Introduction

retirarse means “to retire, to withdraw”, and it is one of the verbs you will use every day in Spanish. It is the verb for expressing “to retire, to withdraw” in everyday Spanish — in conversation, at work, and at home. This page shows retirarse in real sentences, in short dialogues, and in the mistakes learners make most often, and it finishes with a ten-question quiz so you can test yourself. Every sentence below comes with its English translation, and every form is the correct form unless the sentence is clearly marked as past or future. For a first taste: “Yo me retiro a los sesenta años por la mañana.” — “I retire at sixty.”

retirarse in real example sentences

The twelve sentences below are grouped by how retirarse is used. Read each one out loud, then read the translation. If a sentence feels useful, copy it into your own notebook with one small change — a different time, a different person, a different place — and you have a new sentence of your own.

In the present: everyday use

These sentences use {verb} in the present tense, which is how you will meet it most often: routines, facts, and things happening now.

  1. “Yo me retiro a los sesenta años cada día.” — “I retire at sixty.”
  2. “Tú te retiras a los sesenta años cada día.” — “you retire at sixty.”
  3. “Él se retira a los sesenta años siempre.” — “He retires at sixty.”
  4. “Nosotros nos retiramos a los sesenta años todos los días.” — “We retire at sixty.”

Talking about the past

The present is not the only tense you need. These sentences show {verb} in the past, so you can talk about what already happened. 5. “Yo me retiré a los sesenta años ayer.” — “I retired at sixty.” (preterite) 6. “Él se retiró a los sesenta años ayer.” — “He retired at sixty.” (preterite) 7. “Yo me retiraba a los sesenta años cuando era joven.” — “I used to retire at sixty.” (imperfect)

Plans and things already done

These sentences look forward, or look back at something already finished. Notice how the verb form changes while the meaning of {verb} stays the same. 8. “Nosotros nos retiraremos a los sesenta años mañana.” — “We will retire at sixty.” (future) 9. “Tú te has retirado a los sesenta años hoy.” — “you have retired at sixty.” (present-perfect) 10. “Espero que yo me retire a los sesenta años.” — “I hope that I retire at sixty.” (present-subjunctive)

More everyday uses

Two more present-tense sentences, covering the remaining persons, so you can see the whole table in action. 11. “Vosotros os retiráis a los sesenta años cada semana.” — “You retire at sixty.” 12. “Ellos se retiran a los sesenta años normalmente.” — “They retire at sixty.”

retirarse in context

Single sentences teach you the forms. Dialogues teach you when to use them. Read the short conversation below, then the paragraph that follows, and notice how retirarse appears naturally, without anyone stopping to think about conjugation.

Dialogue in a café

Sofía: “¿Tú te retiras a los sesenta años?” — Do you retire at sixty?

Diego: “Sí, yo me retiro a los sesenta años cada día. Es parte de mi rutina.” — Yes, I retire at sixty every day. It is part of my routine.

Sofía: “¿Y ayer? ¿También te retiras a los sesenta años?” — And yesterday? Did you retire at sixty too?

Diego: “Sí, ayer yo me retiré a los sesenta años. Mañana nosotros retiraremos a los sesenta años otra vez.” — Yes, yesterday I retired at sixty. Tomorrow we will retire at sixty again.

A short paragraph

Él se retira a los sesenta años cada día — that one sentence already tells you a lot about how retirarse works in real Spanish: who does it, when, and with what. Around it you can build a whole paragraph: what happened yesterday, what is happening now, and what will happen tomorrow, all with the same verb. When you write your own paragraph, start with the present — yo retiro a los sesenta años — then add one past sentence and one future sentence, and you have practised three tenses with one verb. That is the fastest way to make retirarse yours: use it in a story, not only in a table.

Common mistakes

Forgetting the accent in the preterite

The yo preterite form is retiré, with an accent on the stressed vowel. Writing it without the accent — retire — is a spelling error, and in speech the stress lands in the wrong place. Preterite yo forms that end in a vowel carry that accent, so check it every time you write the preterite of retirarse.

