Oscurecer Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

oscurecer means to get dark, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Oscurecer means to get dark, and it is used for the sky darkening before a storm, a room darkening and the day darkening in winter. It is mostly used in the third person, and it is a -cer spelling-change verb. Anochecer is its close synonym for nightfall. This page puts oscurecer 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 oscurecer, and the full tables are on the oscurecer conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo oscurezco muy pronto en invierno. — I get dark very early in winter.
  2. Él oscurece el cielo antes de la tormenta. — He/she gets dark the sky before the storm.
  3. Ayer, yo oscurecí la habitación al cerrar las cortinas. — Yesterday, I got dark the room on closing the curtains.
  4. Antes, nosotros oscurecíamos sobre el campo al final del día. — Before, we used to get dark over the fields at the end of the day.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú oscurecerás muy pronto en invierno. — Tomorrow, you will get dark very early in winter.
  2. Yo oscurecería el cielo antes de la tormenta. — I would get dark the sky before the storm.
  3. Él ha oscurecido la habitación al cerrar las cortinas. — He/she has got dark the room on closing the curtains.
  4. Espero que él oscurezca sobre el campo al final del día. — I hope he/she gets dark over the fields at the end of the day.

With other people

  1. Nosotros oscurecemos muy pronto en invierno. — We get dark very early in winter.
  2. Vosotros oscurecéis el cielo antes de la tormenta. — You all get dark the sky before the storm.
  3. Antes, ellos oscurecían la habitación al cerrar las cortinas. — Before, they used to get dark the room on closing the curtains.
  4. Mañana, él oscurecerá sobre el campo al final del día. — Tomorrow, he/she will get dark over the fields at the end of the day.

Oscurecer in context

Two short dialogues that use oscurecer 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 oscurezco muy pronto en invierno." — "Today I get dark very early in winter."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, oscurecí la habitación al cerrar las cortinas." — "Yesterday I got dark the room on closing the curtains."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú oscurecerás el cielo antes de la tormenta?" — "And tomorrow, will you will get dark the sky before the storm?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros oscurecemos sobre el campo al final del día." — "Tomorrow we get dark over the fields at the end of the day."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo oscurecería el cielo antes de la tormenta si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would get dark the sky before the storm if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él oscurezca muy pronto en invierno." — "I hope he gets dark very early in winter."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha oscurecido la habitación al cerrar las cortinas." — "Surely. He has already has got dark the room on closing the curtains."
  • 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 oscurece muy pronto en invierno. — Right: Yo oscurezco muy pronto en invierno. — The person matters: oscurece is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is oscurezco. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Yo oscureco el cielo antes de la tormenta. — Right: Yo oscurezco el cielo antes de la tormenta. — In the present, the correct first-person form is oscurezco, not oscureco. oscurecer is a spelling-change verb: c becomes zc before o and a, so the written form changes to keep the same sound. The regular-looking form is wrong.
  3. Wrong: Treating oscurecer and amanecer as identical in every context. — Right: Oscurecer means to get dark, while amanecer means to dawn, its opposite. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: oscurecer fits sentences such as Oscurezco muy pronto en invierno, while amanecer belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy oscurecido el cielo antes de la tormenta. — Right: Yo he oscurecido el cielo antes de la tormenta. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he oscurecido, has oscurecido, ha oscurecido. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo oscurecí la habitación al cerrar las cortinas todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo oscurecía la habitación al cerrar las cortinas todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (oscurecía), not the preterite. The preterite (oscurecí) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on oscurecer: 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 ___ muy pronto en invierno. (present tense) A. oscurezco B. oscureces C. oscurece D. oscurecemos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ el cielo antes de la tormenta. (preterite tense) A. oscurecí B. oscureciste C. oscurecimos D. oscureció

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ la habitación al cerrar las cortinas. (future tense) A. oscurecerá B. oscureceremos C. oscurecerás D. oscureceré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ sobre el campo al final del día. (imperfect tense) A. oscurecíais B. oscurecíamos C. oscurecía D. oscurecías

  5. What does "Yo oscurezco muy pronto en invierno." mean in English? A. I get dark very early in winter. B. I get dark the sky before the storm. C. I get dark the room on closing the curtains. D. I get dark over the fields at the end of the day.

  6. What does "Él oscureció el cielo antes de la tormenta." mean in English? A. He/she got dark very early in winter. B. He/she got dark the room on closing the curtains. C. He/she got dark over the fields at the end of the day. D. He/she got dark the sky before the storm.

  7. What does "Nosotros oscureceremos la habitación al cerrar las cortinas." mean in English? A. We will get dark the sky before the storm. B. We will get dark over the fields at the end of the day. C. We will get dark the room on closing the curtains. D. We will get dark very early in winter.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo oscureco el cielo antes de la tormenta. B. Yo oscurece el cielo antes de la tormenta. C. Yo oscurezco el cielo antes de la tormenta.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él oscurecí la habitación al cerrar las cortinas. B. Él oscureció la habitación al cerrar las cortinas. C. Él oscurecieron la habitación al cerrar las cortinas.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo oscurezca sobre el campo al final del día. B. Yo oscureca sobre el campo al final del día. C. Yo oscurezca sobre el campo al final del día.

Answer key

  1. oscurezco — The yo present form of oscurecer is oscurezco.
  2. oscureció — The el preterite form of oscurecer is oscureció.
  3. oscurecerás — The tu future form of oscurecer is oscurecerás.
  4. oscurecíamos — The nosotros imperfect form of oscurecer is oscurecíamos.
  5. I get dark very early in winter. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form oscurezco, so the English is "I get dark very early in winter." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she got dark the sky before the storm. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form oscureció, so the English is "He/she got dark the sky before the storm." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will get dark the room on closing the curtains. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form oscureceremos, so the English is "We will get dark the room on closing the curtains." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo oscurezco el cielo antes de la tormenta. — The correct sentence is "Yo oscurezco el cielo antes de la tormenta." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él oscureció la habitación al cerrar las cortinas. — The correct sentence is "Él oscureció la habitación al cerrar las cortinas." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo oscurezca sobre el campo al final del día. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo oscurezca sobre el campo al final del día." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

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

Oscurecer means to get dark. Oscurecer means to get dark, and it is used for the sky darkening before a storm, a room darkening and the day darkening in winter. It is mostly used in the third person, and it is a -cer spelling-change verb. Anochecer is its close synonym for nightfall. A good first sentence to remember is Yo oscurezco muy pronto en invierno. — "I get dark very early in winter."

What is the difference between oscurecer and amanecer?

Oscurecer means to get dark, while amanecer means to dawn, its opposite. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use oscurecer when you mean to get dark, as in Yo oscurezco el cielo antes de la tormenta., and use amanecer for to dawn, its opposite.

How do I say "I get dark" in the past?

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo oscurecí el cielo antes de la tormenta.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo oscurecía la habitación al cerrar las cortinas.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he oscurecido el cielo antes de la tormenta..

How do I practise oscurecer?

Start with the oscurecer conjugation page for the full tables, then the oscurecer in the present tense page for the tense in focus, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure. Spelling change: c becomes zc before o and a, so yo oscurezco and the subjunctive oscurezca. It is mostly used in the third person.

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