Mandar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

mandar means to order, to send, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Mandar means to order or to send, and it covers sending a message or a letter, ordering someone to do something and sending someone to bed. It is a fully regular -ar verb, and it is a close synonym of enviar for sending things. This page puts mandar 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 mandar, and the full tables are on the mandar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo mando un mensaje a su madre. — I send a message to his mother.
  2. Él manda una carta al director. — He/she sends a letter to the director.
  3. Ayer, yo mandé a los niños a la cama. — Yesterday, I sent the children to bed.
  4. Antes, nosotros mandábamos el trabajo por correo. — Before, we used to send the work by post.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú mandarás un mensaje a su madre. — Tomorrow, you will send a message to his mother.
  2. Yo mandaría una carta al director. — I would send a letter to the director.
  3. Él ha mandado a los niños a la cama. — He/she has sent the children to bed.
  4. Espero que él mande el trabajo por correo. — I hope he/she sends the work by post.

With other people

  1. Nosotros mandamos un mensaje a su madre. — We send a message to his mother.
  2. Vosotros mandáis una carta al director. — You all send a letter to the director.
  3. Antes, ellos mandaban a los niños a la cama. — Before, they used to send the children to bed.
  4. Mañana, él mandará el trabajo por correo. — Tomorrow, he/she will send the work by post.

Mandar in context

Two short dialogues that use mandar 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 mando un mensaje a su madre." — "Today I send a message to his mother."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, mandé a los niños a la cama." — "Yesterday I sent the children to bed."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú mandarás una carta al director?" — "And tomorrow, will you will send a letter to the director?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros mandamos el trabajo por correo." — "Tomorrow we send the work by post."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo mandaría una carta al director si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would send a letter to the director if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él mande un mensaje a su madre." — "I hope he sends a message to his mother."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha mandado a los niños a la cama." — "Surely. He has already has sent the children to bed."
  • 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 manda un mensaje a su madre. — Right: Yo mando un mensaje a su madre. — The person matters: manda is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is mando. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Vosotros mandais una carta al director. — Right: Vosotros mandáis una carta al director. — The vosotros present form carries a written accent: mandáis, not mandais. The accent marks the stressed vowel.
  3. Wrong: Treating mandar and enviar as identical in every context. — Right: Mandar means to order, to send, while enviar means to send, for letters and parcels. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: mandar fits sentences such as Mando un mensaje a su madre, while enviar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy mandado una carta al director. — Right: Yo he mandado una carta al director. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he mandado, has mandado, ha mandado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo mandé a los niños a la cama todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo mandaba a los niños a la cama todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (mandaba), not the preterite. The preterite (mandé) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on mandar: 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 ___ un mensaje a su madre. (present tense) A. mando B. mandas C. manda D. mandamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ una carta al director. (preterite tense) A. mandé B. mandaste C. mandamos D. mandó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ a los niños a la cama. (future tense) A. mandará B. mandaremos C. mandarás D. mandaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ el trabajo por correo. (imperfect tense) A. mandabais B. mandábamos C. mandaba D. mandabas

  5. What does "Yo mando un mensaje a su madre." mean in English? A. I send a message to his mother. B. I send a letter to the director. C. I send the children to bed. D. I send the work by post.

  6. What does "Él mandó una carta al director." mean in English? A. He/she sent a message to his mother. B. He/she sent the children to bed. C. He/she sent the work by post. D. He/she sent a letter to the director.

  7. What does "Nosotros mandaremos a los niños a la cama." mean in English? A. We will send a letter to the director. B. We will send the work by post. C. We will send the children to bed. D. We will send a message to his mother.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo mandan una carta al director. B. Yo manda una carta al director. C. Yo mando una carta al director.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él mandé a los niños a la cama. B. Él mandó a los niños a la cama. C. Él mandaron a los niños a la cama.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo mande el trabajo por correo. B. Yo manden el trabajo por correo. C. Yo mande el trabajo por correo.

Answer key

  1. mando — The yo present form of mandar is mando.
  2. mandó — The el preterite form of mandar is mandó.
  3. mandarás — The tu future form of mandar is mandarás.
  4. mandábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of mandar is mandábamos.
  5. I send a message to his mother. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form mando, so the English is "I send a message to his mother." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she sent a letter to the director. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form mandó, so the English is "He/she sent a letter to the director." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will send the children to bed. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form mandaremos, so the English is "We will send the children to bed." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo mando una carta al director. — The correct sentence is "Yo mando una carta al director." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él mandó a los niños a la cama. — The correct sentence is "Él mandó a los niños a la cama." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo mande el trabajo por correo. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo mande el trabajo por correo." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

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

Mandar means to order, to send. Mandar means to order or to send, and it covers sending a message or a letter, ordering someone to do something and sending someone to bed. It is a fully regular -ar verb, and it is a close synonym of enviar for sending things. A good first sentence to remember is Yo mando un mensaje a su madre. — "I send a message to his mother."

What is the difference between mandar and enviar?

Mandar means to order, to send, while enviar means to send, for letters and parcels. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use mandar when you mean to order, to send, as in Yo mando una carta al director., and use enviar for to send, for letters and parcels.

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

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo mandé una carta al director.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo mandaba a los niños a la cama.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he mandado una carta al director..

How do I practise mandar?

Start with the mandar conjugation page for the full tables, then the mandar in the present tense page for the tense in focus, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure. Mandar is fully regular: mandé, mandaba, mandaré. Mandar a alguien a la cama means to send someone to bed.

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