Saborear Examples, Sentences and Quiz
Saborear means “to savour”, and it is one of the verbs you will use every day in Spanish. Saborear means to savour, and it is used for tasting food slowly, enjoying a meal and enjoying a moment. It is fully regular, and it is the slow, appreciative partner of probar. This page shows saborear 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 present-tense form unless the sentence is clearly marked as past or future. For a first taste: “Yo saboreo la comida con calma.” — I savour the food calmly.
Saborear in real example sentences
The twelve sentences below are grouped by how saborear 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 saborear in the present tense, which is how you will meet it most often: routines, facts, and things happening now.
“Saboreo la comida con calma.” — I savour the food calmly.
“¿Tú saboreas el vino en la cena?” — Do you savour the wine at dinner?
“Saborea cada bocado del postre.” — He/she savours every mouthful of the dessert.
“Saboreamos el momento sin prisa.” — We savour the moment without hurrying.
Talking about the past
The present is not the only tense you need. These sentences show saborear in the past, so you can talk about what already happened.
“Ayer, yo saboreé la comida con calma.” — Yesterday, I savoured the food calmly. (preterite)
“Él saboreaba el vino en la cena todos los días.” — He used to savour the wine at dinner every day. (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 saborear stays the same.
“Nosotros saborearemos cada bocado del postre mañana.” — We will savour every mouthful of the dessert tomorrow. (future)
“¿Tú has saboreado el momento sin prisa?” — Have you savoured the moment without hurrying? (present perfect)
More everyday uses
Four more present-tense sentences, covering the remaining persons, so you can see the whole table in action.
“Saboreáis la comida con calma.” — You savour the food calmly.
“Saborean el vino en la cena.” — They savour the wine at dinner.
“Saboreo cada bocado del postre.” — I savour every mouthful of the dessert.
“Saborea el momento sin prisa.” — He/she savours the moment without hurrying.
Saborear 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 saborear appears naturally, without anyone stopping to think about conjugation.
A short dialogue
Lucía: “¿Tú saboreas la comida con calma?” — Do you savour the food calmly?
Carlos: “Sí, yo saboreo la comida con calma.” — Yes, I savour the food calmly.
Lucía: “Nosotros saboreamos el vino en la cena.” — We savour the wine at dinner.
Carlos: “Y ellos saborean cada bocado del postre.” — And they savour every mouthful of the dessert.
Lucía: “Vosotros saboreáis el momento sin prisa.” — You savour the moment without hurrying.
Carlos: “Sí, y él saborea el vino en la cena.” — Yes, and he savours the wine at dinner.
A short paragraph
Lucía saborea la comida con calma, y Carlos saborea el vino en la cena. Nosotros saboreamos cada bocado del postre, y ellos saborean el momento sin prisa. Yo saboreo cada bocado del postre, y mi padre saborea el momento sin prisa. Saborear is part of everyday life, because to savour is something Spanish speakers do again and again, in every tense and every situation.
Common mistakes with saborear
These are the errors learners actually make with saborear. Each one shows the wrong version, the right version, and why the correction matters.
Wrong: “Yo saborea la comida con calma.” Right: “Yo saboreo la comida con calma.” Why: The person matters: saborea is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is saboreo. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
Wrong: “Ayer yo saboreo el vino en la cena.” Right: “Ayer yo saboreé el vino en la cena.” Why: The present and the preterite are different tenses: saboreo is happening now, while saboreé is a finished action in the past. Use the preterite with ayer.
Wrong: “Treating saborear and probar as identical in every context.” Right: “Saborear means to savour, while probar means to taste, to try.” Why: They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: saborear fits sentences such as Saboreo la comida con calma, while probar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
Wrong: “Yo soy saboreado el vino en la cena.” Right: “Yo he saboreado el vino en la cena.” Why: Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he saboreado, has saboreado, ha saboreado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
Wrong: “De niño, yo saboreé cada bocado del postre todos los días.” Right: “De niño, yo saboreaba cada bocado del postre todos los días.” Why: For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (saboreaba), not the preterite. The preterite (saboreé) is for one finished action.
