obediente
/obeˈdjente/
The English word obedient is translated into Spanish as obediente.
The adjective obediente describes someone or something that is willing to comply with commands.
Meaning: willing to comply with commands (adj)
How does it change in a sentence?
The adjective obediente is used for both masculine and feminine subjects because it ends in -e and does not change its spelling for gender. However, it must take the plural form obedientes to agree with a plural subject.
How do you pronounce it?
/obeˈdjente/
Did you know?
- When training dogs, a Spanish speaker might describe a 'well-behaved' or 'obedient' dog as educado, which literally means 'educated'.
- The root of obediente comes from the Latin 'obaudire', which literally means 'to listen to' or 'to pay attention to'.
- While an 'obedient' dog is a common concept, in some Spanish-speaking cultures, describing a person as obediente can carry a subtle connotation of being 'submissive' rather than just cooperative.
Examples in context
- Tom no es obediente.Tom isn't obedient.This example shows how to use the adjective in a negative sentence.Tatoeba #4761273 by AucaCoyan, translation #3413134 by CK
- Este perro es obediente.This dog is obedient.This sentence demonstrates the adjective used to describe a dog.Tatoeba #12259979 by adaycito, translation #9409704 by AlanF_US
- El perro de Ziri es muy obediente.Ziri's dog is very obedient.This sentence shows how to use the adjective with the word 'muy' (very) to describe a dog.Tatoeba #10822361 by saverius, translation #10822309 by Amastan
- Juan es un estudiante obediente.Juan is an obedient student.
- María es muy obediente con sus padres.María is very obedient with her parents.
- El perro es obediente y sumiso con su dueño.The dog is obedient and submissive to its owner.
- Los niños de esa familia son muy bien educados.The children from that family are very obedient.
- 5 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Javier and Lucía are discussing their new kitten.
- Javier¿Es obediente tu gatito?Is your kitten obedient?
- LucíaSí, es muy obediente.Yes, she is very obedient.
- Javier¡Qué suerte tienes!How lucky you are!
- LucíaEs verdad, es muy tranquila.It's true, she is very calm.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “obedient” translations and entries obediente, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries obediente, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
