Esconderse Examples, Sentences & Quiz

Introduction

esconderse means to hide oneself, and it is one of those verbs that shows up everywhere once you start listening for it. It is a regular -er 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 escondo todos los días» — I hide myself every day. The rest of this page builds out from there, tense by tense, so you can use esconderse the way native speakers do — in the present for habits, in the past for finished events, and in the subjunctive after wishes and doubts.

Esconderse in real example sentences

In the present: everyday use

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

  1. Me escondo todos los días. — I hide myself every day.
  2. Te escondes en el trabajo. — You hide yourself at work.
  3. Se esconde con mi familia. — He hides himself with my family.
  4. Nos escondemos por la mañana. — We hide 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 escondí por la tarde. — Yesterday I hid myself in the afternoon.
  2. Antes, me escondía todos los días. — In the past, I used to hide myself every day.
  3. La semana pasada se escondió dos veces. — Last week He hid 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 esconderé sin falta. — Tomorrow I will hide myself without fail.
  2. Si tuviera más tiempo, me escondería ahora mismo. — If I had more time, I would hide myself right now.
  3. Hoy me he escondido dos veces. — Today I have hid myself twice.

More everyday uses

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

  1. Espero que te escondas pronto. — I hope You hide yourself soon.
  2. ¡No te escondas! — Don't hide yourself!
  3. Ahora mismo me estoy escondiendo. — Right now I am hiding myself.

Esconderse in context

A short dialogue

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

A short paragraph

Ayer me escondí por la tarde. Antes, me escondía todos los días. Hoy me he escondido dos veces. Mañana me esconderé sin falta.

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

Common mistakes with esconderse

1. Forgetting the reflexive pronoun

Wrong: yo escondo todos los días.

Right: me escondo todos los días.

esconderse 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 escondía.

Right: Ayer me escondí.

Yesterday's finished action needs the preterite, escondí. The imperfect escondía 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 escondes.

Right: Espero que te escondas.

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

4. Using the affirmative imperative after no

Wrong: No te esconde.

Right: No te escondas.

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

5. Confusing the gerund with the past participle

Wrong: He escondiendo.

Right: He escondido.

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

Quiz: esconderse in use

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

1. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of esconderse in the present indicative?

- (a) escondo
- (b) escondes
- (c) escondemos
- (d) esconde

2. What is the nosotros/as form of esconderse in the preterite?

- (a) escondimos
- (b) escondió
- (c) escondiste
- (d) escondí

3. What is the vosotros/as form of esconderse in the future?

- (a) esconderéis
- (b) esconderá
- (c) esconderás
- (d) esconderé

4. What is the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of esconderse in the present perfect?

- (a) he escondido
- (b) has escondido
- (c) ha escondido
- (d) han escondido

5. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of esconderse in the imperfect?

- (a) escondíamos
- (b) escondías
- (c) escondía
- (d) escondía

6. What is the gerund of esconderse?

- (a) escondido
- (b) escondo
- (c) escondiendo
- (d) esconderse

7. What is the past participle of esconderse?

- (a) esconderse
- (b) escondido
- (c) escondiendo
- (d) escondí

8. Which sentence uses esconderse correctly?

- (a) *Yo escondes todos los días.*
- (b) *Yo esconderse todos los días.*
- (c) *Yo esconde todos los días.*
- (d) *Me escondo todos los días.* — I hide myself every day.

9. Which sentence uses esconderse correctly?

- (a) *Ayer yo escondo por la tarde.*
- (b) *Ayer me escondí por la tarde.* — Yesterday I hid myself in the afternoon.
- (c) *Ayer yo escondía por la tarde.*
- (d) *Ayer yo esconderse por la tarde.*

10. What does esconderse mean?

- (a) to escape
- (b) to hide oneself
- (c) to choose
- (d) to frighten

Answer key

1. (d) — In the present indicative, the él/ella/Ud. form of esconderse is esconde. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 2. (a) — In the preterite, the nosotros/as form of esconderse is escondimos. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 3. (a) — In the future, the vosotros/as form of esconderse is esconderéis. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 4. (d) — In the present perfect, the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of esconderse is han escondido. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 5. (c) — In the imperfect, the él/ella/Ud. form of esconderse is escondía. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 6. (c) — The gerund of esconderse is escondiendo. It is used with estar for the progressive: «Estoy escondiendo». 7. (b) — The past participle of esconderse is escondido. It follows haber in all the perfect tenses: «he escondido». 8. (d) — Only this sentence pairs the right person with the right form of esconderse; the others mix a person with another person's form, or use the infinitive instead of a conjugated form. 9. (b) — Only this sentence pairs the right person with the right form of esconderse; the others mix a person with another person's form, or use the infinitive instead of a conjugated form. 10. (b) — esconderse means «to hide oneself».

Frequently asked questions

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

Say «Me escondo 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 hid myself' about yesterday?

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

Is esconderse reflexive?

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

Which tense do learners find hardest with esconderse?

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

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