Existir Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Spanish

existir — to exist — is one of the verbs you will use every day in Spanish. Existir means to exist: existe una solución, no existe el monstruo. It is regular and mostly appears in the third person, in formal and academic language. Learners meet it in phrases like no existe, existe la posibilidad de, and in questions about whether something is real. On this page you will find existir in real sentences, grouped by meaning and tense, two short texts that show it in context, the mistakes learners actually make with it, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself.

Example sentences with existir

In the present tense

  • “Yo existo — no, yo no existo en su mundo.” — “I exist — no, I do not exist in their world.”
  • “Ella existe en nuestros recuerdos.” — “She exists in our memories.”
  • “Nosotros existimos gracias a nuestros padres.” — “We exist thanks to our parents.”
  • “Ellos existen desde hace siglos.” — “They have existed for centuries.”
  • “¿Tú existes de verdad?” — “Do you really exist?”
  • “Vosotros existís en la imaginación popular.” — “You exist in the popular imagination.”

In the preterite

  • “Ayer yo existí solo en sus sueños.” — “Yesterday I existed only in their dreams.”
  • “Ella existió en otra época.” — “She existed in another era.”
  • “Nosotros existimos en un mundo distinto.” — “We existed in a different world.”
  • “Ellos existieron antes de la guerra.” — “They existed before the war.”
  • “¿Tú exististe en 1990?” — “Did you exist in 1990?”
  • “El imperio existió durante mil años.” — “The empire existed for a thousand years.”

In other tenses

The same verb in the imperfect, the future, the conditional and the present perfect — the four tenses that complete the picture. All forms come from the verified tables.

  • “Antes, estas cosas existían en nuestros recuerdos.” — “Before, these things used to exist in our memories.”
  • “En el futuro, estas cosas existirán en nuestros recuerdos.” — “In the future, these things will exist in our memories.”
  • “Si fuera posible, estas cosas existirían en nuestros recuerdos.” — “If it were possible, these things would exist in our memories.”
  • “Estas cosas han existido en nuestros recuerdos.” — “These things have existed in our memories.”

Existir in context

Many things exist that we never see: distant stars exist, deep-sea creatures exist, and ideas exist before anyone writes them down. Scientists say that the universe exists in forms we are still discovering, and philosophers argue about whether numbers exist on their own. Existir is a quiet verb — it rarely takes a person as its subject, and it usually appears in the third person, talking about the world rather than about us.

The empire existed for a thousand years, and its laws existed long after its armies had gone. A great library existed in that city, and its books existed in copies all over the known world. Then the fire came, and none of it existed any more. That is the preterite of existir: not a person doing something, but a thing being there, and then not being there.

Common mistakes with existir

Mistake 1

Wrong: No existe soluciones — agreement error.

Right: No existen soluciones.

Existir agrees with its subject: existen soluciones, not existe soluciones.

Mistake 2

Wrong: Existe hay una solución — doubling the verb.

Right: Existe una solución.

Existir already means there is; never combine it with hay.

Quiz: existir in everyday use

Ten questions on existir across the tenses. Answers with explanations follow each question.

1. What is the yo form of existir in the present tense?

  • A) existo
  • B) existes
  • C) existe
  • D) existimos

Answer: A — The yo form in the present tense is existo.

2. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of existir in the present tense?

  • A) existo
  • B) existes
  • C) existimos
  • D) existe

Answer: D — The él/ella/Ud. form in the present tense is existe.

3. What is the yo form of existir in the preterite?

  • A) existió
  • B) existimos
  • C) existí
  • D) exististe

Answer: C — The yo form in the preterite is existí.

4. What is the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of existir in the preterite?

  • A) existió
  • B) existieron
  • C) existí
  • D) exististe

Answer: B — The ellos/ellas/Uds. form in the preterite is existieron.

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

  • A) existía
  • B) existías
  • C) existía
  • D) existíamos

Answer: A — The yo form in the imperfect is existía.

6. What is the tú form of existir in the future?

  • A) existiré
  • B) existirá
  • C) existiremos
  • D) existirás

Answer: D — The tú form in the future is existirás.

7. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of existir in the conditional?

  • A) existirías
  • B) existiríamos
  • C) existiría
  • D) existiría

Answer: C — The él/ella/Ud. form in the conditional is existiría.

8. What is the nosotros/as form of existir in the present perfect?

  • A) ha existido
  • B) hemos existido
  • C) he existido
  • D) has existido

Answer: B — The nosotros/as form in the present perfect is hemos existido.

9. Fill in the blank: “Yo ___ — no, yo no existo en su mundo.” (I exist — no, I do not exist in their world.)

  • A) existo
  • B) existes
  • C) existe
  • D) existimos

Answer: A — The sentence needs existo.

10. Which sentence is correct?

  • A) No existen soluciones.
  • B) No existe soluciones — agreement error.

Answer: A — Existir agrees with its subject: existen soluciones, not existe soluciones.

Frequently asked questions

What does existir mean?

existir means “to exist” in English. Existir means to exist: existe una solución, no existe el monstruo. It is regular and mostly appears in the third person, in formal and academic language. Learners meet it in phrases like no existe, existe la posibilidad de, and in questions about whether something is real.

Is existir regular?

Yes. existir is a regular -ir verb, so its forms follow the standard endings in every tense. That makes it a good verb to learn early — once you know the endings, you know the verb.

When do I use existir in the past — preterite or imperfect?

Use the preterite — existí, exististe, existió — for a finished action at a specific moment, and the imperfect — existía, existías, existía — for what was happening, what used to happen, or the background. The same rule applies to existir as to every Spanish verb; the tense changes the meaning, not the verb.

How can I practise existir?

Start with the examples above, say them aloud, then take the quiz on this page. For more practice, use the Spanish Verb Quiz and the Existir Conjugator, and read the full conjugation page for existir to see the verb in every tense.

Say it yourself

Reading is not enough — say the verb aloud before you move on. Use the forms from the tables on this page and answer these three prompts as full sentences. First, say what exists in the world: “Existe…”. Second, say what existed long ago: “Existió…”. Third, say what will exist in the future: “Existirá…”. If you can answer all three without looking at the tables, the forms are starting to stick. If you hesitate, go back to the examples above, read them aloud twice, and try again. Speaking the forms is what turns a table you have seen into a verb you can use.

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