apretar Imperfect Subjunctive Conjugation
apretar — to press
Formed from the preterite 'ellos' form: apretara, apretaras, apretara, apretáramos, apretarais, apretaran.
apretar Imperfect Subjunctive Forms
When to Use the Imperfect Subjunctive
Use in 'if' clauses (If I pressed...) or when past emotions/requests are involved.
Notes on apretar in the Imperfect Subjunctive
Since the preterite is regular, this tense is also regular. No 'ie' stem change occurs.
Example Sentences
Si apretaras ese botón, la máquina funcionaría.
If you pressed that button, the machine would work.
tú
Me pidió que apretara el tornillo.
He asked me to tighten the screw.
yo
Common Mistakes
Mistake: aprietara
Correct: apretara
Why: Learners often try to force the present tense stem change into the subjunctive.
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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.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: aprieta
Direct commands: aprieta (tú), apriete (usted), apretemos (nosotros), apretad (vosotros), aprieten (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no aprietes
Negative commands use 'no' + present subjunctive: no aprietes, no apriete, no apretemos, no apretéis, no aprieten.