apretar Affirmative Imperative Conjugation
apretar — to press
Direct commands: aprieta (tú), apriete (usted), apretemos (nosotros), apretad (vosotros), aprieten (ustedes).
apretar Affirmative Imperative Forms
When to Use the Affirmative Imperative
Use to give instructions, like 'Press the red button!' or 'Tighten your belt!'
Notes on apretar in the Affirmative Imperative
The 'tú', 'usted', and 'ustedes' forms use the stem change (ie). 'Vosotros' and 'nosotros' do not.
Example Sentences
¡Aprieta aquí para empezar!
Press here to start!
tú
Aprieten los cinturones, por favor.
Tighten your belts, please.
ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: apreta
Correct: aprieta
Why: The informal tú command needs the stem change.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: aprieto
Apretar is a stem-changing verb where the 'e' becomes 'ie' in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
Preterite
yo: apreté
Apretar is completely regular in the preterite: apreté, apretaste, apretó, apretamos, apretasteis, apretaron.
Imperfect
yo: apretaba
The imperfect of apretar is regular and uses the -aba endings: apretaba, apretabas, apretaba...
Future
yo: apretaré
The future is regular: add -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án to the full infinitive 'apretar'.
Conditional
yo: apretaría
The conditional uses the infinitive plus -ía endings: apretaría, apretarías, apretaría...
Present Subjunctive
yo: apriete
The present subjunctive follows the e-ie stem change: apriete, aprietes, apriete, apretemos, apretéis, aprieten.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: apretara
Formed from the preterite 'ellos' form: apretara, apretaras, apretara, apretáramos, apretarais, apretaran.
Negative Imperative
yo: no aprietes
Negative commands use 'no' + present subjunctive: no aprietes, no apriete, no apretemos, no apretéis, no aprieten.