Empujar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

empujar means to push, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Empujar means to push, and it is used for pushing a door, a shopping trolley, a car that will not start and, figuratively, pushing someone to do something. It is the everyday opposite of tirar in the pulling sense, and it is a fully regular -ar verb. This page puts empujar 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 empujar, and the full tables are on the empujar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo empujo la puerta con el hombro. — I push the door with my shoulder.
  2. Él empuja el carrito por el supermercado. — He/she pushes the trolley round the supermarket.
  3. Ayer, yo empujé el coche hasta el taller. — Yesterday, I pushed the car to the garage.
  4. Antes, nosotros empujábamos la silla hacia la mesa. — Before, we used to push the chair towards the table.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú empujarás la puerta con el hombro. — Tomorrow, you will push the door with my shoulder.
  2. Yo empujaría el carrito por el supermercado. — I would push the trolley round the supermarket.
  3. Él ha empujado el coche hasta el taller. — He/she has pushed the car to the garage.
  4. Espero que él empuje la silla hacia la mesa. — I hope he/she pushes the chair towards the table.

With other people

  1. Nosotros empujamos la puerta con el hombro. — We push the door with my shoulder.
  2. Vosotros empujáis el carrito por el supermercado. — You all push the trolley round the supermarket.
  3. Antes, ellos empujaban el coche hasta el taller. — Before, they used to push the car to the garage.
  4. Mañana, él empujará la silla hacia la mesa. — Tomorrow, he/she will push the chair towards the table.

Empujar in context

Two short dialogues that use empujar 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 empujo la puerta con el hombro." — "Today I push the door with my shoulder."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, empujé el coche hasta el taller." — "Yesterday I pushed the car to the garage."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú empujarás el carrito por el supermercado?" — "And tomorrow, will you will push the trolley round the supermarket?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros empujamos la silla hacia la mesa." — "Tomorrow we push the chair towards the table."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo empujaría el carrito por el supermercado si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would push the trolley round the supermarket if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él empuje la puerta con el hombro." — "I hope he pushes the door with my shoulder."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha empujado el coche hasta el taller." — "Surely. He has already has pushed the car to the garage."
  • 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 empuja la puerta con el hombro. — Right: Yo empujo la puerta con el hombro. — The person matters: empuja is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is empujo. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Vosotros empujais el carrito por el supermercado. — Right: Vosotros empujáis el carrito por el supermercado. — The vosotros present form carries a written accent: empujáis, not empujais. The accent marks the stressed vowel.
  3. Wrong: Treating empujar and tirar as identical in every context. — Right: Empujar means to push, while tirar means to pull, or to throw. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: empujar fits sentences such as Empujo la puerta con el hombro, while tirar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy empujado el carrito por el supermercado. — Right: Yo he empujado el carrito por el supermercado. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he empujado, has empujado, ha empujado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo empujé el coche hasta el taller todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo empujaba el coche hasta el taller todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (empujaba), not the preterite. The preterite (empujé) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on empujar: 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 puerta con el hombro. (present tense) A. empujo B. empujas C. empuja D. empujamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ el carrito por el supermercado. (preterite tense) A. empujé B. empujaste C. empujamos D. empujó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ el coche hasta el taller. (future tense) A. empujará B. empujaremos C. empujarás D. empujaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ la silla hacia la mesa. (imperfect tense) A. empujabais B. empujábamos C. empujaba D. empujabas

  5. What does "Yo empujo la puerta con el hombro." mean in English? A. I push the door with my shoulder. B. I push the trolley round the supermarket. C. I push the car to the garage. D. I push the chair towards the table.

  6. What does "Él empujó el carrito por el supermercado." mean in English? A. He/she pushed the door with my shoulder. B. He/she pushed the car to the garage. C. He/she pushed the chair towards the table. D. He/she pushed the trolley round the supermarket.

  7. What does "Nosotros empujaremos el coche hasta el taller." mean in English? A. We will push the trolley round the supermarket. B. We will push the chair towards the table. C. We will push the car to the garage. D. We will push the door with my shoulder.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo empujan el carrito por el supermercado. B. Yo empuja el carrito por el supermercado. C. Yo empujo el carrito por el supermercado.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él empujé el coche hasta el taller. B. Él empujó el coche hasta el taller. C. Él empujaron el coche hasta el taller.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo empuje la silla hacia la mesa. B. Yo empujen la silla hacia la mesa. C. Yo empuje la silla hacia la mesa.

Answer key

  1. empujo — The yo present form of empujar is empujo.
  2. empujó — The el preterite form of empujar is empujó.
  3. empujarás — The tu future form of empujar is empujarás.
  4. empujábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of empujar is empujábamos.
  5. I push the door with my shoulder. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form empujo, so the English is "I push the door with my shoulder." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she pushed the trolley round the supermarket. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form empujó, so the English is "He/she pushed the trolley round the supermarket." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will push the car to the garage. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form empujaremos, so the English is "We will push the car to the garage." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo empujo el carrito por el supermercado. — The correct sentence is "Yo empujo el carrito por el supermercado." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él empujó el coche hasta el taller. — The correct sentence is "Él empujó el coche hasta el taller." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo empuje la silla hacia la mesa. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo empuje la silla hacia la mesa." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

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

Empujar means to push. Empujar means to push, and it is used for pushing a door, a shopping trolley, a car that will not start and, figuratively, pushing someone to do something. It is the everyday opposite of tirar in the pulling sense, and it is a fully regular -ar verb. A good first sentence to remember is Yo empujo la puerta con el hombro. — "I push the door with my shoulder."

What is the difference between empujar and tirar?

Empujar means to push, while tirar means to pull, or to throw. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use empujar when you mean to push, as in Yo empujo el carrito por el supermercado., and use tirar for to pull, or to throw.

How do I say "I push" in the past?

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo empujé el carrito por el supermercado.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo empujaba el coche hasta el taller.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he empujado el carrito por el supermercado..

How do I practise empujar?

Start with the empujar conjugation page for the full tables, then the empujar in the present tense page for the tense in focus, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure. Empujar is fully regular: empujé, empujaba, empujaré. Do not confuse it with tirar — empujar moves things away from you.

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