Merendar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

merendar means to have a snack, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Merendar means to have a snack or an afternoon snack, and it names the light meal between lunch and dinner, usually in the late afternoon. It is a stem-changing verb, e to ie, and it takes a direct object for the food: merendar un bocadillo. This page puts merendar 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 merendar, and the full tables are on the merendar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo meriendo un bocadillo a las seis. — I have a snack a sandwich at six.
  2. Él merienda con los niños después del colegio. — He/she has a snack with the children after school.
  3. Ayer, yo merendé fruta y un yogur. — Yesterday, I had a snack fruit and a yoghurt.
  4. Antes, nosotros merendábamos en el parque con amigos. — Before, we used to have a snack in the park with friends.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú merendarás un bocadillo a las seis. — Tomorrow, you will have a snack a sandwich at six.
  2. Yo merendaría con los niños después del colegio. — I would have a snack with the children after school.
  3. Él ha merendado fruta y un yogur. — He/she has had a snack fruit and a yoghurt.
  4. Espero que él meriende en el parque con amigos. — I hope he/she has a snack in the park with friends.

With other people

  1. Nosotros merendamos un bocadillo a las seis. — We have a snack a sandwich at six.
  2. Vosotros merendáis con los niños después del colegio. — You all have a snack with the children after school.
  3. Antes, ellos merendaban fruta y un yogur. — Before, they used to have a snack fruit and a yoghurt.
  4. Mañana, él merendará en el parque con amigos. — Tomorrow, he/she will have a snack in the park with friends.

Merendar in context

Two short dialogues that use merendar 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 meriendo un bocadillo a las seis." — "Today I have a snack a sandwich at six."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, merendé fruta y un yogur." — "Yesterday I had a snack fruit and a yoghurt."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú merendarás con los niños después del colegio?" — "And tomorrow, will you will have a snack with the children after school?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros merendamos en el parque con amigos." — "Tomorrow we have a snack in the park with friends."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo merendaría con los niños después del colegio si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would have a snack with the children after school if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él meriende un bocadillo a las seis." — "I hope he has a snack a sandwich at six."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha merendado fruta y un yogur." — "Surely. He has already has had a snack fruit and a yoghurt."
  • 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 merienda un bocadillo a las seis. — Right: Yo meriendo un bocadillo a las seis. — The person matters: merienda is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is meriendo. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Yo merendo con los niños después del colegio. — Right: Yo meriendo con los niños después del colegio. — In the present, the correct first-person form is meriendo, not merendo. merendar is a stem-changing verb (e → ie), so the stem changes in the present singular and third-person plural forms, while nosotros and vosotros keep the original stem.
  3. Wrong: Treating merendar and cenar as identical in every context. — Right: Merendar means to have a snack, while cenar means to have dinner. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: merendar fits sentences such as Meriendo un bocadillo a las seis, while cenar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy merendado con los niños después del colegio. — Right: Yo he merendado con los niños después del colegio. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he merendado, has merendado, ha merendado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo merendé fruta y un yogur todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo merendaba fruta y un yogur todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (merendaba), not the preterite. The preterite (merendé) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on merendar: 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 bocadillo a las seis. (present tense) A. meriendo B. meriendas C. merienda D. merendamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ con los niños después del colegio. (preterite tense) A. merendé B. merendaste C. merendamos D. merendó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ fruta y un yogur. (future tense) A. merendará B. merendaremos C. merendarás D. merendaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ en el parque con amigos. (imperfect tense) A. merendabais B. merendábamos C. merendaba D. merendabas

  5. What does "Yo meriendo un bocadillo a las seis." mean in English? A. I have a snack a sandwich at six. B. I have a snack with the children after school. C. I have a snack fruit and a yoghurt. D. I have a snack in the park with friends.

  6. What does "Él merendó con los niños después del colegio." mean in English? A. He/she had a snack a sandwich at six. B. He/she had a snack fruit and a yoghurt. C. He/she had a snack in the park with friends. D. He/she had a snack with the children after school.

  7. What does "Nosotros merendaremos fruta y un yogur." mean in English? A. We will have a snack with the children after school. B. We will have a snack in the park with friends. C. We will have a snack fruit and a yoghurt. D. We will have a snack a sandwich at six.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo merendo con los niños después del colegio. B. Yo merienda con los niños después del colegio. C. Yo meriendo con los niños después del colegio.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él merendé fruta y un yogur. B. Él merendó fruta y un yogur. C. Él merendaron fruta y un yogur.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo meriende en el parque con amigos. B. Yo merende en el parque con amigos. C. Yo meriende en el parque con amigos.

Answer key

  1. meriendo — The yo present form of merendar is meriendo.
  2. merendó — The el preterite form of merendar is merendó.
  3. merendarás — The tu future form of merendar is merendarás.
  4. merendábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of merendar is merendábamos.
  5. I have a snack a sandwich at six. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form meriendo, so the English is "I have a snack a sandwich at six." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she had a snack with the children after school. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form merendó, so the English is "He/she had a snack with the children after school." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will have a snack fruit and a yoghurt. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form merendaremos, so the English is "We will have a snack fruit and a yoghurt." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo meriendo con los niños después del colegio. — The correct sentence is "Yo meriendo con los niños después del colegio." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él merendó fruta y un yogur. — The correct sentence is "Él merendó fruta y un yogur." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo meriende en el parque con amigos. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo meriende en el parque con amigos." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

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

Merendar means to have a snack. Merendar means to have a snack or an afternoon snack, and it names the light meal between lunch and dinner, usually in the late afternoon. It is a stem-changing verb, e to ie, and it takes a direct object for the food: merendar un bocadillo. A good first sentence to remember is Yo meriendo un bocadillo a las seis. — "I have a snack a sandwich at six."

What is the difference between merendar and cenar?

Merendar means to have a snack, while cenar means to have dinner. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use merendar when you mean to have a snack, as in Yo meriendo con los niños después del colegio., and use cenar for to have dinner.

How do I say "I have a snack" in the past?

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo merendé con los niños después del colegio.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo merendaba fruta y un yogur.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he merendado con los niños después del colegio..

How do I practise merendar?

Start with the merendar conjugation page for the full tables, then the merendar in the present tense page for the tense in focus, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure. The stem changes e to ie: yo meriendo, tú meriendas, but nosotros merendamos keeps the e.

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