Masticar Examples, Sentences and Quiz
Masticar means “to chew”, and it is one of the verbs you will use every day in Spanish. Masticar means to chew, and it is used for chewing food, chewing gum and chewing slowly at the table. It is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e, so the subjunctive is mastique, and the preterite first person is mastiqué. This page shows masticar in real sentences, in short dialogues, and in the mistakes learners make most often, and it finishes with a ten-question quiz so you can test yourself. Every sentence below comes with its English translation, and every form is the correct present-tense form unless the sentence is clearly marked as past or future. For a first taste: “Yo mastico la comida despacio.” — I chew the food slowly.
Masticar in real example sentences
The twelve sentences below are grouped by how masticar is used. Read each one out loud, then read the translation. If a sentence feels useful, copy it into your own notebook with one small change — a different time, a different person, a different place — and you have a new sentence of your own.
In the present: everyday use
These sentences use masticar in the present tense, which is how you will meet it most often: routines, facts, and things happening now.
“Mastico la comida despacio.” — I chew the food slowly.
“¿Tú masticas chicle en clase?” — Do you chew gum in class?
“Mastica el pan con calma.” — He/she chews the bread calmly.
“Masticamos bien antes de tragar.” — We chew well before swallowing.
Talking about the past
The present is not the only tense you need. These sentences show masticar in the past, so you can talk about what already happened.
“Ayer, yo mastiqué la comida despacio.” — Yesterday, I chewed the food slowly. (preterite)
“Él masticaba chicle en clase todos los días.” — He used to chew gum in class every day. (imperfect)
Plans and things already done
These sentences look forward, or look back at something already finished. Notice how the verb form changes while the meaning of masticar stays the same.
“Nosotros masticaremos el pan con calma mañana.” — We will chew the bread calmly tomorrow. (future)
“¿Tú has masticado bien antes de tragar?” — Have you chewed well before swallowing? (present perfect)
More everyday uses
Four more present-tense sentences, covering the remaining persons, so you can see the whole table in action.
“Masticáis la comida despacio.” — You chew the food slowly.
“Mastican chicle en clase.” — They chew gum in class.
“Mastico el pan con calma.” — I chew the bread calmly.
“Mastica bien antes de tragar.” — He/she chews well before swallowing.
Masticar in context
Single sentences teach you the forms. Dialogues teach you when to use them. Read the short conversation below, then the paragraph that follows, and notice how masticar appears naturally, without anyone stopping to think about conjugation.
A short dialogue
Lucía: “¿Tú masticas la comida despacio?” — Do you chew the food slowly?
Carlos: “Sí, yo mastico la comida despacio.” — Yes, I chew the food slowly.
Lucía: “Nosotros masticamos chicle en clase.” — We chew gum in class.
Carlos: “Y ellos mastican el pan con calma.” — And they chew the bread calmly.
Lucía: “Vosotros masticáis bien antes de tragar.” — You chew well before swallowing.
Carlos: “Sí, y él mastica chicle en clase.” — Yes, and he chews gum in class.
A short paragraph
Lucía mastica la comida despacio, y Carlos mastica chicle en clase. Nosotros masticamos el pan con calma, y ellos mastican bien antes de tragar. Yo mastico el pan con calma, y mi padre mastica bien antes de tragar. Masticar is part of everyday life, because to chew is something Spanish speakers do again and again, in every tense and every situation.
Common mistakes with masticar
These are the errors learners actually make with masticar. Each one shows the wrong version, the right version, and why the correction matters.
Wrong: “Yo mastica la comida despacio.” Right: “Yo mastico la comida despacio.” Why: The person matters: mastica is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is mastico. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
Wrong: “Ayer yo masticé chicle en clase.” Right: “Ayer yo mastiqué chicle en clase.” Why: Masticar has an irregular preterite: the correct first-person form is mastiqué, not the regular masticé. Learn the preterite forms in the table as a set.
