Levantar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

levantar means to lift, to raise, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Levantar means to lift or to raise, and it covers lifting a heavy box, raising your hand in class, raising your voice and lifting a ban. It is the non-reflexive partner of levantarse, to get up, and it is a fully regular -ar verb. This page puts levantar 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 levantar, and the full tables are on the levantar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo levanto la caja con las dos manos. — I lift the box with both hands.
  2. Él levanta la mano para preguntar. — He/she lifts my hand to ask a question.
  3. Ayer, yo levanté las persianas por la mañana. — Yesterday, I lifted the blinds in the morning.
  4. Antes, nosotros levantábamos la voz en la reunión. — Before, we used to lift my voice in the meeting.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú levantarás la caja con las dos manos. — Tomorrow, you will lift the box with both hands.
  2. Yo levantaría la mano para preguntar. — I would lift my hand to ask a question.
  3. Él ha levantado las persianas por la mañana. — He/she has lifted the blinds in the morning.
  4. Espero que él levante la voz en la reunión. — I hope he/she lifts my voice in the meeting.

With other people

  1. Nosotros levantamos la caja con las dos manos. — We lift the box with both hands.
  2. Vosotros levantáis la mano para preguntar. — You all lift my hand to ask a question.
  3. Antes, ellos levantaban las persianas por la mañana. — Before, they used to lift the blinds in the morning.
  4. Mañana, él levantará la voz en la reunión. — Tomorrow, he/she will lift my voice in the meeting.

Levantar in context

Two short dialogues that use levantar 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 levanto la caja con las dos manos." — "Today I lift the box with both hands."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, levanté las persianas por la mañana." — "Yesterday I lifted the blinds in the morning."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú levantarás la mano para preguntar?" — "And tomorrow, will you will lift my hand to ask a question?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros levantamos la voz en la reunión." — "Tomorrow we lift my voice in the meeting."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo levantaría la mano para preguntar si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would lift my hand to ask a question if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él levante la caja con las dos manos." — "I hope he lifts the box with both hands."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha levantado las persianas por la mañana." — "Surely. He has already has lifted the blinds in the morning."
  • 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 me levanto la caja con las dos manos. — Right: Yo levanto la caja con las dos manos. — Levantar lifts something else, so it takes no reflexive pronoun. Me levanto means I get up, not I lift the box.
  2. Wrong: Vosotros levantais la mano para preguntar. — Right: Vosotros levantáis la mano para preguntar. — The vosotros present form carries a written accent: levantáis, not levantais. The accent marks the stressed vowel.
  3. Wrong: Treating levantar and levantarse as identical in every context. — Right: Levantar means to lift, to raise, while levantarse means to get up, the reflexive partner. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: levantar fits sentences such as Levanto la caja con las dos manos, while levantarse belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy levantado la mano para preguntar. — Right: Yo he levantado la mano para preguntar. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he levantado, has levantado, ha levantado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo levanté las persianas por la mañana todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo levantaba las persianas por la mañana todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (levantaba), not the preterite. The preterite (levanté) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on levantar: 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 ___ la caja con las dos manos. (present tense) A. levanto B. levantas C. levanta D. levantamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ la mano para preguntar. (preterite tense) A. levanté B. levantaste C. levantamos D. levantó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ las persianas por la mañana. (future tense) A. levantará B. levantaremos C. levantarás D. levantaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ la voz en la reunión. (imperfect tense) A. levantabais B. levantábamos C. levantaba D. levantabas

  5. What does "Yo levanto la caja con las dos manos." mean in English? A. I lift the box with both hands. B. I lift my hand to ask a question. C. I lift the blinds in the morning. D. I lift my voice in the meeting.

  6. What does "Él levantó la mano para preguntar." mean in English? A. He/she lifted the box with both hands. B. He/she lifted the blinds in the morning. C. He/she lifted my voice in the meeting. D. He/she lifted my hand to ask a question.

  7. What does "Nosotros levantaremos las persianas por la mañana." mean in English? A. We will lift my hand to ask a question. B. We will lift my voice in the meeting. C. We will lift the blinds in the morning. D. We will lift the box with both hands.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo levantan la mano para preguntar. B. Yo levanta la mano para preguntar. C. Yo levanto la mano para preguntar.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él levanté las persianas por la mañana. B. Él levantó las persianas por la mañana. C. Él levantaron las persianas por la mañana.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo levante la voz en la reunión. B. Yo levanten la voz en la reunión. C. Yo levante la voz en la reunión.

Answer key

  1. levanto — The yo present form of levantar is levanto.
  2. levantó — The el preterite form of levantar is levantó.
  3. levantarás — The tu future form of levantar is levantarás.
  4. levantábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of levantar is levantábamos.
  5. I lift the box with both hands. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form levanto, so the English is "I lift the box with both hands." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she lifted my hand to ask a question. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form levantó, so the English is "He/she lifted my hand to ask a question." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will lift the blinds in the morning. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form levantaremos, so the English is "We will lift the blinds in the morning." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo levanto la mano para preguntar. — The correct sentence is "Yo levanto la mano para preguntar." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él levantó las persianas por la mañana. — The correct sentence is "Él levantó las persianas por la mañana." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo levante la voz en la reunión. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo levante la voz en la reunión." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

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

Levantar means to lift, to raise. Levantar means to lift or to raise, and it covers lifting a heavy box, raising your hand in class, raising your voice and lifting a ban. It is the non-reflexive partner of levantarse, to get up, and it is a fully regular -ar verb. A good first sentence to remember is Yo levanto la caja con las dos manos. — "I lift the box with both hands."

What is the difference between levantar and levantarse?

Levantar means to lift, to raise, while levantarse means to get up, the reflexive partner. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use levantar when you mean to lift, to raise, as in Yo levanto la mano para preguntar., and use levantarse for to get up, the reflexive partner.

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

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo levanté la mano para preguntar.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo levantaba las persianas por la mañana.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he levantado la mano para preguntar..

How do I practise levantar?

Start with the levantar conjugation page for the full tables, then the levantar in the present tense page for the tense in focus, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure. Levantar lifts something else; levantarse gets you up. Levanto la caja, but me levanto de la cama.

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