Quiz: saborear in use
Ten questions on saborear in real sentences. Choose the correct answer for each one, then check the answer key. Every answer is explained.
1. Complete the sentence: “Vosotros ______ la comida con calma.” (The food calmly.)
- (a) saboreáis
- (b) saboreo
- (c) saboreas
Answer: saboreáis — The vosotros/as form of saborear in the present is saboreáis.
2. Complete the sentence: “Ellos ______ el vino en la cena.” (The wine at dinner.)
- (a) saboreo
- (b) saboreas
- (c) saborean
Answer: saborean — The ellos/ellas/Uds. form of saborear in the present is saborean.
3. Complete the sentence: “Yo ______ la comida con calma.” (The food calmly.)
- (a) saboreó
- (b) saboreé
- (c) saboreaste
Answer: saboreé — The yo form of saborear in the preterite is saboreé.
4. Complete the sentence: “Él ______ el vino en la cena.” (The wine at dinner.)
- (a) saboreaba
- (b) saboreabas
- (c) saboreábamos
Answer: saboreaba — The él/ella/Ud. form of saborear in the imperfect is saboreaba.
5. Complete the sentence: “Nosotros ______ cada bocado del postre.” (Every mouthful of the dessert.)
- (a) saborearé
- (b) saborearás
- (c) saborearemos
Answer: saborearemos — The nosotros/as form of saborear in the future is saborearemos.
6. What does saborear mean in English?
- (a) to chew
- (b) to savour
- (c) to taste, to try
Answer: to savour — Saborear means “to savour”. The other options are the meanings of different verbs.
7. Which sentence is correct?
- (a) Yo saboreo la comida con calma.
- (b) Ellos saborea la comida con calma.
- (c) Yo saboreo el vino en la cena ayer.
Answer: Yo saboreo la comida con calma. — “Yo saboreo la comida con calma.” is correct. The other two sentences contain the mistakes explained in the section above.
8. How do you say “I savour the food calmly.” in Spanish?
- (a) Yo saborean la comida con calma.
- (b) Yo saboreé la comida con calma.
- (c) Yo saboreo la comida con calma.
Answer: Yo saboreo la comida con calma. — “Yo saboreo la comida con calma.” is the correct translation. The second option uses the wrong person's form, and the third uses the preterite.
9. What is the nosotros form of saborear in the present tense?
- (a) saboreas
- (b) saboreamos
- (c) saboreo
Answer: saboreamos — The nosotros form is saboreamos.
10. Which of these sentences is in the present tense?
- (a) Ayer, yo saboreé la comida con calma.
- (b) Nosotros saborearemos la comida con calma mañana.
- (c) Yo saboreo la comida con calma.
Answer: Yo saboreo la comida con calma. — “Yo saboreo la comida con calma.” is in the present tense. The other two are in the preterite and the future.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say 'I savour' in Spanish?
Say 'Yo saboreo la comida con calma'. The complement follows directly, as in the examples above. For a routine, add a time expression: 'Yo saboreo la comida con calma todos los días'.
How do you say 'I savour' in the past?
For one finished action, say 'Ayer, yo saboreé el vino en la cena'. For a repeated habit, say 'Yo saboreaba el vino en la cena todos los días'. For something already done, say 'Yo he saboreado el vino en la cena'.
What is the difference between saborear and probar?
Saborear means to savour, while probar means to taste, to try. They are easy to confuse because they appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use saborear when you mean to savour, as in Saboreo la comida con calma.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of saborear — every tense of saborear in one place.
- Saborear in the present tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Spanish verbs — the hub for every Spanish verb on VerbFlow.
- Verb quiz — test yourself on saborear and other verbs.
- Conjugation practice — drill the forms of saborear until they are automatic.