Fabricar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

fabricar means to manufacture, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Fabricar means to manufacture, and it covers manufacturing cars in a plant, making wooden furniture, making toys for Christmas and baking bread in a wood-fired oven. It is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e. This page puts fabricar 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 fabricar, and the full tables are on the fabricar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo fabrico coches en la planta de Valencia. — I manufacture cars at the Valencia plant.
  2. Él fabrica muebles de madera. — He/she manufactures wooden furniture.
  3. Ayer, yo fabriqué juguetes para Navidad. — Yesterday, I manufactured toys for Christmas.
  4. Antes, nosotros fabricábamos pan en el horno de leña. — Before, we used to manufacture bread in the wood-fired oven.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú fabricarás coches en la planta de Valencia. — Tomorrow, you will manufacture cars at the Valencia plant.
  2. Yo fabricaría muebles de madera. — I would manufacture wooden furniture.
  3. Él ha fabricado juguetes para Navidad. — He/she has manufactured toys for Christmas.
  4. Espero que él fabrique pan en el horno de leña. — I hope he/she manufactures bread in the wood-fired oven.

With other people

  1. Nosotros fabricamos coches en la planta de Valencia. — We manufacture cars at the Valencia plant.
  2. Vosotros fabricáis muebles de madera. — You all manufacture wooden furniture.
  3. Antes, ellos fabricaban juguetes para Navidad. — Before, they used to manufacture toys for Christmas.
  4. Mañana, él fabricará pan en el horno de leña. — Tomorrow, he/she will manufacture bread in the wood-fired oven.

Fabricar in context

Two short dialogues that use fabricar 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 fabrico coches en la planta de Valencia." — "Today I manufacture cars at the Valencia plant."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, fabriqué juguetes para Navidad." — "Yesterday I manufactured toys for Christmas."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú fabricarás muebles de madera?" — "And tomorrow, will you will manufacture wooden furniture?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros fabricamos pan en el horno de leña." — "Tomorrow we manufacture bread in the wood-fired oven."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo fabricaría muebles de madera si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would manufacture wooden furniture if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él fabrique coches en la planta de Valencia." — "I hope he manufactures cars at the Valencia plant."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha fabricado juguetes para Navidad." — "Surely. He has already has manufactured toys for Christmas."
  • 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 fabrica coches en la planta de Valencia. — Right: Yo fabrico coches en la planta de Valencia. — The person matters: fabrica is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is fabrico. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Yo fabricé muebles de madera. — Right: Yo fabriqué muebles de madera. — In the preterite, the correct first-person form is fabriqué, not fabricé. fabricar is a spelling-change verb: c becomes qu before e, so the written form changes to keep the same sound. The regular-looking form is wrong.
  3. Wrong: Treating fabricar and producir as identical in every context. — Right: Fabricar means to manufacture, while producir means to produce, the formal synonym. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: fabricar fits sentences such as Fabrico coches en la planta de Valencia, while producir belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy fabricado muebles de madera. — Right: Yo he fabricado muebles de madera. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he fabricado, has fabricado, ha fabricado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo fabriqué juguetes para Navidad todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo fabricaba juguetes para Navidad todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (fabricaba), not the preterite. The preterite (fabriqué) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on fabricar: 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 ___ coches en la planta de Valencia. (present tense) A. fabrico B. fabricas C. fabrica D. fabricamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ muebles de madera. (preterite tense) A. fabriqué B. fabricaste C. fabricamos D. fabricó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ juguetes para Navidad. (future tense) A. fabricará B. fabricaremos C. fabricarás D. fabricaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ pan en el horno de leña. (imperfect tense) A. fabricabais B. fabricábamos C. fabricaba D. fabricabas

  5. What does "Yo fabrico coches en la planta de Valencia." mean in English? A. I manufacture cars at the Valencia plant. B. I manufacture wooden furniture. C. I manufacture toys for Christmas. D. I manufacture bread in the wood-fired oven.

  6. What does "Él fabricó muebles de madera." mean in English? A. He/she manufactured cars at the Valencia plant. B. He/she manufactured toys for Christmas. C. He/she manufactured bread in the wood-fired oven. D. He/she manufactured wooden furniture.

  7. What does "Nosotros fabricaremos juguetes para Navidad." mean in English? A. We will manufacture wooden furniture. B. We will manufacture bread in the wood-fired oven. C. We will manufacture toys for Christmas. D. We will manufacture cars at the Valencia plant.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo fabrican muebles de madera. B. Yo fabrica muebles de madera. C. Yo fabrico muebles de madera.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él fabriqué juguetes para Navidad. B. Él fabricó juguetes para Navidad. C. Él fabricaron juguetes para Navidad.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo fabrique pan en el horno de leña. B. Yo fabrice pan en el horno de leña. C. Yo fabrique pan en el horno de leña.

Answer key

  1. fabrico — The yo present form of fabricar is fabrico.
  2. fabricó — The el preterite form of fabricar is fabricó.
  3. fabricarás — The tu future form of fabricar is fabricarás.
  4. fabricábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of fabricar is fabricábamos.
  5. I manufacture cars at the Valencia plant. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form fabrico, so the English is "I manufacture cars at the Valencia plant." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she manufactured wooden furniture. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form fabricó, so the English is "He/she manufactured wooden furniture." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will manufacture toys for Christmas. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form fabricaremos, so the English is "We will manufacture toys for Christmas." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo fabrico muebles de madera. — The correct sentence is "Yo fabrico muebles de madera." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él fabricó juguetes para Navidad. — The correct sentence is "Él fabricó juguetes para Navidad." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo fabrique pan en el horno de leña. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo fabrique pan en el horno de leña." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

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

Fabricar means to manufacture. Fabricar means to manufacture, and it covers manufacturing cars in a plant, making wooden furniture, making toys for Christmas and baking bread in a wood-fired oven. It is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e. A good first sentence to remember is Yo fabrico coches en la planta de Valencia. — "I manufacture cars at the Valencia plant."

What is the difference between fabricar and producir?

Fabricar means to manufacture, while producir means to produce, the formal synonym. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use fabricar when you mean to manufacture, as in Yo fabrico muebles de madera., and use producir for to produce, the formal synonym.

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

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo fabriqué muebles de madera.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo fabricaba juguetes para Navidad.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he fabricado muebles de madera..

How do I practise fabricar?

Start with the fabricar conjugation page for the full tables, then the fabricar in the present tense page for the tense in focus, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure. Spelling change: c becomes qu before e, so the preterite is fabriqué and the subjunctive is fabrique.

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