Pacificar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

pacificar means to pacify, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Pacificar means to pacify, and it covers pacifying a region after a conflict, calming students with a game and pacifying a country after a war. It is a formal synonym of calmar, and it is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e. This page puts pacificar 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 pacificar, and the full tables are on the pacificar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo pacifico la región después del conflicto. — I pacify the region after the conflict.
  2. Él pacifica a los alumnos con un juego. — He/she pacifies the students with a game.
  3. Ayer, yo pacifiqué el ambiente en la reunión. — Yesterday, I pacified the atmosphere in the meeting.
  4. Antes, nosotros pacificábamos el país tras la guerra. — Before, we used to pacify the country after the war.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú pacificarás la región después del conflicto. — Tomorrow, you will pacify the region after the conflict.
  2. Yo pacificaría a los alumnos con un juego. — I would pacify the students with a game.
  3. Él ha pacificado el ambiente en la reunión. — He/she has pacified the atmosphere in the meeting.
  4. Espero que él pacifique el país tras la guerra. — I hope he/she pacifies the country after the war.

With other people

  1. Nosotros pacificamos la región después del conflicto. — We pacify the region after the conflict.
  2. Vosotros pacificáis a los alumnos con un juego. — You all pacify the students with a game.
  3. Antes, ellos pacificaban el ambiente en la reunión. — Before, they used to pacify the atmosphere in the meeting.
  4. Mañana, él pacificará el país tras la guerra. — Tomorrow, he/she will pacify the country after the war.

Pacificar in context

Two short dialogues that use pacificar 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 pacifico la región después del conflicto." — "Today I pacify the region after the conflict."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, pacifiqué el ambiente en la reunión." — "Yesterday I pacified the atmosphere in the meeting."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú pacificarás a los alumnos con un juego?" — "And tomorrow, will you will pacify the students with a game?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros pacificamos el país tras la guerra." — "Tomorrow we pacify the country after the war."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo pacificaría a los alumnos con un juego si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would pacify the students with a game if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él pacifique la región después del conflicto." — "I hope he pacifies the region after the conflict."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha pacificado el ambiente en la reunión." — "Surely. He has already has pacified the atmosphere in the meeting."
  • 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 pacifica la región después del conflicto. — Right: Yo pacifico la región después del conflicto. — The person matters: pacifica is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is pacifico. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Yo pacificé a los alumnos con un juego. — Right: Yo pacifiqué a los alumnos con un juego. — In the preterite, the correct first-person form is pacifiqué, not pacificé. pacificar is a spelling-change verb: c becomes qu before e, so the written form changes to keep the same sound. The regular-looking form is wrong.
  3. Wrong: Treating pacificar and calmar as identical in every context. — Right: Pacificar means to pacify, while calmar means to calm, the everyday verb. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: pacificar fits sentences such as Pacifico la región después del conflicto, while calmar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy pacificado a los alumnos con un juego. — Right: Yo he pacificado a los alumnos con un juego. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he pacificado, has pacificado, ha pacificado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo pacifiqué el ambiente en la reunión todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo pacificaba el ambiente en la reunión todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (pacificaba), not the preterite. The preterite (pacifiqué) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on pacificar: 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 ___ la región después del conflicto. (present tense) A. pacifico B. pacificas C. pacifica D. pacificamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ a los alumnos con un juego. (preterite tense) A. pacifiqué B. pacificaste C. pacificamos D. pacificó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ el ambiente en la reunión. (future tense) A. pacificará B. pacificaremos C. pacificarás D. pacificaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ el país tras la guerra. (imperfect tense) A. pacificabais B. pacificábamos C. pacificaba D. pacificabas

  5. What does "Yo pacifico la región después del conflicto." mean in English? A. I pacify the region after the conflict. B. I pacify the students with a game. C. I pacify the atmosphere in the meeting. D. I pacify the country after the war.

  6. What does "Él pacificó a los alumnos con un juego." mean in English? A. He/she pacified the region after the conflict. B. He/she pacified the atmosphere in the meeting. C. He/she pacified the country after the war. D. He/she pacified the students with a game.

  7. What does "Nosotros pacificaremos el ambiente en la reunión." mean in English? A. We will pacify the students with a game. B. We will pacify the country after the war. C. We will pacify the atmosphere in the meeting. D. We will pacify the region after the conflict.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo pacifican a los alumnos con un juego. B. Yo pacifica a los alumnos con un juego. C. Yo pacifico a los alumnos con un juego.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él pacifiqué el ambiente en la reunión. B. Él pacificó el ambiente en la reunión. C. Él pacificaron el ambiente en la reunión.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo pacifique el país tras la guerra. B. Yo pacifice el país tras la guerra. C. Yo pacifique el país tras la guerra.

Answer key

  1. pacifico — The yo present form of pacificar is pacifico.
  2. pacificó — The el preterite form of pacificar is pacificó.
  3. pacificarás — The tu future form of pacificar is pacificarás.
  4. pacificábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of pacificar is pacificábamos.
  5. I pacify the region after the conflict. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form pacifico, so the English is "I pacify the region after the conflict." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she pacified the students with a game. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form pacificó, so the English is "He/she pacified the students with a game." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will pacify the atmosphere in the meeting. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form pacificaremos, so the English is "We will pacify the atmosphere in the meeting." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo pacifico a los alumnos con un juego. — The correct sentence is "Yo pacifico a los alumnos con un juego." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él pacificó el ambiente en la reunión. — The correct sentence is "Él pacificó el ambiente en la reunión." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo pacifique el país tras la guerra. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo pacifique el país tras la guerra." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

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

Pacificar means to pacify. Pacificar means to pacify, and it covers pacifying a region after a conflict, calming students with a game and pacifying a country after a war. It is a formal synonym of calmar, and it is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e. A good first sentence to remember is Yo pacifico la región después del conflicto. — "I pacify the region after the conflict."

What is the difference between pacificar and calmar?

Pacificar means to pacify, while calmar means to calm, the everyday verb. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use pacificar when you mean to pacify, as in Yo pacifico a los alumnos con un juego., and use calmar for to calm, the everyday verb.

How do I say "I pacify" in the past?

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo pacifiqué a los alumnos con un juego.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo pacificaba el ambiente en la reunión.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he pacificado a los alumnos con un juego..

How do I practise pacificar?

Start with the pacificar conjugation page for the full tables, then the pacificar 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 qu before e, so the preterite is pacifiqué and the subjunctive is pacifique.

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