apretar Present Conjugation
apretar — to press
Apretar is a stem-changing verb where the 'e' becomes 'ie' in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
apretar Present Forms
When to Use the Present
Use the present tense to talk about pressing buttons, tightening screws, or when shoes feel too tight right now.
Notes on apretar in the Present
This is a radical-changing verb (e-ie). The change happens in the 'boot' forms: aprieto, aprietas, aprieta, aprietan.
Example Sentences
Aprieto el botón para subir el volumen.
I press the button to turn up the volume.
yo
Estos zapatos me aprietan mucho.
These shoes are squeezing me a lot (too tight).
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Nosotros apretamos las tuercas de la bicicleta.
We tighten the nuts on the bicycle.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: apretas
Correct: aprietas
Why: Learners often forget the stem change (e to ie) in the tú form.
Mistake: aprietamos
Correct: apretamos
Why: The stem change should not occur in the nosotros form.
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Related Tenses
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.
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.