Publicar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

publicar means to publish, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Publicar means to publish, and it is used for publishing a book of poems, news in a newspaper, photos on social media and an article in a magazine. It is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e, so the preterite is publiqué. This page puts publicar 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 publicar, and the full tables are on the publicar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo publico un libro de poemas. — I publish a book of poems.
  2. Él publica la noticia en el periódico. — He/she publishes the news in the newspaper.
  3. Ayer, yo publiqué las fotos en las redes sociales. — Yesterday, I published the photos on social media.
  4. Antes, nosotros publicábamos el artículo en la revista. — Before, we used to publish the article in the magazine.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú publicarás un libro de poemas. — Tomorrow, you will publish a book of poems.
  2. Yo publicaría la noticia en el periódico. — I would publish the news in the newspaper.
  3. Él ha publicado las fotos en las redes sociales. — He/she has published the photos on social media.
  4. Espero que él publique el artículo en la revista. — I hope he/she publishes the article in the magazine.

With other people

  1. Nosotros publicamos un libro de poemas. — We publish a book of poems.
  2. Vosotros publicáis la noticia en el periódico. — You all publish the news in the newspaper.
  3. Antes, ellos publicaban las fotos en las redes sociales. — Before, they used to publish the photos on social media.
  4. Mañana, él publicará el artículo en la revista. — Tomorrow, he/she will publish the article in the magazine.

Publicar in context

Two short dialogues that use publicar 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 publico un libro de poemas." — "Today I publish a book of poems."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, publiqué las fotos en las redes sociales." — "Yesterday I published the photos on social media."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú publicarás la noticia en el periódico?" — "And tomorrow, will you will publish the news in the newspaper?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros publicamos el artículo en la revista." — "Tomorrow we publish the article in the magazine."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo publicaría la noticia en el periódico si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would publish the news in the newspaper if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él publique un libro de poemas." — "I hope he publishes a book of poems."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha publicado las fotos en las redes sociales." — "Surely. He has already has published the photos on social media."
  • 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 publica un libro de poemas. — Right: Yo publico un libro de poemas. — The person matters: publica is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is publico. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Yo publicé la noticia en el periódico. — Right: Yo publiqué la noticia en el periódico. — In the preterite, the correct first-person form is publiqué, not publicé. publicar 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 publicar and editar as identical in every context. — Right: Publicar means to publish, while editar means to edit or publish, the book partner. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: publicar fits sentences such as Publico un libro de poemas, while editar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy publicado la noticia en el periódico. — Right: Yo he publicado la noticia en el periódico. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he publicado, has publicado, ha publicado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo publiqué las fotos en las redes sociales todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo publicaba las fotos en las redes sociales todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (publicaba), not the preterite. The preterite (publiqué) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on publicar: 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 ___ un libro de poemas. (present tense) A. publico B. publicas C. publica D. publicamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ la noticia en el periódico. (preterite tense) A. publiqué B. publicaste C. publicamos D. publicó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ las fotos en las redes sociales. (future tense) A. publicará B. publicaremos C. publicarás D. publicaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ el artículo en la revista. (imperfect tense) A. publicabais B. publicábamos C. publicaba D. publicabas

  5. What does "Yo publico un libro de poemas." mean in English? A. I publish a book of poems. B. I publish the news in the newspaper. C. I publish the photos on social media. D. I publish the article in the magazine.

  6. What does "Él publicó la noticia en el periódico." mean in English? A. He/she published a book of poems. B. He/she published the photos on social media. C. He/she published the article in the magazine. D. He/she published the news in the newspaper.

  7. What does "Nosotros publicaremos las fotos en las redes sociales." mean in English? A. We will publish the news in the newspaper. B. We will publish the article in the magazine. C. We will publish the photos on social media. D. We will publish a book of poems.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo publican la noticia en el periódico. B. Yo publica la noticia en el periódico. C. Yo publico la noticia en el periódico.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él publiqué las fotos en las redes sociales. B. Él publicó las fotos en las redes sociales. C. Él publicaron las fotos en las redes sociales.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo publique el artículo en la revista. B. Yo publice el artículo en la revista. C. Yo publique el artículo en la revista.

Answer key

  1. publico — The yo present form of publicar is publico.
  2. publicó — The el preterite form of publicar is publicó.
  3. publicarás — The tu future form of publicar is publicarás.
  4. publicábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of publicar is publicábamos.
  5. I publish a book of poems. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form publico, so the English is "I publish a book of poems." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she published the news in the newspaper. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form publicó, so the English is "He/she published the news in the newspaper." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will publish the photos on social media. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form publicaremos, so the English is "We will publish the photos on social media." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo publico la noticia en el periódico. — The correct sentence is "Yo publico la noticia en el periódico." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él publicó las fotos en las redes sociales. — The correct sentence is "Él publicó las fotos en las redes sociales." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo publique el artículo en la revista. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo publique el artículo en la revista." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

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

Publicar means to publish. Publicar means to publish, and it is used for publishing a book of poems, news in a newspaper, photos on social media and an article in a magazine. It is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e, so the preterite is publiqué. A good first sentence to remember is Yo publico un libro de poemas. — "I publish a book of poems."

What is the difference between publicar and editar?

Publicar means to publish, while editar means to edit or publish, the book partner. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use publicar when you mean to publish, as in Yo publico la noticia en el periódico., and use editar for to edit or publish, the book partner.

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

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo publiqué la noticia en el periódico.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo publicaba las fotos en las redes sociales.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he publicado la noticia en el periódico..

How do I practise publicar?

Start with the publicar conjugation page for the full tables, then the publicar 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 publiqué and the subjunctive is publique, never publicé.

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