exigir
verbCEFR B1
What does “exigir” mean in English?
1.to demand, to insist upon
to demand, to insist upon (asserting a right or requirement with force; formal and higher-register than pedir)
2.to require, to call for
to require, to call for (a task or role that demands skill, effort, or a condition): 'el trabajo exige concentración'
Example sentences
Exigimos que el director del hotel nos explicara por qué nos habían asignado una habitación diferente a la que habíamos reservado y pagado con meses de antelación.
We demanded that the hotel manager explain why we had been assigned a room different from the one we had booked and paid for months in advance.
Cuando el agente se negó a devolver nuestro dinero, le exigimos que nos pusiera en contacto con el servicio de atención al cliente antes de llamar a la policía del aeropuerto.
When the agent refused to return our money, we demanded that he put us in contact with customer services before we called the airport police.
How to use it
Exigir means 'to demand' or 'to require' and is a formal, high-register verb used when asserting a right with force. It is a subjunctive trigger: exigir que + subjunctive (when a different subject follows). Compare the register gradient: pedir (request) → reclamar (formally claim) → exigir (demand, insist). In complaint contexts, exigir signals that the speaker considers their right non-negotiable. The verb is irregular in the first-person singular present (exijo) and takes c before a/o in forms derived from that stem.
Common mistake
After exigir que, learners use indicative: '*exigimos que nos devolvía el dinero' — incorrect. As a verb of volition/demand, exigir triggers subjunctive in the subordinate clause. Also: exigir can be used without a que-clause: 'exijo una explicación' (I demand an explanation) — here no subjunctive is involved.