, the right form, and why the right form is right.

✗ *Yo digero una idea nueva.

✓ Correct: Yo digiero una idea nueva.

digerir is a stem-changing verb (e → ie): the stem vowel changes in the stressed present forms, so the yo form is digiero, not digero.

✗ *Espero que él digiere una idea nueva

✓ Correct: Espero que él digiera una idea nueva

After espero que, Spanish requires the subjunctive: Espero que él digiera una idea nueva — not the indicative Espero que él digiere una idea nueva.

✗ *Ayer, yo digiero el almuerzo en una hora

✓ Correct: Ayer, yo digerí el almuerzo en una hora

Ayer points to a finished action in the past, so it needs the preterite: Ayer, yo digerí el almuerzo en una hora.

✗ *De niño, yo digerí la comida con dificultad todos los días

✓ Correct: De niño, yo digería la comida con dificultad todos los días

For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect, not the preterite: De niño, yo digería la comida con dificultad todos los días.

✗ *Yo digiero en la cena antes de dormir.

✓ Correct: Yo digiero la cena antes de dormir.

digerir takes this complement directly, with no preposition: Yo digiero la cena antes de dormir.

Quiz: digerir in use

Ten questions on digerir — its forms, its tenses and its everyday use. Choose the best answer for each one, then check the answer key below, where every answer is explained.

  1. Complete the sentence: Yo ______ la comida con dificultad — "I digest food with difficulty" (present) A. digiero B. digieres C. digiere D. digerimos

  2. Complete the sentence: Ayer, yo ______ las malas noticias poco a poco — "Yesterday, I digested the bad news little by little" (preterite) A. digerí B. digeriste C. digirió D. digerimos

  3. Complete the sentence: Antes, nosotros ______ la cena antes de dormir — "Before, we used to digest dinner before sleeping" (imperfect) A. digeríais B. digeríamos C. digería D. digerías

  4. Complete the sentence: Mañana, tú ______ una idea nueva — "Tomorrow, you will digest a new idea" (future) A. digerirá B. digeriremos C. digerirás D. digeriré

  5. Complete the sentence: Yo ______ el almuerzo en una hora — "I would digest lunch in an hour" (conditional) A. digeriríais B. digeriría C. digerirías D. digeriríamos

  6. Complete the sentence: Él ______ la comida con dificultad — "He has digested food with difficulty" (present perfect) A. hemos digerido B. ha digerido C. he digerido D. has digerido

  7. Complete the sentence: Espero que él ______ las malas noticias poco a poco — "I hope he digests the bad news little by little" (present subjunctive) A. digieras B. digiramos C. digiráis D. digiera

  8. Complete the sentence: ______ la cena antes de dormir. — "Digest dinner before sleeping." (affirmative imperative) A. digerid B. digiere C. digiera D. digiramos

  9. Which is the gerund of digerir, used with estar for the progressive? A. digiriendo B. digerido C. digiero D. digerí

  10. What does digerir mean in English? A. to enjoy B. to cross C. to digest D. to assimilate

Answer key

  1. digiero — The present form for yo is digiero.
  2. digerí — The preterite form for yo is digerí.
  3. digeríamos — The imperfect form for nosotros/as is digeríamos.
  4. digerirás — The future form for tú is digerirás.
  5. digeriría — The conditional form for yo is digeriría.
  6. ha digerido — The present perfect form for él/ella/Ud. is ha digerido.
  7. digiera — The present subjunctive form for él/ella/Ud. is digiera.
  8. digiere — The affirmative imperative form is digiere.
  9. digiriendo — The gerund of digerir is digiriendo: estoy digiriendo. The participle digerido is used with haber instead.
  10. to digest — digerir means to digest.

Frequently asked questions

What does digerir mean in English?

digerir means to digest. For example: Yo digiero la comida con dificultad — "I digest food with difficulty". The exact English wording depends on the context, but the core meaning stays the same across the tenses.

What preposition goes with digerir?

digerir takes its complement directly, with no preposition, as in the examples above. Adding an extra preposition is a common learner error.

Is digerir regular?

No. digerir is a stem-changing -ir verb (e → ie). The stem vowel changes in the stressed forms of the present: digiero, digieres, digiere and digieren — but nosotros and vosotros keep the plain stem: digerimos, digerís. In the preterite the third-person forms change too: digirió, digirieron, and the gerund is digiriendo.

How do I practise digerir?

Start with the present tense table on the full conjugation page, then drill the preterite and the imperfect, since those two past tenses cause the most mistakes. Try the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure, and come back to the sentences above until you can say them without looking.

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