Wrong: “Treating masticar and tragar as identical in every context.” Right: “Masticar means to chew, while tragar means to swallow.” Why: They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: masticar fits sentences such as Mastico la comida despacio, while tragar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
Wrong: “Yo soy masticado chicle en clase.” Right: “Yo he masticado chicle en clase.” Why: Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he masticado, has masticado, ha masticado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
Wrong: “De niño, yo mastiqué el pan con calma todos los días.” Right: “De niño, yo masticaba el pan con calma todos los días.” Why: For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (masticaba), not the preterite. The preterite (mastiqué) is for one finished action.
Quiz: masticar in use
Ten questions on masticar in real sentences. Choose the correct answer for each one, then check the answer key. Every answer is explained.
1. Complete the sentence: “Vosotros ______ la comida despacio.” (The food slowly.)
- (a) masticáis
- (b) mastico
- (c) masticas
Answer: masticáis — The vosotros/as form of masticar in the present is masticáis.
2. Complete the sentence: “Ellos ______ chicle en clase.” (Gum in class.)
- (a) mastico
- (b) masticas
- (c) mastican
Answer: mastican — The ellos/ellas/Uds. form of masticar in the present is mastican.
3. Complete the sentence: “Yo ______ la comida despacio.” (The food slowly.)
- (a) masticó
- (b) mastiqué
- (c) masticaste
Answer: mastiqué — The yo form of masticar in the preterite is mastiqué.
4. Complete the sentence: “Él ______ chicle en clase.” (Gum in class.)
- (a) masticaba
- (b) masticabas
- (c) masticábamos
Answer: masticaba — The él/ella/Ud. form of masticar in the imperfect is masticaba.
5. Complete the sentence: “Nosotros ______ el pan con calma.” (The bread calmly.)
- (a) masticaré
- (b) masticarás
- (c) masticaremos
Answer: masticaremos — The nosotros/as form of masticar in the future is masticaremos.
6. What does masticar mean in English?
- (a) to savour
- (b) to chew
- (c) to swallow
Answer: to chew — Masticar means “to chew”. The other options are the meanings of different verbs.
7. Which sentence is correct?
- (a) Yo mastico la comida despacio.
- (b) Ellos mastica la comida despacio.
- (c) Yo mastico chicle en clase ayer.
Answer: Yo mastico la comida despacio. — “Yo mastico la comida despacio.” is correct. The other two sentences contain the mistakes explained in the section above.
8. How do you say “I chew the food slowly.” in Spanish?
- (a) Yo mastican la comida despacio.
- (b) Yo mastiqué la comida despacio.
- (c) Yo mastico la comida despacio.
Answer: Yo mastico la comida despacio. — “Yo mastico la comida despacio.” is the correct translation. The second option uses the wrong person's form, and the third uses the preterite.
9. What is the nosotros form of masticar in the present tense?
- (a) masticas
- (b) masticamos
- (c) mastico
Answer: masticamos — The nosotros form is masticamos.
10. Which of these sentences is in the present tense?
- (a) Ayer, yo mastiqué la comida despacio.
- (b) Nosotros masticaremos la comida despacio mañana.
- (c) Yo mastico la comida despacio.
Answer: Yo mastico la comida despacio. — “Yo mastico la comida despacio.” is in the present tense. The other two are in the preterite and the future.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say 'I chew' in Spanish?
Say 'Yo mastico la comida despacio'. The complement follows directly, as in the examples above. For a routine, add a time expression: 'Yo mastico la comida despacio todos los días'.
How do you say 'I chew' in the past?
For one finished action, say 'Ayer, yo mastiqué chicle en clase'. For a repeated habit, say 'Yo masticaba chicle en clase todos los días'. For something already done, say 'Yo he masticado chicle en clase'.
What is the difference between masticar and tragar?
Masticar means to chew, while tragar means to swallow. They are easy to confuse because they appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use masticar when you mean to chew, as in Mastico la comida despacio.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of masticar — every tense of masticar in one place.
- Masticar in the present tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Spanish verbs — the hub for every Spanish verb on VerbFlow.
- Verb quiz — test yourself on masticar and other verbs.
- Conjugation practice — drill the forms of masticar until they are automatic.