apresar — Spanish conjugation

to capture

Frequency#1582Regular

Indicative

Present (Presente) Regular

The present tense is the most versatile tense in Spanish. It covers actions happening right now, habitual actions, and even near-future plans. One form does the work of three English constructions.

Ella habla inglés — She speaks / is speaking English

PronounSpanishEnglish
yoapresoI capture
apresasyou capture
vosapresásyou capture
él/ella/Ud.apresahe/she/it captures
nosotrosapresamoswe capture
vosotrosapresáisyou (pl.) capture
ellos/ellas/Uds.apresanthey capture

Preterite (Pretérito indefinido) Regular

Used for completed past actions with a defined endpoint — a single event, a series of events, or an action that interrupted another. Common with time expressions like ayer, el lunes, una vez.

Ella habló de ti ayer — She spoke about you yesterday

PronounSpanishEnglish
yoapreséI captured
apresasteyou captured
vosapresasteyou captured
él/ella/Ud.apresóhe/she/it captured
nosotrosapresamoswe captured
vosotrosapresasteisyou (pl.) captured
ellos/ellas/Uds.apresaronthey captured

Imperfect (Pretérito imperfecto) Regular

Describes ongoing or habitual past states — what things were like, background context, what used to happen. Contrasts with the preterite which marks completed events.

Cuando era niño vivía en Valencia — When I was a child I lived in Valencia

PronounSpanish
yoapresaba
apresabas
vosapresabas
él/ella/Ud.apresaba
nosotrosapresábamos
vosotrosapresabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.apresaban

Conditional (Condicional) Regular

Expresses hypothetical actions, polite requests, and what would happen under certain conditions. Also used for reported speech about the future from a past perspective.

¿Podrías ayudarme? — Could you help me?

PronounSpanishEnglish
yoapresaríaI would capture
apresaríasyou would capture
vosapresaríasyou would capture
él/ella/Ud.apresaríahe/she/it would capture
nosotrosapresaríamoswe would capture
vosotrosapresaríaisyou (pl.) would capture
ellos/ellas/Uds.apresaríanthey would capture

Future (Futuro) Regular

Expresses future actions, predictions, and probability about the present. Formed with the full infinitive as stem for most verbs. In spoken Spanish, ir a + infinitive is often preferred for near future.

Ella hablará en conferencia mañana — She will speak at the conference tomorrow

PronounSpanishEnglish
yoapresaréI will capture
apresarásyou will capture
vosapresarásyou will capture
él/ella/Ud.apresaráhe/she/it will capture
nosotrosapresaremoswe will capture
vosotrosapresaréisyou (pl.) will capture
ellos/ellas/Uds.apresaránthey will capture

Present perfect (Pretérito perfecto) Regular

A compound past tense linking a past action to the present moment — something that has happened and still feels recent or relevant. More common in Spain than Latin America where preterite is preferred.

Hoy he hablado con el jefe — Today I have spoken with the boss

PronounSpanishEnglish
yohe apresadoI have captured
has apresadoyou have captured
voshas apresadoyou have captured
él/ella/Ud.ha apresadohe/she/it has captured
nosotroshemos apresadowe have captured
vosotroshabéis apresadoyou (pl.) have captured
ellos/ellas/Uds.han apresadothey have captured

Pluperfect (Pretérito pluscuamperfecto) Regular

The past of the past — describes an action that was already completed before another past event happened. Always implies a reference point in the past.

Ya había hablado cuando llegaste — She had already spoken when you arrived

PronounSpanishEnglish
yohabía apresadoI had captured
habías apresadoyou had captured
voshabías apresadoyou had captured
él/ella/Ud.había apresadohe/she/it had captured
nosotroshabíamos apresadowe had captured
vosotroshabíais apresadoyou (pl.) had captured
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían apresadothey had captured

Conditional perfect (Condicional perfecto) Regular

Expresses what would have happened — actions that were possible but did not occur, or regrets about the past. Formed with conditional of haber + past participle.

Habría hablado, pero no me dejaron — I would have spoken, but they did not let me

PronounSpanish
yohabría apresado
habrías apresado
voshabrías apresado
él/ella/Ud.habría apresado
nosotroshabríamos apresado
vosotroshabríais apresado
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrían apresado

Future perfect (Futuro perfecto) Regular

Describes an action that will have been completed by a certain point in the future, or expresses probability about a recent past action.

Para el lunes habré terminado — By Monday I will have finished

PronounSpanishEnglish
yohabré apresadoI will have captured
habrás apresadoyou will have captured
voshabrás apresadoyou will have captured
él/ella/Ud.habrá apresadohe/she/it will have captured
nosotroshabremos apresadowe will have captured
vosotroshabréis apresadoyou (pl.) will have captured
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán apresadothey will have captured

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjuntivo presente) Regular

Used in subordinate clauses after expressions of desire, doubt, emotion, necessity, or impersonal statements. Triggered by a change of subject between the main and subordinate clause.