Mixing up present and preterite nosotros

For retirarse, the nosotros form is the same in the present and the preterite: retiramos. Only the context tells you which tense is meant, so pay attention to the time words around it — cada día points to the present, ayer points to the preterite. Do not invent a different form for one of the tenses.

Dropping the reflexive pronoun

Because retirarse is reflexive, it always needs its pronoun: yo me retiro a los sesenta años, not yo retiro a los sesenta años. Without me, the sentence either means something else or means nothing at all. The pronouns are me, te, se, nos, os, se — learn them with the verb, not as an afterthought.

Using ser instead of haber in perfect tenses

Spanish perfect tenses always use haber, never ser: yo he retirado a los sesenta años. English speakers sometimes reach for soy because English uses to be in some passives, but soy retirado is not the present perfect of retirarse — it is a passive construction with a different meaning.

Confusing retirarse with retirar

retirarse and retirar look similar, and learners mix them up. They are different verbs with different meanings, so check which one the sentence needs before you conjugate. If you can substitute the English meaning of retirarse — retire — the sentence needs retirarse; if it needs the meaning of retirar, use that verb instead.

Quiz

Test yourself on the forms above. Choose the best answer, then check the key below.

1. What is the yo form of retirarse in the present?

  • A. retiras
  • B. retira
  • C. retiramos
  • D. retiro

2. What is the tu form of retirarse in the preterite?

  • A. retiramos
  • B. retiraste
  • C. retiré
  • D. retiró

3. What is the el form of retirarse in the imperfect?

  • A. retirabas
  • B. retirábamos
  • C. retirabais
  • D. retiraba

4. What is the nosotros form of retirarse in the future?

  • A. retirará
  • B. retiraremos
  • C. retiraré
  • D. retirarás

5. What is the vosotros form of retirarse in the present perfect?

  • A. he retirado
  • B. has retirado
  • C. ha retirado
  • D. habéis retirado

6. What is the ellos form of retirarse in the present subjunctive?

  • A. retire
  • B. retiren
  • C. retire
  • D. retires

7. What is the yo form of retirarse in the preterite?

  • A. retiraste
  • B. retiró
  • C. retiramos
  • D. retiré

8. What is the tu form of retirarse in the imperfect?

  • A. retirábamos
  • B. retirabas
  • C. retiraba
  • D. retiraba

9. What is the el form of retirarse in the future?

  • A. retiraré
  • B. retirarás
  • C. retiraremos
  • D. retirará

10. What is the nosotros form of retirarse in the conditional?

  • A. retiraría
  • B. retiraríamos
  • C. retiraría
  • D. retirarías

Answer key

  1. retiro — The present table gives yo = retiro.
  2. retiraste — The preterite table gives tu = retiraste.
  3. retiraba — The imperfect table gives el = retiraba.
  4. retiraremos — The future table gives nosotros = retiraremos.
  5. habéis retirado — The present perfect table gives vosotros = habéis retirado.
  6. retiren — The present subjunctive table gives ellos = retiren.
  7. retiré — The preterite table gives yo = retiré.
  8. retirabas — The imperfect table gives tu = retirabas.
  9. retirará — The future table gives el = retirará.
  10. retiraríamos — The conditional table gives nosotros = retiraríamos.

Frequently asked questions

How do I use retirarse in a sentence?

Put the subject first, then the conjugated form, then the rest: “Yo me retiro a los sesenta años.” — “I retire at sixty.” Do not forget the reflexive pronoun: it goes before the verb. Change the form for the person and the tense, but keep the sentence pattern the same.

What is the most useful form of retirarse to learn first?

Learn the present yo form retiro first, then the preterite yo form retiré and the participle retirado. With those three you can talk about the present, the past and the perfect tenses. Add the gerund retirando next, and you can describe actions in progress too.

Is retirarse reflexive?

Yes — retirarse is reflexive, so it always takes me, te, se, nos, os or se. You say yo me retiro, never just yo retiro. The pronoun goes before the conjugated verb, or attached to the infinitive and gerund.

Where can I see the full conjugation of retirarse?

On the main conjugation page for retirarse, which has every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle, plus notes, examples and a quiz. The present-tense page covers one tense in depth if that is what you need right now.

Related links