Aparcar Examples, Sentences and Quiz
Aparcar means “to park”, and it is one of the verbs you will use every day in Spanish. Aparcar means to park, and it is the usual verb for parking a car in Spain, while estacionar is common in Latin America. It is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e, so the subjunctive is aparque, and the preterite first person is aparqué. This page shows aparcar in real sentences, in short dialogues, and in the mistakes learners make most often, and it finishes with a ten-question quiz so you can test yourself. Every sentence below comes with its English translation, and every form is the correct present-tense form unless the sentence is clearly marked as past or future. For a first taste: “Yo aparco el coche en la calle.” — I park the car in the street.
Aparcar in real example sentences
The twelve sentences below are grouped by how aparcar is used. Read each one out loud, then read the translation. If a sentence feels useful, copy it into your own notebook with one small change — a different time, a different person, a different place — and you have a new sentence of your own.
In the present: everyday use
These sentences use aparcar in the present tense, which is how you will meet it most often: routines, facts, and things happening now.
“Aparco el coche en la calle.” — I park the car in the street.
“¿Tú aparcas delante de la casa?” — Do you park in front of the house?
“Aparca en el garaje por la noche.” — He/she parks in the garage at night.
“Aparcamos cerca de la estación.” — We park near the station.
Talking about the past
The present is not the only tense you need. These sentences show aparcar in the past, so you can talk about what already happened.
“Ayer, yo aparqué el coche en la calle.” — Yesterday, I parked the car in the street. (preterite)
“Él aparcaba delante de la casa todos los días.” — He used to park in front of the house every day. (imperfect)
Plans and things already done
These sentences look forward, or look back at something already finished. Notice how the verb form changes while the meaning of aparcar stays the same.
“Nosotros aparcaremos en el garaje por la noche mañana.” — We will park in the garage at night tomorrow. (future)
“¿Tú has aparcado cerca de la estación?” — Have you parked near the station? (present perfect)
More everyday uses
Four more present-tense sentences, covering the remaining persons, so you can see the whole table in action.
“Aparcáis el coche en la calle.” — You park the car in the street.
“Aparcan delante de la casa.” — They park in front of the house.
“Aparco en el garaje por la noche.” — I park in the garage at night.
“Aparca cerca de la estación.” — He/she parks near the station.
Aparcar in context
Single sentences teach you the forms. Dialogues teach you when to use them. Read the short conversation below, then the paragraph that follows, and notice how aparcar appears naturally, without anyone stopping to think about conjugation.
A short dialogue
Lucía: “¿Tú aparcas el coche en la calle?” — Do you park the car in the street?
Carlos: “Sí, yo aparco el coche en la calle.” — Yes, I park the car in the street.
Lucía: “Nosotros aparcamos delante de la casa.” — We park in front of the house.
Carlos: “Y ellos aparcan en el garaje por la noche.” — And they park in the garage at night.
Lucía: “Vosotros aparcáis cerca de la estación.” — You park near the station.
Carlos: “Sí, y él aparca delante de la casa.” — Yes, and he parks in front of the house.
A short paragraph
Lucía aparca el coche en la calle, y Carlos aparca delante de la casa. Nosotros aparcamos en el garaje por la noche, y ellos aparcan cerca de la estación. Yo aparco en el garaje por la noche, y mi padre aparca cerca de la estación. Aparcar is part of everyday life, because to park is something Spanish speakers do again and again, in every tense and every situation.
Common mistakes with aparcar
These are the errors learners actually make with aparcar. Each one shows the wrong version, the right version, and why the correction matters.
Wrong: “Yo aparca el coche en la calle.” Right: “Yo aparco el coche en la calle.” Why: The person matters: aparca is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is aparco. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
Wrong: “Ayer yo aparcé delante de la casa.” Right: “Ayer yo aparqué delante de la casa.” Why: Aparcar has an irregular preterite: the correct first-person form is aparqué, not the regular aparcé. Learn the preterite forms in the table as a set.
