Invitar Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Spanish

invitar means "to invite" in English, and this page shows you how it actually sounds in everyday Spanish — not just the conjugation table, but the verb in real sentences, in short dialogues, and in the mistakes learners make with it. Invitar means "to invite", and it is one of the warmest social verbs in Spanish — you invite friends to dinner, to a wedding, to a party, to your house. It also has a generous second sense: to treat someone, to pay for them, as in te invito a un café, I'm treating you to a coffee. The present tense of invitar is used constantly for plans and arrangements, and the verb is completely regular, so once you know the -ar endings you know invitar. Below you will find twelve example sentences grouped by meaning, two short dialogues, the most common mistakes with corrections, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. If you want the full tables first, start with the full conjugation of invitar; if you want to study one tense in depth, see the invitar present tense page.

invitar in everyday use: examples with translations

Invitations to parties and dinners

  1. Yo invito a mis amigos a cenar los viernes. — "I invite my friends to dinner on Fridays."
  2. Nosotros invitamos a toda la familia a la boda. — "We invite the whole family to the wedding."
  3. Ayer yo invité a Marta a mi cumpleaños. — "Yesterday I invited Marta to my birthday."
  4. De joven, yo invitaba a mis amigos a mi casa cada semana. — "When I was young, I invited my friends to my house every week."

Treating someone: te invito

  1. Yo te invito a un café. — "I'm treating you to a coffee."
  2. Mi padre me invita a comer fuera hoy. — "My father is treating me to lunch out today."
  3. Mañana yo te invitaré a desayunar. — "Tomorrow I will treat you to breakfast."
  4. Juan me ha invitado a cenar dos veces. — "Juan has treated me to dinner twice."

Inviting people to join in

  1. ¿Tú invitas a tu hermano a jugar al fútbol? — "Do you invite your brother to play football?"
  2. Ellos invitan a sus vecinos a pasear por el parque. — "They invite their neighbours for a walk in the park."
  3. Yo invitaría a mis padres si tuviera más espacio. — "I would invite my parents if I had more space."
  4. Vosotros invitáis a mucha gente a vuestras fiestas. — "You invite a lot of people to your parties."

invitar in conversation

Two short dialogues that use invitar the way people really speak it. Notice how the verb changes with the person, and how the same verb fits different situations.

Planning a birthday party.

  • Elena: Yo invito a mis amigos a cenar el sábado. — "I invite my friends to dinner on Saturday."
  • Diego: ¿Tú invitas también a tu hermano? — "Do you invite your brother too?"
  • Elena: Sí, yo invito a toda la familia. — "Yes, I invite the whole family."
  • Diego: Yo te invito a un café después de la fiesta. — "I'll treat you to a coffee after the party."

At a café, one friend treats the other.

  • Sofía: Hoy yo te invito a un café. — "Today I'm treating you to a coffee."
  • Mario: ¿Tú me invitas a un café? ¡Gracias! — "You're treating me to a coffee? Thank you!"
  • Sofía: Ayer tú me invitaste a comer, hoy pago yo. — "Yesterday you treated me to lunch, today I pay."
  • Mario: Nosotros invitamos a Laura la próxima vez. — "We'll invite Laura next time."

Common mistakes with invitar

The errors learners actually make with invitar, each with the wrong form, the right form, and why the right form is right.

✗ *Yo invito a mis amigos cenar (missing the second a).

✓ Correct: Yo invito a mis amigos a cenar.

Invitar needs a before the person and a before the infinitive: invitar a alguien a hacer algo.

✗ *Yo invito te a un café (wrong pronoun order).

✓ Correct: Yo te invito a un café.

The pronoun te goes before the conjugated verb: te invito, not invito te.

✗ *Vosotros invitáis a mucha gente (written without the accent: invitais).

✓ Correct: Vosotros invitáis a mucha gente a la boda.

Invitáis needs the written accent on the í — it is part of the correct spelling.

✗ *Ellos invitan a sus amigos en la piscina (using en instead of a).

