Obligar Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish

The present tense of obligar — "to oblige, to force" in English — is the form you need for what happens now, for habits and for general truths. This page gives you the full present conjugation table for obligar with all six persons, explains exactly how the tense is formed for this verb, shows when to use it with real examples, and finishes with a quiz so you can test yourself. Obligar means to oblige or to force, and it is used for obliging students to study, a driver to stop and a company to pay a fine. It takes a plus the infinitive for the forced action, and it is a spelling-change verb: the g becomes gu before e. To see it in a real sentence: Él obliga a los alumnos a estudiar. — "He/she obliges the students to study." Work through the table below, then the formation notes, the usage rules and the contrast with the preterite, and test yourself at the end.

Present tense conjugation table: obligar

Every person of obligar in the present tense. The gerund is obligando and the past participle is obligado.

Present indicative

Person Form
yo obligo
tú obligas
él/ella/Ud. obliga
nosotros/as obligamos
vosotros/as obligáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. obligan

How the present indicative of obligar is formed

The present indicative of obligar is built from the stem oblig- plus the present endings for -ar verbs. Take the infinitive, drop the -ar ending, and add the ending that matches the person. The table below shows the endings, and the full table above shows them attached to the stem.

Person Ending Form
yo -o obligo
tú -as obligas
él/ella/Ud. -a obliga
nosotros/as -amos obligamos
vosotros/as -áis obligáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. -an obligan

obligar is a spelling-change verb: g becomes gu before e. That is why the written form changes in some persons — the sound stays the same, and only the spelling adapts. In this tense, watch the first-person form obligo in particular.

The gerund of obligar is obligando and the past participle is obligado. Both are regular for this verb, and the participle is the form you need for all the perfect tenses with haber.

When to use the present tense of obligar

The present tense is not one single use — it covers several situations, and obligar appears in all of them. The five uses below are the ones you will meet most often, each with an example that shows the verb in a natural sentence.

Habits and routines

The present tense describes things you do regularly. If you do it every day, every week or every morning, the present is the tense to use. For obligar, this use looks like this: "Yo obligo a los alumnos a estudiar." — "I oblige the students to study." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

General facts

The present tense states facts that are generally true, not tied to one moment. It is the tense for definitions and permanent situations. For obligar, this use looks like this: "Él obliga al conductor a parar." — "He/she obliges the driver to stop." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

What is happening now

The present tense also covers what is happening at this moment, especially with verbs that describe an action in progress. For obligar, this use looks like this: "Nosotros obligamos a su hijo a comer verduras." — "We oblige her son to eat vegetables." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

Timetables and schedules

The present tense is used for fixed plans and timetables, such as trains, classes and opening times, even when they refer to the future. For obligar, this use looks like this: "Ellos obligan a la empresa a pagar la multa." — "They oblige the company to pay the fine." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

Instructions and requests

The present tense appears in instructions and polite requests, where it sounds softer than a direct command. For obligar, this use looks like this: "Tú obligas a los alumnos a estudiar." — "You oblige the students to study." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

The present tense vs the preterite

Learners often mix up the present and the preterite with obligar. The rule is simple: the present is for habits, facts and what is happening now, while the preterite is for one finished action in the past. The three pairs below show the same idea in both tenses, so you can feel the difference.

Pair 1: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Yo obligo a los alumnos a estudiar." — "I oblige the students to study."
  • Preterite: "Yo obligué a los alumnos a estudiar." — "I obliged the students to study." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Pair 2: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Él obliga al conductor a parar." — "He/she obliges the driver to stop."
  • Preterite: "Él obligó al conductor a parar." — "He/she obliged the driver to stop." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Pair 3: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Nosotros obligamos a su hijo a comer verduras." — "We oblige her son to eat vegetables."
  • Preterite: "Nosotros obligamos a su hijo a comer verduras." — "We obliged her son to eat vegetables." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Example sentences in the present tense

Eight natural sentences with obligar in the present tense only. Each one uses a form from the table above.

  1. Yo obligo a los alumnos a estudiar. — I oblige the students to study.
  2. Tú obligas al conductor a parar. — You oblige the driver to stop.
  3. Él obliga a su hijo a comer verduras. — He/she obliges her son to eat vegetables.
  4. Nosotros obligamos a la empresa a pagar la multa. — We oblige the company to pay the fine.
  5. Vosotros obligáis a los alumnos a estudiar. — You all oblige the students to study.
  6. Ellos obligan al conductor a parar. — They oblige the driver to stop.
  7. Yo obligo a su hijo a comer verduras. — I oblige her son to eat vegetables.
  8. Él obliga a la empresa a pagar la multa. — He/she obliges the company to pay the fine.

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Vosotros obligais al conductor a parar. — Right: Vosotros obligáis al conductor a parar. — The vosotros present form carries a written accent: obligáis, not obligais.
  2. Wrong: Ayer, yo obligo a su hijo a comer verduras. — Right: Ayer, yo obligué a su hijo a comer verduras. — Ayer means yesterday, so it needs the preterite (obligué), not the present (obligo). The present is for now, not for yesterday.
  3. Wrong: Yo obliga a los alumnos a estudiar. — Right: Yo obligo a los alumnos a estudiar. — The person matters: obliga is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is obligo.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy obligado al conductor a parar. — Right: Yo he obligado al conductor a parar. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he obligado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.

Quiz: test yourself

Eight questions on the present tense of obligar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.

  1. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ a los alumnos a estudiar. (present tense) A. obligo B. obligas C. obliga D. obligamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ al conductor a parar. (present tense) A. obligas B. obligo C. obliga D. obligamos

  3. Complete the sentence: Él ___ a su hijo a comer verduras. (present tense) A. obliga B. obligo C. obligas D. obligamos

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ a la empresa a pagar la multa. (present tense) A. obligamos B. obligo C. obligas D. obliga

  5. Complete the sentence: Vosotros ___ a los alumnos a estudiar. (present tense) A. obligáis B. obligo C. obligas D. obliga

  6. Complete the sentence: Ellos ___ al conductor a parar. (present tense) A. obligan B. obligo C. obligas D. obliga

  7. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ a su hijo a comer verduras. (present tense) A. obligo B. obligas C. obliga D. obligamos

  8. Complete the sentence: Él ___ a la empresa a pagar la multa. (present tense) A. obliga B. obligo C. obligas D. obligamos

Answer key

  1. obligo — The yo present form of obligar is obligo. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  2. obligas — The tu present form of obligar is obligas. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  3. obliga — The el present form of obligar is obliga. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  4. obligamos — The nosotros present form of obligar is obligamos. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  5. obligáis — The vosotros present form of obligar is obligáis. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  6. obligan — The ellos present form of obligar is obligan. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  7. obligo — The yo present form of obligar is obligo. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  8. obliga — The el present form of obligar is obliga. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.

Frequently asked questions

When do I use the present tense of obligar?

Use the present tense of obligar for habits, facts and what is happening now. For example: Yo obligo a los alumnos a estudiar. — "I oblige the students to study." The usage rules above give five situations with examples.

How is the present tense of obligar formed?

Take the stem oblig- and add the present endings for -ar verbs. The full table is at the top of this page. Remember the spelling change: g becomes gu before e.

What is the difference between the present and the preterite of obligar?

The present describes a habit or a present fact, while the preterite describes a finished action. Compare Yo obligo al conductor a parar. with Yo obligué al conductor a parar. — the verb is the same, but the time meaning changes.

How do I practise the present tense of obligar?

Drill the six forms in the table above until you can say them without looking, then use the obligar examples and quiz page for more sentences, and test yourself with the Obligar conjugation page for the full picture across all tenses.

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