Pescar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

pescar means to fish, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Pescar means to fish, and it covers fishing for trout in a river, fishing with a rod in a lake and, in the idiom pescar un resfriado, catching a cold. It is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e, so the preterite is pesqué. This page puts pescar 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 pescar, and the full tables are on the pescar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo pesco truchas en el río. — I fish trout in the river.
  2. Él pesca con caña en el lago. — He/she fishes with a rod in the lake.
  3. Ayer, yo pesqué en el mar al amanecer. — Yesterday, I fished in the sea at dawn.
  4. Antes, nosotros pescábamos un resfriado en invierno. — Before, we used to fish a cold in winter.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú pescarás truchas en el río. — Tomorrow, you will fish trout in the river.
  2. Yo pescaría con caña en el lago. — I would fish with a rod in the lake.
  3. Él ha pescado en el mar al amanecer. — He/she has fished in the sea at dawn.
  4. Espero que él pesque un resfriado en invierno. — I hope he/she fishes a cold in winter.

With other people

  1. Nosotros pescamos truchas en el río. — We fish trout in the river.
  2. Vosotros pescáis con caña en el lago. — You all fish with a rod in the lake.
  3. Antes, ellos pescaban en el mar al amanecer. — Before, they used to fish in the sea at dawn.
  4. Mañana, él pescará un resfriado en invierno. — Tomorrow, he/she will fish a cold in winter.

Pescar in context

Two short dialogues that use pescar 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 pesco truchas en el río." — "Today I fish trout in the river."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, pesqué en el mar al amanecer." — "Yesterday I fished in the sea at dawn."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú pescarás con caña en el lago?" — "And tomorrow, will you will fish with a rod in the lake?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros pescamos un resfriado en invierno." — "Tomorrow we fish a cold in winter."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo pescaría con caña en el lago si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would fish with a rod in the lake if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él pesque truchas en el río." — "I hope he fishes trout in the river."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha pescado en el mar al amanecer." — "Surely. He has already has fished in the sea at dawn."
  • 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 pesca truchas en el río. — Right: Yo pesco truchas en el río. — The person matters: pesca is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is pesco. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Yo pescé con caña en el lago. — Right: Yo pesqué con caña en el lago. — In the preterite, the correct first-person form is pesqué, not pescé. pescar 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 pescar and cazar as identical in every context. — Right: Pescar means to fish, while cazar means to hunt, the land partner. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: pescar fits sentences such as Pesco truchas en el río, while cazar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy pescado con caña en el lago. — Right: Yo he pescado con caña en el lago. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he pescado, has pescado, ha pescado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo pesqué en el mar al amanecer todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo pescaba en el mar al amanecer todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (pescaba), not the preterite. The preterite (pesqué) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on pescar: 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 ___ truchas en el río. (present tense) A. pesco B. pescas C. pesca D. pescamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ con caña en el lago. (preterite tense) A. pesqué B. pescaste C. pescamos D. pescó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ en el mar al amanecer. (future tense) A. pescará B. pescaremos C. pescarás D. pescaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ un resfriado en invierno. (imperfect tense) A. pescabais B. pescábamos C. pescaba D. pescabas

  5. What does "Yo pesco truchas en el río." mean in English? A. I fish trout in the river. B. I fish with a rod in the lake. C. I fish in the sea at dawn. D. I fish a cold in winter.

  6. What does "Él pescó con caña en el lago." mean in English? A. He/she fished trout in the river. B. He/she fished in the sea at dawn. C. He/she fished a cold in winter. D. He/she fished with a rod in the lake.

  7. What does "Nosotros pescaremos en el mar al amanecer." mean in English? A. We will fish with a rod in the lake. B. We will fish a cold in winter. C. We will fish in the sea at dawn. D. We will fish trout in the river.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo pescan con caña en el lago. B. Yo pesca con caña en el lago. C. Yo pesco con caña en el lago.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él pesqué en el mar al amanecer. B. Él pescó en el mar al amanecer. C. Él pescaron en el mar al amanecer.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo pesque un resfriado en invierno. B. Yo pesce un resfriado en invierno. C. Yo pesque un resfriado en invierno.

Answer key

  1. pesco — The yo present form of pescar is pesco.
  2. pescó — The el preterite form of pescar is pescó.
  3. pescarás — The tu future form of pescar is pescarás.
  4. pescábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of pescar is pescábamos.
  5. I fish trout in the river. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form pesco, so the English is "I fish trout in the river." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she fished with a rod in the lake. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form pescó, so the English is "He/she fished with a rod in the lake." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will fish in the sea at dawn. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form pescaremos, so the English is "We will fish in the sea at dawn." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo pesco con caña en el lago. — The correct sentence is "Yo pesco con caña en el lago." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él pescó en el mar al amanecer. — The correct sentence is "Él pescó en el mar al amanecer." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo pesque un resfriado en invierno. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo pesque un resfriado en invierno." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

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

Pescar means to fish. Pescar means to fish, and it covers fishing for trout in a river, fishing with a rod in a lake and, in the idiom pescar un resfriado, catching a cold. It is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e, so the preterite is pesqué. A good first sentence to remember is Yo pesco truchas en el río. — "I fish trout in the river."

What is the difference between pescar and cazar?

Pescar means to fish, while cazar means to hunt, the land partner. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use pescar when you mean to fish, as in Yo pesco con caña en el lago., and use cazar for to hunt, the land partner.

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

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo pesqué con caña en el lago.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo pescaba en el mar al amanecer.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he pescado con caña en el lago..

How do I practise pescar?

Start with the pescar conjugation page for the full tables, then the pescar 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 pesqué and the subjunctive is pesque. Pescar un resfriado is to catch a cold.

Related links