✓ Correct: Ellos invitan a sus amigos a la piscina.

Invitar takes a: invitar a alguien a un lugar. En would mean the friends are already in the pool.

Quiz: invitar in use

Ten questions on invitar — its forms, its tenses and its everyday use. Choose the best answer for each one, then check the answer key below, where every answer is explained.

1. Complete the sentence: Yo ______ a mis amigos a cenar los viernes. — "I invite my friends to dinner on Fridays."

  • a) invito
  • b) invita
  • c) invitas
  • d) invité

2. Complete the sentence: Ayer yo ______ a Marta a mi cumpleaños. — "Yesterday I invited Marta to my birthday."

  • a) invité
  • b) invito
  • c) invitó
  • d) invitaste

3. Complete the sentence: Mi padre me ______ a comer fuera hoy. — "My father is treating me to lunch out today."

  • a) invita
  • b) invitó
  • c) invito
  • d) invitas

4. Complete the sentence: ¿Tú ______ a tu hermano a jugar al fútbol? — "Do you invite your brother to play football?"

  • a) invitaste
  • b) invito
  • c) invitas
  • d) invita

5. Which is the correct present tense form of invitar for yo?

  • a) invita
  • b) invito
  • c) invitas
  • d) invitamos

6. Which is the correct present tense form of invitar for tú?

  • a) invito
  • b) invitas
  • c) invita
  • d) invitamos

7. Which is the correct present tense form of invitar for ellos/ellas/Uds.?

  • a) invita
  • b) invito
  • c) invitan
  • d) invitas

8. Which sentence uses invitar correctly?

  • a) Nosotros invitábamos a los abuelos a pasar la Navidad.
  • b) Nosotros invita a los abuelos a pasar la Navidad.
  • c) Nosotros invitamos a los abuelos a pasar la Navidad.

9. What is the past participle of invitar?

  • a) invito
  • b) invitando
  • c) invitado
  • d) invitó

10. What does invitar mean in English?

  • a) to go
  • b) to visit
  • c) to invite
  • d) to have

Answer key

  1. a) invito — The sentence needs the yo form in the present: invito.

  2. a) invité — The sentence needs the yo form in the preterite: invité.

  3. a) invita — The sentence needs the él/ella/Ud. form in the present: invita.

  4. c) invitas — The sentence needs the tú form in the present: invitas.

  5. b) invito — The present tense form for yo is invito.

  6. b) invitas — The present tense form for tú is invitas.

  7. c) invitan — The present tense form for ellos/ellas/Uds. is invitan.

  8. c) Nosotros invitamos a los abuelos a pasar la Navidad. — Nosotros invitamos a los abuelos a pasar la Navidad. is correct. The other sentences use the wrong person, the wrong tense, or the wrong pattern for this verb.

  9. c) invitado — The past participle is invitado. You need it for every perfect tense with haber: he invitado, has invitado, ha invitado.

  10. c) to invite — invitar means "to invite".

Frequently asked questions

How do I use invitar in everyday conversation?

Start with the phrases in the examples above — especially the common combinations such as invitar a cenar and invitar a una boda. Use the present tense for habits and general facts, and the preterite for things that happened once. Say the sentences aloud until the forms feel automatic, then swap in your own details: your own town, your own family, your own routine.

What is the difference between invitar and visitar?

invitar means "to invite", while visitar means "to visit". They are related words that learners often meet together, but they are not interchangeable — use invitar when you mean "to invite" and visitar when you mean "to visit".

Which tense do I need most with invitar?

The present tense, for habits, routines and general facts — that is where you will use invitar most. The preterite comes next, for things that happened once and ended. The examples on this page use both, plus the imperfect, the future and the present perfect, so you can see the verb across the tenses you actually need.

Is invitar formal or informal?

invitar is neutral — it is used in both formal and informal Spanish, at home, at work and at school. There is no special formal version of it; the same forms work in a conversation with a friend and in a letter to a company. What changes is the situation, not the verb.

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