Oponerse Examples, Sentences & Quiz

Introduction

oponerse means to oppose, and it is one of those verbs that shows up everywhere once you start listening for it. It is a irregular -er verb, reflexive verb, and this page puts it to work: real example sentences in several tenses, grouped by use, two short passages that show the verb in context, the mistakes learners make with it, a ten-question quiz and answers to common questions. If you only learn one sentence, make it «Me opongo todos los días» — I oppose every day. The rest of this page builds out from there, tense by tense, so you can use oponerse the way native speakers do — in the present for habits, in the past for finished events, and in the subjunctive after wishes and doubts.

Oponerse in real example sentences

In the present: everyday use

The present is where oponerse lives most of the time — routines, facts and what is happening now:

  1. Me opongo todos los días. — I oppose every day.
  2. Te opones en el trabajo. — You oppose at work.
  3. Se opone con mi familia. — He opposes with my family.
  4. Nos oponemos por la mañana. — We oppose in the morning.

Talking about the past

In the past, choose the preterite for a finished event and the imperfect for a habit or background:

  1. Ayer me opuse por la tarde. — Yesterday I opposed in the afternoon.
  2. Antes, me oponía todos los días. — In the past, I used to oppose every day.
  3. La semana pasada se opuso dos veces. — Last week He opposed twice.

Plans and things already done

The future, the conditional and the present perfect round out the picture — plans, hypotheticals and recent events:

  1. Mañana me opondré sin falta. — Tomorrow I will oppose without fail.
  2. Si tuviera más tiempo, me opondría ahora mismo. — If I had more time, I would oppose right now.
  3. Hoy me he opuesto dos veces. — Today I have opposed twice.

More everyday uses

The subjunctive, the imperative and the progressive cover wishes, commands and actions in progress:

  1. Espero que te opongas pronto. — I hope You oppose soon.
  2. ¡No te opongas! — Don't oppose!
  3. Ahora mismo me estoy oponiendo. — Right now I am opposing.

Oponerse in context

A short dialogue

Ana: «Me opongo en el trabajo.» — I oppose at work. Luis: «¡Qué bien! Me opongo con mi familia.» — I oppose with my family. Ana: «Mañana me opondré sin falta.» — Tomorrow I will oppose without fail. Luis: «Si tuviera más tiempo, me opondría ahora mismo.» — If I had more time, I would oppose right now. Ana: «Hoy me he opuesto dos veces.» — Today I have opposed twice.

A short paragraph

Ayer me opuse por la tarde. Antes, me oponía todos los días. Hoy me he opuesto dos veces. Mañana me opondré sin falta.

Yesterday I opposed in the afternoon. In the past, I used to oppose every day. Today I have opposed twice. Tomorrow I will oppose without fail.

Common mistakes with oponerse

1. Forgetting the reflexive pronoun

Wrong: yo opongo todos los días.

Right: me opongo todos los días.

oponerse is reflexive: the pronoun me belongs before every conjugated form. Without it, you are using the non-reflexive verb, which means something different — doing the action to someone else instead of to yourself.

2. Treating oponerse as fully regular in the present

Wrong: Yo opono.

Right: Yo opongo.

oponerse is irregular in the present tense, so the regular pattern does not apply. The yo form is opongo — learn it as a separate word rather than building it from the infinitive.

3. Using the imperfect for a finished event

Wrong: Ayer me oponía.

Right: Ayer me opuse.

Yesterday's finished action needs the preterite, opuse. The imperfect oponía describes what used to happen or what was going on, not a single completed event.

4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

Wrong: Espero que te opones.

Right: Espero que te opongas.

After espero que, Spanish requires the subjunctive: opongas, not the indicative opones. Wishes, hopes and doubts all trigger this change.

5. Using the affirmative imperative after no

Wrong: No te opón.

Right: No te opongas.

Negative commands use the subjunctive-based forms: no opongas. The affirmative opón can never follow no.

Quiz: oponerse in use

Test yourself on oponerse in use. Choose the correct answer, then check the key below.

1. What is the yo form of oponerse in the present indicative?

- (a) opones
- (b) opone
- (c) oponemos
- (d) opongo

2. What is the tú form of oponerse in the preterite?

- (a) opusiste
- (b) opusimos
- (c) opuso
- (d) opuse

3. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of oponerse in the future?

- (a) opondrás
- (b) opondrá
- (c) opondremos
- (d) opondré

4. What is the nosotros/as form of oponerse in the present perfect?

- (a) has opuesto
- (b) ha opuesto
- (c) hemos opuesto
- (d) he opuesto

5. What is the yo form of oponerse in the imperfect?

- (a) oponía
- (b) oponía
- (c) oponías
- (d) oponíamos

6. What is the gerund of oponerse?

- (a) opongo
- (b) opuesto
- (c) oponerse
- (d) oponiendo

7. What is the past participle of oponerse?

- (a) oponerse
- (b) oponiendo
- (c) opuse
- (d) opuesto

8. Which sentence uses oponerse correctly?

- (a) *Yo opone todos los días.*
- (b) *Yo opones todos los días.*
- (c) *Me opongo todos los días.* — I oppose every day.
- (d) *Yo oponerse todos los días.*

9. Which sentence uses oponerse correctly?

- (a) *Ayer me opuse por la tarde.* — Yesterday I opposed in the afternoon.
- (b) *Ayer yo opongo por la tarde.*
- (c) *Ayer yo oponerse por la tarde.*
- (d) *Ayer yo oponía por la tarde.*

10. What does oponerse mean?

- (a) to oppose
- (b) to offer oneself
- (c) to organise oneself
- (d) to forget

Answer key

1. (d) — In the present indicative, the yo form of oponerse is opongo. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 2. (a) — In the preterite, the tú form of oponerse is opusiste. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 3. (b) — In the future, the él/ella/Ud. form of oponerse is opondrá. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 4. (c) — In the present perfect, the nosotros/as form of oponerse is hemos opuesto. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 5. (a) — In the imperfect, the yo form of oponerse is oponía. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 6. (d) — The gerund of oponerse is oponiendo. It is used with estar for the progressive: «Estoy oponiendo». 7. (d) — The past participle of oponerse is opuesto. It follows haber in all the perfect tenses: «he opuesto». 8. (c) — Only this sentence pairs the right person with the right form of oponerse; the others mix a person with another person's form, or use the infinitive instead of a conjugated form. 9. (a) — Only this sentence pairs the right person with the right form of oponerse; the others mix a person with another person's form, or use the infinitive instead of a conjugated form. 10. (a) — oponerse means «to oppose».

Frequently asked questions

How do you say 'I oppose' in Spanish?

Say «Me opongo todos los días». That is the present-tense yo form, and it is the sentence you will use most with this verb.

How do you say 'I opposed' about yesterday?

Say «Ayer me opuse por la tarde». The preterite is the tense for a finished event: yesterday, last week, last night.

Is oponerse reflexive?

Yes — oponerse is reflexive, so every conjugated form takes its pronoun: me opongo, te opones, se opone. The pronoun always comes before the verb, except in affirmative commands, where it attaches to the end.

Which tense do learners find hardest with oponerse?

Most learners struggle with choosing between the preterite and the imperfect, not with the forms themselves. Use the preterite (opuse) for a single finished event and the imperfect (oponía) for habits and background. After that, the subjunctive is the next step.

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