Espero que hable — I hope she speaks

PronounSpanish
yoaprese
apreses
vosapreses
él/ella/Ud.aprese
nosotrosapresemos
vosotrosapreséis
ellos/ellas/Uds.apresen

Imperfect subjunctive (-ra) (Subjuntivo imperfecto (-ra)) Regular

The past subjunctive used after past main verbs, in if-clauses with conditional, and for polite softening. The -ra form is more common in everyday speech than the -se form.

Si pudiera, lo haría — If I could, I would do it

PronounSpanish
yoapresara
apresaras
vosapresaras
él/ella/Ud.apresara
nosotrosapresáramos
vosotrosapresarais
ellos/ellas/Uds.apresaran

Imperfect subjunctive (-se) (Subjuntivo imperfecto (-se)) Regular

The alternative past subjunctive form. Interchangeable with -ra in most contexts but slightly more literary or formal. Both forms are grammatically correct in all regions.

Si pudiese, lo haría — If I could, I would do it

PronounSpanish
yoapresase
apresases
vosapresases
él/ella/Ud.apresase
nosotrosapresásemos
vosotrosapresaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.apresasen

Perfect subjunctive (Pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo) Regular

A compound subjunctive that expresses completed actions in a subjunctive context — used after present or future main verbs expressing doubt, emotion or desire.

Dudo que ya haya llegado — I doubt she has already arrived

PronounSpanish
yohaya apresado
hayas apresado
voshayas apresado
él/ella/Ud.haya apresado
nosotroshayamos apresado
vosotroshayáis apresado
ellos/ellas/Uds.hayan apresado

Pluperfect subjunctive (Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo) Regular

Expresses what had happened in hypothetical or unreal past contexts — the subjunctive equivalent of the pluperfect. Common in contrary-to-fact past conditions.

Si hubiera hablado, lo habrían creído — If she had spoken, they would have believed her

PronounSpanish
yohubiera apresado
hubieras apresado
voshubieras apresado
él/ella/Ud.hubiera apresado
nosotroshubiéramos apresado
vosotroshubierais apresado
ellos/ellas/Uds.hubieran apresado

Other forms

Imperative (affirmative) (Imperativo afirmativo) Regular

Direct commands and instructions. The imperative only exists for tú, usted, nosotros, vosotros and ustedes — yo has no command form. Affirmative and negative forms use different conjugations.

Habla más despacio — Speak more slowly

PronounSpanish
apresa
vosapresá
él/ella/Ud.aprese
nosotrosapresemos
vosotrosapresad
ustedesapresen

Imperative (negative) (Imperativo negativo) Regular

Negative commands use the subjunctive forms for all persons. Formed with no + present subjunctive. This applies to all persons including tú where the affirmative uses a different form.

No hables tan rápido — Do not speak so fast

PronounSpanish
no apreses
vosno apreses
él/ella/Ud.no aprese
nosotrosno apresemos
vosotrosno apreséis
ustedesno apresen

Present progressive (Presente progresivo) Regular

Emphasises that an action is happening right now at this very moment. Less common than in English since the present tense already covers ongoing actions in Spanish.

Estoy hablando contigo — I am speaking with you

PronounSpanish
yoestoy apresando
estás apresando
vosestás apresando
él/ella/Ud.está apresando
nosotrosestamos apresando
vosotrosestáis apresando
ellos/ellas/Uds.están apresando

Preterite progressive (Pretérito indefinido progresivo) Regular

Describes an action that was in progress throughout a completed past period. Uses the preterite of estar + gerund to emphasise the ongoing nature within a defined timeframe.

Estuvo hablando toda la tarde — He was talking all afternoon

PronounSpanish
yoestuve apresando
estuviste apresando
vosestuviste apresando
él/ella/Ud.estuvo apresando
nosotrosestuvimos apresando
vosotrosestuvisteis apresando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estuvieron apresando

Imperfect progressive (Pretérito imperfecto progresivo) Regular

Emphasises an ongoing background action using the imperfect of estar + gerund. Layered on top of the imperfect which already conveys continuity — used for extra emphasis on the progressive nature.

Estaba hablando cuando entró — I was speaking when he came in

PronounSpanish
yoestaba apresando
estabas apresando
vosestabas apresando
él/ella/Ud.estaba apresando
nosotrosestábamos apresando
vosotrosestabais apresando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estaban apresando

Conditional progressive (Condicional progresivo) Regular

Expresses what would be in progress under hypothetical conditions. Uses the conditional of estar + gerund. Less common but used for emphasis on the ongoing nature of a hypothetical action.

Estaría hablando ahora si pudiera — I would be speaking now if I could

PronounSpanish
yoestaría apresando
estarías apresando
vosestarías apresando
él/ella/Ud.estaría apresando
nosotrosestaríamos apresando
vosotrosestaríais apresando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estarían apresando

Future progressive (Futuro progresivo) Regular

Describes an action that will be in progress at a future point, or expresses probability about an ongoing present action. Uses the future of estar + gerund.

Mañana a esta hora estaré viajando — At this time tomorrow I will be travelling

PronounSpanish
yoestaré apresando
estarás apresando
vosestarás apresando
él/ella/Ud.estará apresando
nosotrosestaremos apresando
vosotrosestaréis apresando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estarán apresando