Wrong: “Treating aparcar and estacionar as identical in every context.” Right: “Aparcar means to park, while estacionar means to park.” Why: They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: aparcar fits sentences such as Aparco el coche en la calle, while estacionar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
Wrong: “Yo soy aparcado delante de la casa.” Right: “Yo he aparcado delante de la casa.” Why: Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he aparcado, has aparcado, ha aparcado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
Wrong: “De niño, yo aparqué en el garaje por la noche todos los días.” Right: “De niño, yo aparcaba en el garaje por la noche todos los días.” Why: For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (aparcaba), not the preterite. The preterite (aparqué) is for one finished action.
Quiz: aparcar in use
Ten questions on aparcar in real sentences. Choose the correct answer for each one, then check the answer key. Every answer is explained.
1. Complete the sentence: “Vosotros ______ el coche en la calle.” (The car in the street.)
- (a) aparcáis
- (b) aparco
- (c) aparcas
Answer: aparcáis — The vosotros/as form of aparcar in the present is aparcáis.
2. Complete the sentence: “Ellos ______ delante de la casa.” (In front of the house.)
- (a) aparco
- (b) aparcas
- (c) aparcan
Answer: aparcan — The ellos/ellas/Uds. form of aparcar in the present is aparcan.
3. Complete the sentence: “Yo ______ el coche en la calle.” (The car in the street.)
- (a) aparcó
- (b) aparqué
- (c) aparcaste
Answer: aparqué — The yo form of aparcar in the preterite is aparqué.
4. Complete the sentence: “Él ______ delante de la casa.” (In front of the house.)
- (a) aparcaba
- (b) aparcabas
- (c) aparcábamos
Answer: aparcaba — The él/ella/Ud. form of aparcar in the imperfect is aparcaba.
5. Complete the sentence: “Nosotros ______ en el garaje por la noche.” (In the garage at night.)
- (a) aparcaré
- (b) aparcarás
- (c) aparcaremos
Answer: aparcaremos — The nosotros/as form of aparcar in the future is aparcaremos.
6. What does aparcar mean in English?
- (a) to start (a vehicle), to pull out
- (b) to park
- (c) to drive, to handle
Answer: to park — Aparcar means “to park”. The other options are the meanings of different verbs.
7. Which sentence is correct?
- (a) Yo aparco el coche en la calle.
- (b) Ellos aparca el coche en la calle.
- (c) Yo aparco delante de la casa ayer.
Answer: Yo aparco el coche en la calle. — “Yo aparco el coche en la calle.” is correct. The other two sentences contain the mistakes explained in the section above.
8. How do you say “I park the car in the street.” in Spanish?
- (a) Yo aparcan el coche en la calle.
- (b) Yo aparqué el coche en la calle.
- (c) Yo aparco el coche en la calle.
Answer: Yo aparco el coche en la calle. — “Yo aparco el coche en la calle.” is the correct translation. The second option uses the wrong person's form, and the third uses the preterite.
9. What is the nosotros form of aparcar in the present tense?
- (a) aparcas
- (b) aparcamos
- (c) aparco
Answer: aparcamos — The nosotros form is aparcamos.
10. Which of these sentences is in the present tense?
- (a) Ayer, yo aparqué el coche en la calle.
- (b) Nosotros aparcaremos el coche en la calle mañana.
- (c) Yo aparco el coche en la calle.
Answer: Yo aparco el coche en la calle. — “Yo aparco el coche en la calle.” is in the present tense. The other two are in the preterite and the future.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say 'I park' in Spanish?
Say 'Yo aparco el coche en la calle'. The complement follows directly, as in the examples above. For a routine, add a time expression: 'Yo aparco el coche en la calle todos los días'.
How do you say 'I park' in the past?
For one finished action, say 'Ayer, yo aparqué delante de la casa'. For a repeated habit, say 'Yo aparcaba delante de la casa todos los días'. For something already done, say 'Yo he aparcado delante de la casa'.
What is the difference between aparcar and estacionar?
Aparcar means to park, while estacionar means to park. They are easy to confuse because they appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use aparcar when you mean to park, as in Aparco el coche en la calle.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of aparcar — every tense of aparcar in one place.
- Aparcar in the present tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Spanish verbs — the hub for every Spanish verb on VerbFlow.
- Verb quiz — test yourself on aparcar and other verbs.
- Conjugation practice — drill the forms of aparcar until they are automatic.