Recomendar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

recomendar means to recommend, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Recomendar means to recommend, and it is used for recommending a restaurant, a book, a hotel and a film. It is a stem-changing verb, e to ie, and it usually takes que plus the subjunctive for recommendations about actions: recomiendo que vayas. This page puts recomendar 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 recomendar, and the full tables are on the recomendar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo recomiendo el restaurante a sus amigos. — I recommend the restaurant to his friends.
  2. Él recomienda un buen libro a la clase. — He/she recommends a good book to the class.
  3. Ayer, yo recomendé este hotel a los viajeros. — Yesterday, I recommended this hotel to travellers.
  4. Antes, nosotros recomendábamos la película a todo el mundo. — Before, we used to recommend the film to everyone.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú recomendarás el restaurante a sus amigos. — Tomorrow, you will recommend the restaurant to his friends.
  2. Yo recomendaría un buen libro a la clase. — I would recommend a good book to the class.
  3. Él ha recomendado este hotel a los viajeros. — He/she has recommended this hotel to travellers.
  4. Espero que él recomiende la película a todo el mundo. — I hope he/she recommends the film to everyone.

With other people

  1. Nosotros recomendamos el restaurante a sus amigos. — We recommend the restaurant to his friends.
  2. Vosotros recomendáis un buen libro a la clase. — You all recommend a good book to the class.
  3. Antes, ellos recomendaban este hotel a los viajeros. — Before, they used to recommend this hotel to travellers.
  4. Mañana, él recomendará la película a todo el mundo. — Tomorrow, he/she will recommend the film to everyone.

Recomendar in context

Two short dialogues that use recomendar 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 recomiendo el restaurante a sus amigos." — "Today I recommend the restaurant to his friends."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, recomendé este hotel a los viajeros." — "Yesterday I recommended this hotel to travellers."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú recomendarás un buen libro a la clase?" — "And tomorrow, will you will recommend a good book to the class?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros recomendamos la película a todo el mundo." — "Tomorrow we recommend the film to everyone."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo recomendaría un buen libro a la clase si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would recommend a good book to the class if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él recomiende el restaurante a sus amigos." — "I hope he recommends the restaurant to his friends."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha recomendado este hotel a los viajeros." — "Surely. He has already has recommended this hotel to travellers."
  • 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 recomienda el restaurante a sus amigos. — Right: Yo recomiendo el restaurante a sus amigos. — The person matters: recomienda is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is recomiendo. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Yo recomendo un buen libro a la clase. — Right: Yo recomiendo un buen libro a la clase. — In the present, the correct first-person form is recomiendo, not recomendo. recomendar is a stem-changing verb (e → ie), so the stem changes in the present singular and third-person plural forms, while nosotros and vosotros keep the original stem.
  3. Wrong: Treating recomendar and aconsejar as identical in every context. — Right: Recomendar means to recommend, while aconsejar means to advise, the close synonym. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: recomendar fits sentences such as Recomiendo el restaurante a sus amigos, while aconsejar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy recomendado un buen libro a la clase. — Right: Yo he recomendado un buen libro a la clase. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he recomendado, has recomendado, ha recomendado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo recomendé este hotel a los viajeros todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo recomendaba este hotel a los viajeros todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (recomendaba), not the preterite. The preterite (recomendé) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on recomendar: 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 ___ el restaurante a sus amigos. (present tense) A. recomiendo B. recomiendas C. recomienda D. recomendamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ un buen libro a la clase. (preterite tense) A. recomendé B. recomendaste C. recomendamos D. recomendó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ este hotel a los viajeros. (future tense) A. recomendará B. recomendaremos C. recomendarás D. recomendaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ la película a todo el mundo. (imperfect tense) A. recomendabais B. recomendábamos C. recomendaba D. recomendabas

  5. What does "Yo recomiendo el restaurante a sus amigos." mean in English? A. I recommend the restaurant to his friends. B. I recommend a good book to the class. C. I recommend this hotel to travellers. D. I recommend the film to everyone.

  6. What does "Él recomendó un buen libro a la clase." mean in English? A. He/she recommended the restaurant to his friends. B. He/she recommended this hotel to travellers. C. He/she recommended the film to everyone. D. He/she recommended a good book to the class.

  7. What does "Nosotros recomendaremos este hotel a los viajeros." mean in English? A. We will recommend a good book to the class. B. We will recommend the film to everyone. C. We will recommend this hotel to travellers. D. We will recommend the restaurant to his friends.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo recomendo un buen libro a la clase. B. Yo recomienda un buen libro a la clase. C. Yo recomiendo un buen libro a la clase.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él recomendé este hotel a los viajeros. B. Él recomendó este hotel a los viajeros. C. Él recomendaron este hotel a los viajeros.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo recomiende la película a todo el mundo. B. Yo recomende la película a todo el mundo. C. Yo recomiende la película a todo el mundo.

Answer key

  1. recomiendo — The yo present form of recomendar is recomiendo.
  2. recomendó — The el preterite form of recomendar is recomendó.
  3. recomendarás — The tu future form of recomendar is recomendarás.
  4. recomendábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of recomendar is recomendábamos.
  5. I recommend the restaurant to his friends. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form recomiendo, so the English is "I recommend the restaurant to his friends." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she recommended a good book to the class. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form recomendó, so the English is "He/she recommended a good book to the class." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will recommend this hotel to travellers. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form recomendaremos, so the English is "We will recommend this hotel to travellers." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo recomiendo un buen libro a la clase. — The correct sentence is "Yo recomiendo un buen libro a la clase." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él recomendó este hotel a los viajeros. — The correct sentence is "Él recomendó este hotel a los viajeros." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo recomiende la película a todo el mundo. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo recomiende la película a todo el mundo." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

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

Recomendar means to recommend. Recomendar means to recommend, and it is used for recommending a restaurant, a book, a hotel and a film. It is a stem-changing verb, e to ie, and it usually takes que plus the subjunctive for recommendations about actions: recomiendo que vayas. A good first sentence to remember is Yo recomiendo el restaurante a sus amigos. — "I recommend the restaurant to his friends."

What is the difference between recomendar and aconsejar?

Recomendar means to recommend, while aconsejar means to advise, the close synonym. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use recomendar when you mean to recommend, as in Yo recomiendo un buen libro a la clase., and use aconsejar for to advise, the close synonym.

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

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo recomendé un buen libro a la clase.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo recomendaba este hotel a los viajeros.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he recomendado un buen libro a la clase..

How do I practise recomendar?

Start with the recomendar conjugation page for the full tables, then the recomendar in the present tense page for the tense in focus, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure. The stem changes e to ie: yo recomiendo, tú recomiendas, but nosotros recomendamos keeps the e.

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