advertir

Advertir is a Spanish verb that primarily means to warn or alert someone about a risk or fact. It can also mean to inform, to point out, or to notice something, such as an error or detail. The verb is transitive and typically used with an indirect object (advertir a alguien de algo) or with a que-clause (advertir que...). In some contexts it can express simply noticing or perceiving something (se advierte un fallo).

Etymology: Advertir comes from Latin advertere, formed from ad- “toward” and vertere “to turn,” meaning to turn someone’s attention toward something. It shares roots with related words in other Romance languages and with historical English forms such as advert.

Conjugation: In the present indicative the stem changes e to ie: advierto, adviertes, advierte, advertimos, advierten. The preterite forms are advertí, advertiste, advirtió, advertimos, advertisteis, advirtieron; the imperfect is advertía, advertías, advertía, advertíamos, advertían. The future is advertiré, advetirás? No; correct forms are advertiré, advertirás, advertirá, advertiremos, advertiréis, advertirán. The conditional is advertiría, advertirías, advertiría, advertiríamos, advertiríais, advertirían. The present subjunctive is advierta, adviertas, advierta, advirtamos, advirtáis, adviertan. The past participle is advertido; the gerund is advirtiendo. Note that the present 1st-person plural form advertimos can be confused with the 1st-person plural preterite form, which is also advertimos.

Usage notes: Advertir is commonly used with de or que to introduce what is being warned about (advertir de un peligro; advertir que algo ocurrirá). It also covers the sense of noticing a detail or error. The noun form is advertencia (warning or notice). In many contexts, especially informal speech, avisar may be preferred for “to warn.”