Engañar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

engañar means to deceive, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Engañar means to deceive, and it is used for deceiving customers with false promises, deceiving a judge and deceiving family for years. It is stronger than mentir, to lie, because it implies a trick or a fraud, and it is a regular -ar verb with ñ in the stem. This page puts engañar 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 engañar, and the full tables are on the engañar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo engaño a sus clientes con promesas falsas. — I deceive his customers with false promises.
  2. Él engaña al juez con documentos falsos. — He/she deceives the judge with false documents.
  3. Ayer, yo engañé a su familia durante años. — Yesterday, I deceived his family for years.
  4. Antes, nosotros engañábamos a los niños con un truco. — Before, we used to deceive the children with a trick.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú engañarás a sus clientes con promesas falsas. — Tomorrow, you will deceive his customers with false promises.
  2. Yo engañaría al juez con documentos falsos. — I would deceive the judge with false documents.
  3. Él ha engañado a su familia durante años. — He/she has deceived his family for years.
  4. Espero que él engañe a los niños con un truco. — I hope he/she deceives the children with a trick.

With other people

  1. Nosotros engañamos a sus clientes con promesas falsas. — We deceive his customers with false promises.
  2. Vosotros engañáis al juez con documentos falsos. — You all deceive the judge with false documents.
  3. Antes, ellos engañaban a su familia durante años. — Before, they used to deceive his family for years.
  4. Mañana, él engañará a los niños con un truco. — Tomorrow, he/she will deceive the children with a trick.

Engañar in context

Two short dialogues that use engañar 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 engaño a sus clientes con promesas falsas." — "Today I deceive his customers with false promises."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, engañé a su familia durante años." — "Yesterday I deceived his family for years."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú engañarás al juez con documentos falsos?" — "And tomorrow, will you will deceive the judge with false documents?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros engañamos a los niños con un truco." — "Tomorrow we deceive the children with a trick."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo engañaría al juez con documentos falsos si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would deceive the judge with false documents if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él engañe a sus clientes con promesas falsas." — "I hope he deceives his customers with false promises."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha engañado a su familia durante años." — "Surely. He has already has deceived his family for years."
  • 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 engaña a sus clientes con promesas falsas. — Right: Yo engaño a sus clientes con promesas falsas. — The person matters: engaña is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is engaño. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Vosotros engañais al juez con documentos falsos. — Right: Vosotros engañáis al juez con documentos falsos. — The vosotros present form carries a written accent: engañáis, not engañais. The accent marks the stressed vowel.
  3. Wrong: Treating engañar and mentir as identical in every context. — Right: Engañar means to deceive, while mentir means to lie, the close verb. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: engañar fits sentences such as Engaño a sus clientes con promesas falsas, while mentir belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy engañado al juez con documentos falsos. — Right: Yo he engañado al juez con documentos falsos. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he engañado, has engañado, ha engañado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo engañé a su familia durante años todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo engañaba a su familia durante años todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (engañaba), not the preterite. The preterite (engañé) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on engañar: 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 ___ a sus clientes con promesas falsas. (present tense) A. engaño B. engañas C. engaña D. engañamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ al juez con documentos falsos. (preterite tense) A. engañé B. engañaste C. engañamos D. engañó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ a su familia durante años. (future tense) A. engañará B. engañaremos C. engañarás D. engañaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ a los niños con un truco. (imperfect tense) A. engañabais B. engañábamos C. engañaba D. engañabas

  5. What does "Yo engaño a sus clientes con promesas falsas." mean in English? A. I deceive his customers with false promises. B. I deceive the judge with false documents. C. I deceive his family for years. D. I deceive the children with a trick.

  6. What does "Él engañó al juez con documentos falsos." mean in English? A. He/she deceived his customers with false promises. B. He/she deceived his family for years. C. He/she deceived the children with a trick. D. He/she deceived the judge with false documents.

  7. What does "Nosotros engañaremos a su familia durante años." mean in English? A. We will deceive the judge with false documents. B. We will deceive the children with a trick. C. We will deceive his family for years. D. We will deceive his customers with false promises.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo engañan al juez con documentos falsos. B. Yo engaña al juez con documentos falsos. C. Yo engaño al juez con documentos falsos.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él engañé a su familia durante años. B. Él engañó a su familia durante años. C. Él engañaron a su familia durante años.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo engañe a los niños con un truco. B. Yo engañen a los niños con un truco. C. Yo engañe a los niños con un truco.

Answer key

  1. engaño — The yo present form of engañar is engaño.
  2. engañó — The el preterite form of engañar is engañó.
  3. engañarás — The tu future form of engañar is engañarás.
  4. engañábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of engañar is engañábamos.
  5. I deceive his customers with false promises. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form engaño, so the English is "I deceive his customers with false promises." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she deceived the judge with false documents. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form engañó, so the English is "He/she deceived the judge with false documents." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will deceive his family for years. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form engañaremos, so the English is "We will deceive his family for years." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo engaño al juez con documentos falsos. — The correct sentence is "Yo engaño al juez con documentos falsos." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él engañó a su familia durante años. — The correct sentence is "Él engañó a su familia durante años." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo engañe a los niños con un truco. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo engañe a los niños con un truco." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

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

Engañar means to deceive. Engañar means to deceive, and it is used for deceiving customers with false promises, deceiving a judge and deceiving family for years. It is stronger than mentir, to lie, because it implies a trick or a fraud, and it is a regular -ar verb with ñ in the stem. A good first sentence to remember is Yo engaño a sus clientes con promesas falsas. — "I deceive his customers with false promises."

What is the difference between engañar and mentir?

Engañar means to deceive, while mentir means to lie, the close verb. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use engañar when you mean to deceive, as in Yo engaño al juez con documentos falsos., and use mentir for to lie, the close verb.

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

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo engañé al juez con documentos falsos.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo engañaba a su familia durante años.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he engañado al juez con documentos falsos..

How do I practise engañar?

Start with the engañar conjugation page for the full tables, then the engañar in the present tense page for the tense in focus, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure. Engañar is written with ñ: engaño, engañas. The ñ is part of the stem, so it appears in every form.

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