publicar
/publiˈkaɾ/
To post up in Spanish is publicar.
The verb publicar is used when you want to share content, such as text or images, on a website or a social media platform. When specifying where you are posting, it is common to use the preposition en followed by the name of the platform, such as publicar en redes sociales (to post on social media).
Which one should you use?
While publicar is used to mean making a post public, the verb subir (which literally means 'to go up') is often used specifically when referring to the act of uploading a file or a photo to a server.
How does it change in a sentence?
publicar is an infinitive and must be conjugated to indicate person, number and tense. Additionally, the past participle publicado is used to form perfect tenses or to function as an adjective meaning 'posted'.
How do you pronounce it?
/publiˈkaɾ/
Did you know?
- In many Spanish-speaking digital contexts, you might hear people use the anglicism postear instead of the formal publicar when speaking informally.
- If you are 'posting up' a physical flyer on a wall, you should not use publicar. Instead, you would use pegar, meaning 'to stick', or poner, meaning 'to put'.
- The word publicar shares a root with the English word 'publish'. Both derive from the Latin publicāre, which meant to make something known to the people.
Examples in context
- El jugador de baloncesto toma posición cerca del aro.The basketball player post up near the hoop.
- Hizo un movimiento para colocarse estratégicamente frente a la red.He made a move to post up strategically in front of the net.
- El jugador se acerca al aro para agarrar buena posición.The player approaches the basket to post up.
- Tomar posición como en baloncesto.Post up like in basketball.
- Voy a publicar una foto en Instagram.I am going to post a photo on Instagram.
- ¿Puedes publicar la noticia en tu muro?Can you post the news on your wall?
Example conversation
Two friends are discussing social media content.
- MaríaDaniel, ¿vas a publicar el video del viaje?Daniel, are you going to post the travel video?
- DanielSí, lo voy a publicar esta tarde.Yes, I am going to post it this afternoon.
- María¡Qué bien! Avísame cuando lo publiques.Great! Let me know when you post it.
- DanielClaro que sí, María.Of course, María.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry publicar, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries publicar, CC BY-SA 4.0.
