Engañarse Examples, Sentences & Quiz

Introduction

engañarse means to deceive oneself, and it is one of those verbs that shows up everywhere once you start listening for it. It is a regular -ar verb, reflexive verb, and this page puts it to work: real example sentences in several tenses, grouped by use, two short passages that show the verb in context, the mistakes learners make with it, a ten-question quiz and answers to common questions. If you only learn one sentence, make it «Me engaño todos los días» — I deceive myself every day. The rest of this page builds out from there, tense by tense, so you can use engañarse the way native speakers do — in the present for habits, in the past for finished events, and in the subjunctive after wishes and doubts.

Engañarse in real example sentences

In the present: everyday use

The present is where engañarse lives most of the time — routines, facts and what is happening now:

  1. Me engaño todos los días. — I deceive myself every day.
  2. Te engañas en el trabajo. — You deceive yourself at work.
  3. Se engaña con mi familia. — He deceives himself with my family.
  4. Nos engañamos por la mañana. — We deceive ourselves in the morning.

Talking about the past

In the past, choose the preterite for a finished event and the imperfect for a habit or background:

  1. Ayer me engañé por la tarde. — Yesterday I deceived myself in the afternoon.
  2. Antes, me engañaba todos los días. — In the past, I used to deceive myself every day.
  3. La semana pasada se engañó dos veces. — Last week He deceived himself twice.

Plans and things already done

The future, the conditional and the present perfect round out the picture — plans, hypotheticals and recent events:

  1. Mañana me engañaré sin falta. — Tomorrow I will deceive myself without fail.
  2. Si tuviera más tiempo, me engañaría ahora mismo. — If I had more time, I would deceive myself right now.
  3. Hoy me he engañado dos veces. — Today I have deceived myself twice.

More everyday uses

The subjunctive, the imperative and the progressive cover wishes, commands and actions in progress:

  1. Espero que te engañes pronto. — I hope You deceive yourself soon.
  2. ¡No te engañes! — Don't deceive yourself!
  3. Ahora mismo me estoy engañando. — Right now I am deceiving myself.

Engañarse in context

A short dialogue

Ana: «Me engaño en el trabajo.» — I deceive myself at work. Luis: «¡Qué bien! Me engaño con mi familia.» — I deceive myself with my family. Ana: «Mañana me engañaré sin falta.» — Tomorrow I will deceive myself without fail. Luis: «Si tuviera más tiempo, me engañaría ahora mismo.» — If I had more time, I would deceive myself right now. Ana: «Hoy me he engañado dos veces.» — Today I have deceived myself twice.

A short paragraph

Ayer me engañé por la tarde. Antes, me engañaba todos los días. Hoy me he engañado dos veces. Mañana me engañaré sin falta.

Yesterday I deceived myself in the afternoon. In the past, I used to deceive myself every day. Today I have deceived myself twice. Tomorrow I will deceive myself without fail.

Common mistakes with engañarse

1. Forgetting the reflexive pronoun

Wrong: yo engaño todos los días.

Right: me engaño todos los días.

engañarse is reflexive: the pronoun me belongs before every conjugated form. Without it, you are using the non-reflexive verb, which means something different — doing the action to someone else instead of to yourself.

2. Using the imperfect for a finished event

Wrong: Ayer me engañaba.

Right: Ayer me engañé.

Yesterday's finished action needs the preterite, engañé. The imperfect engañaba describes what used to happen or what was going on, not a single completed event.

3. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

Wrong: Espero que te engañas.

Right: Espero que te engañes.

After espero que, Spanish requires the subjunctive: engañes, not the indicative engañas. Wishes, hopes and doubts all trigger this change.

4. Using the affirmative imperative after no

Wrong: No te engaña.

Right: No te engañes.

Negative commands use the subjunctive-based forms: no engañes. The affirmative engaña can never follow no.

5. Confusing the gerund with the past participle

Wrong: He engañando.

Right: He engañado.

The perfect tenses use haber plus the past participle: he engañado. The gerund engañando goes with estar for actions in progress («Estoy engañando»), never with haber.

Quiz: engañarse in use

Test yourself on engañarse in use. Choose the correct answer, then check the key below.

1. What is the yo form of engañarse in the present indicative?

- (a) engañamos
- (b) engaño
- (c) engaña
- (d) engañas

2. What is the tú form of engañarse in the preterite?

- (a) engañamos
- (b) engañaste
- (c) engañé
- (d) engañó

3. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of engañarse in the future?

- (a) engañaremos
- (b) engañarás
- (c) engañará
- (d) engañaré

4. What is the nosotros/as form of engañarse in the present perfect?

- (a) has engañado
- (b) hemos engañado
- (c) ha engañado
- (d) he engañado

5. What is the yo form of engañarse in the imperfect?

- (a) engañábamos
- (b) engañaba
- (c) engañabas
- (d) engañaba

6. What is the gerund of engañarse?

- (a) engañando
- (b) engañarse
- (c) engañado
- (d) engaño

7. What is the past participle of engañarse?

- (a) engañarse
- (b) engañando
- (c) engañado
- (d) engañé

8. Which sentence uses engañarse correctly?

- (a) *Yo engañas todos los días.*
- (b) *Yo engaña todos los días.*
- (c) *Yo engañarse todos los días.*
- (d) *Me engaño todos los días.* — I deceive myself every day.

9. Which sentence uses engañarse correctly?

- (a) *Ayer me engañé por la tarde.* — Yesterday I deceived myself in the afternoon.
- (b) *Ayer yo engañaba por la tarde.*
- (c) *Ayer yo engañarse por la tarde.*
- (d) *Ayer yo engaño por la tarde.*

10. What does engañarse mean?

- (a) to deceive oneself
- (b) to face up to
- (c) to rehearse
- (d) to face

Answer key

1. (b) — In the present indicative, the yo form of engañarse is engaño. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 2. (b) — In the preterite, the tú form of engañarse is engañaste. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 3. (c) — In the future, the él/ella/Ud. form of engañarse is engañará. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 4. (b) — In the present perfect, the nosotros/as form of engañarse is hemos engañado. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 5. (b) — In the imperfect, the yo form of engañarse is engañaba. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 6. (a) — The gerund of engañarse is engañando. It is used with estar for the progressive: «Estoy engañando». 7. (c) — The past participle of engañarse is engañado. It follows haber in all the perfect tenses: «he engañado». 8. (d) — Only this sentence pairs the right person with the right form of engañarse; the others mix a person with another person's form, or use the infinitive instead of a conjugated form. 9. (a) — Only this sentence pairs the right person with the right form of engañarse; the others mix a person with another person's form, or use the infinitive instead of a conjugated form. 10. (a) — engañarse means «to deceive oneself».

Frequently asked questions

How do you say 'I deceive myself' in Spanish?

Say «Me engaño todos los días». That is the present-tense yo form, and it is the sentence you will use most with this verb.

How do you say 'I deceived myself' about yesterday?

Say «Ayer me engañé por la tarde». The preterite is the tense for a finished event: yesterday, last week, last night.

Is engañarse reflexive?

Yes — engañarse is reflexive, so every conjugated form takes its pronoun: me engaño, te engañas, se engaña. The pronoun always comes before the verb, except in affirmative commands, where it attaches to the end.

Which tense do learners find hardest with engañarse?

Most learners struggle with choosing between the preterite and the imperfect, not with the forms themselves. Use the preterite (engañé) for a single finished event and the imperfect (engañaba) for habits and background. After that, the subjunctive is the next step.

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