How to Say "to park" in Spanish
The most common Spanish word for “to park” is “aparcar” — use 'aparcar' when talking about the general act of parking a car in a typical everyday situation, especially in Spain..
aparcar
/ah-par-KAR//apaɾˈkaɾ/
Examples
No puedo aparcar aquí porque es un vado.
I can't park here because it is a driveway.
¿Dónde aparcaste el coche anoche?
Where did you park the car last night?
Es casi imposible aparcar en el centro un sábado.
It is almost impossible to park downtown on a Saturday.
The 'C' to 'QU' Swap
To keep the hard 'K' sound, the 'c' changes to 'qu' whenever the next letter is an 'e'. This happens in the 'yo' form of the past (aparqué) and all forms of the subjunctive (aparque).
Spelling Error in the Past
Mistake: “Yo aparcé el coche.”
Correction: Yo aparqué el coche. (Remember to use 'qu' to keep the sound of the word consistent!)
estacionar
/es-ta-syo-nar//estasjoˈnaɾ/
Examples
No puedes estacionar el coche aquí porque es una zona prohibida.
You cannot park the car here because it is a prohibited zone.
Estacionamos frente al restaurante para no caminar mucho.
We parked in front of the restaurant so we wouldn't walk much.
Si buscas un lugar para estacionar, hay un garaje a la vuelta.
If you are looking for a place to park, there is a garage around the corner.
Using the 'se' form
You can use 'se estaciona' to mean 'parking is done' or 'it is parked' when you don't need to say who did it.
Where you park
In Spanish, you always park 'en' (in/at) a place, never 'a' a place. For example: 'Estacionar en la calle'.
Using 'parquear' in formal writing
Mistake: “Voy a parquear mi carro.”
Correction: Voy a estacionar mi carro. While 'parquear' is used in speech, 'estacionar' is the more professional choice.
Aparcar vs. Estacionar Confusion
Related Translations
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