Tirar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

tirar means to pull, to throw, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Tirar has two main meanings: to pull, as in tirar de la cuerda, and to throw, as in tirar la pelota. It also appears in tirar a la basura, to throw away, and tirar la toalla, to throw in the towel. The preposition de usually signals pulling, while a direct object usually signals throwing. This page puts tirar 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 tirar, and the full tables are on the tirar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo tiro de la cuerda con fuerza. — I pull the rope hard.
  2. Él tira la pelota al perro. — He/she pulls the ball to the dog.
  3. Ayer, yo tiré los papeles viejos a la basura. — Yesterday, I pulled the old papers in the bin.
  4. Antes, nosotros tirábamos de la puerta para abrirla. — Before, we used to pull the door to open it.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú tirarás de la cuerda con fuerza. — Tomorrow, you will pull the rope hard.
  2. Yo tiraría la pelota al perro. — I would pull the ball to the dog.
  3. Él ha tirado los papeles viejos a la basura. — He/she has pulled the old papers in the bin.
  4. Espero que él tire de la puerta para abrirla. — I hope he/she pulls the door to open it.

With other people

  1. Nosotros tiramos de la cuerda con fuerza. — We pull the rope hard.
  2. Vosotros tiráis la pelota al perro. — You all pull the ball to the dog.
  3. Antes, ellos tiraban los papeles viejos a la basura. — Before, they used to pull the old papers in the bin.
  4. Mañana, él tirará de la puerta para abrirla. — Tomorrow, he/she will pull the door to open it.

Tirar in context

Two short dialogues that use tirar 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 tiro de la cuerda con fuerza." — "Today I pull the rope hard."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, tiré los papeles viejos a la basura." — "Yesterday I pulled the old papers in the bin."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú tirarás la pelota al perro?" — "And tomorrow, will you will pull the ball to the dog?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros tiramos de la puerta para abrirla." — "Tomorrow we pull the door to open it."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo tiraría la pelota al perro si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would pull the ball to the dog if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él tire de la cuerda con fuerza." — "I hope he pulls the rope hard."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha tirado los papeles viejos a la basura." — "Surely. He has already has pulled the old papers in the bin."
  • 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 tira de la cuerda con fuerza. — Right: Yo tiro de la cuerda con fuerza. — The person matters: tira is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is tiro. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Vosotros tirais la pelota al perro. — Right: Vosotros tiráis la pelota al perro. — The vosotros present form carries a written accent: tiráis, not tirais. The accent marks the stressed vowel.
  3. Wrong: Treating tirar and empujar as identical in every context. — Right: Tirar means to pull, to throw, while empujar means to push. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: tirar fits sentences such as Tiro de la cuerda con fuerza, while empujar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy tirado la pelota al perro. — Right: Yo he tirado la pelota al perro. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he tirado, has tirado, ha tirado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo tiré los papeles viejos a la basura todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo tiraba los papeles viejos a la basura todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (tiraba), not the preterite. The preterite (tiré) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on tirar: 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 ___ de la cuerda con fuerza. (present tense) A. tiro B. tiras C. tira D. tiramos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ la pelota al perro. (preterite tense) A. tiré B. tiraste C. tiramos D. tiró

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ los papeles viejos a la basura. (future tense) A. tirará B. tiraremos C. tirarás D. tiraré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ de la puerta para abrirla. (imperfect tense) A. tirabais B. tirábamos C. tiraba D. tirabas

  5. What does "Yo tiro de la cuerda con fuerza." mean in English? A. I pull the rope hard. B. I pull the ball to the dog. C. I pull the old papers in the bin. D. I pull the door to open it.

  6. What does "Él tiró la pelota al perro." mean in English? A. He/she pulled the rope hard. B. He/she pulled the old papers in the bin. C. He/she pulled the door to open it. D. He/she pulled the ball to the dog.

  7. What does "Nosotros tiraremos los papeles viejos a la basura." mean in English? A. We will pull the ball to the dog. B. We will pull the door to open it. C. We will pull the old papers in the bin. D. We will pull the rope hard.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo tiran la pelota al perro. B. Yo tira la pelota al perro. C. Yo tiro la pelota al perro.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él tiré los papeles viejos a la basura. B. Él tiró los papeles viejos a la basura. C. Él tiraron los papeles viejos a la basura.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo tire de la puerta para abrirla. B. Yo tiren de la puerta para abrirla. C. Yo tire de la puerta para abrirla.

Answer key

  1. tiro — The yo present form of tirar is tiro.
  2. tiró — The el preterite form of tirar is tiró.
  3. tirarás — The tu future form of tirar is tirarás.
  4. tirábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of tirar is tirábamos.
  5. I pull the rope hard. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form tiro, so the English is "I pull the rope hard." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she pulled the ball to the dog. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form tiró, so the English is "He/she pulled the ball to the dog." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will pull the old papers in the bin. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form tiraremos, so the English is "We will pull the old papers in the bin." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo tiro la pelota al perro. — The correct sentence is "Yo tiro la pelota al perro." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él tiró los papeles viejos a la basura. — The correct sentence is "Él tiró los papeles viejos a la basura." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo tire de la puerta para abrirla. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo tire de la puerta para abrirla." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

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

Tirar means to pull, to throw. Tirar has two main meanings: to pull, as in tirar de la cuerda, and to throw, as in tirar la pelota. It also appears in tirar a la basura, to throw away, and tirar la toalla, to throw in the towel. The preposition de usually signals pulling, while a direct object usually signals throwing. A good first sentence to remember is Yo tiro de la cuerda con fuerza. — "I pull the rope hard."

What is the difference between tirar and empujar?

Tirar means to pull, to throw, while empujar means to push. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use tirar when you mean to pull, to throw, as in Yo tiro la pelota al perro., and use empujar for to push.

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

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo tiré la pelota al perro.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo tiraba los papeles viejos a la basura.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he tirado la pelota al perro..

How do I practise tirar?

Start with the tirar conjugation page for the full tables, then the tirar in the present tense page for the tense in focus, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure. Tirar de means to pull, tirar a la basura means to throw away. The phrase after the verb tells you which meaning is meant.

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