Apresurar Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish

The present tense of apresurar — “to hurry” in English — is the form you need for what happens now, for habits and for general truths. This page gives you the full present conjugation table for apresurar with all six persons, explains exactly how the tense is formed for this verb, shows when to use it with real examples, and finishes with a quiz so you can test yourself. Apresurar means to hurry, and it is the transitive verb for hurrying someone or something else: you hurry a child, you hurry a decision, you hurry the work. To hurry yourself, Spanish uses the reflexive apresurarse, and the two are easy to confuse. Apresurar is a regular -ar verb, so the notes below explain exactly where it follows the rules and where it breaks them. To see it in a real sentence: Apresuro a mi hijo para salir.

Present tense conjugation table: apresurar

Every person of apresurar in the present tense. The gerund is apresurando and the past participle is apresurado.

Present indicative

Person Form
yo apresuro
tú apresuras
él/ella/Ud. apresura
nosotros/as apresuramos
vosotros/as apresuráis
ellos/ellas/Uds. apresuran

How the present of apresurar is formed

The present of apresurar is built from the stem apresur- plus the present endings for -ar verbs. Take the infinitive, drop the -ar ending, and add the ending that matches the person. The table below shows the endings, and the full table above shows them attached to the stem.

Person Ending Form
yo -o apresuro
tú -as apresuras
él/ella/Ud. -a apresura
nosotros/as -amos apresuramos
vosotros/as -áis apresuráis
ellos/ellas/Uds. -an apresuran

For apresurar there are no surprises in the present: every form is the stem apresur- plus the regular ending, so once you know the endings you know the whole tense.

When to use the present tense with apresurar

Habits and routines

Use the present for things you do regularly.

Yo apresuro a mi hijo para salir. — I hurry my son to get out.

General facts

Use the present for facts and general truths that do not change.

Él/Ella apresura la decisión del comité. — He hurries the committee's decision.

What is happening right now

Use the present for what is happening at this moment.

Ahora, Nosotros/as apresuramos el trabajo antes de la entrega. — Right now, We hurry the work before the deadline.

Near-future plans

Use the present for fixed plans in the near future, especially with mañana or la semana que viene.

Mañana, Tú apresuras a los alumnos al final de clase. — Tomorrow, You hurry the students at the end of class.

Instructions and timeless statements

Use the present for instructions, rules and statements that are always true.

Él/Ella apresura a mi hijo para salir. — He hurries my son to get out.

The present vs the preterite

The present and the preterite answer different questions: the present says what happens regularly or right now, while the preterite says what happened once and finished. Compare the same idea in both tenses with apresurar.

  1. Yo apresuro a mi hijo para salir. — I hurry my son to get out. / Ayer, Yo apresuré a mi hijo para salir. — Yesterday, I hurried my son to get out.
  2. Yo apresuro la decisión del comité. — I hurry the committee's decision. / Ayer, Yo apresuré la decisión del comité. — Yesterday, I hurried the committee's decision.
  3. Yo apresuro el trabajo antes de la entrega. — I hurry the work before the deadline. / Ayer, Yo apresuré el trabajo antes de la entrega. — Yesterday, I hurried the work before the deadline.

Example sentences in the present tense

Seven sentences with apresurar in the present tense only, covering all six persons.

  1. Yo apresuro a mi hijo para salir. — I hurry my son to get out.
  2. Tú apresuras la decisión del comité. — You hurry the committee's decision.
  3. Él/Ella apresura el trabajo antes de la entrega. — He hurries the work before the deadline.
  4. Nosotros/as apresuramos a los alumnos al final de clase. — We hurry the students at the end of class.
  5. Vosotros/as apresuráis a mi hijo para salir. — You hurry my son to get out.
  6. Ellos/as apresuran la decisión del comité. — They hurry the committee's decision.
  7. Yo apresuro el trabajo antes de la entrega. — I hurry the work before the deadline.

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Yo apresura a mi hijo para salir. — Right: Yo apresuro a mi hijo para salir. — The person matters: apresura is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is apresuro.
  2. Wrong: Ayer, yo apresuro la decisión del comité. — Right: Ayer, yo apresuré la decisión del comité. — With ayer, use the preterite (apresuré), not the present. The present is for habits and for right now.
  3. Wrong: Using apresurar where apresurarse belongs. — Right: Apresurar means to hurry, while apresurarse means to hurry yourself up. — Check the meaning before you choose: apresurar fits Apresuro a mi hijo para salir.
  4. Wrong: Espero que él apresura la decisión del comité. — Right: Espero que él apresure la decisión del comité. — After espero que, Spanish needs the subjunctive: apresure, not the present indicative apresura.

Quiz: the present tense of apresurar

Eight questions on the present tense of apresurar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.

  1. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ a mi hijo para salir. (present tense, yo) A. apresuro B. apresuras C. apresura D. apresuramos

  2. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ la decisión del comité. (present tense, tú) A. apresuro B. apresura C. apresuramos D. apresuras

  3. Complete the sentence: Él/Ella ___ el trabajo antes de la entrega. (present tense, él/ella/Ud.) A. apresuras B. apresuramos C. apresura D. apresuro

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros/as ___ a los alumnos al final de clase. (present tense, nosotros/as) A. apresura B. apresuramos C. apresuro D. apresuras

  5. Complete the sentence: Vosotros/as ___ a mi hijo para salir. (present tense, vosotros/as) A. apresuráis B. apresuro C. apresuras D. apresura

  6. Complete the sentence: Ellos/as ___ la decisión del comité. (present tense, ellos/ellas/Uds.) A. apresuro B. apresuras C. apresura D. apresuran

  7. Which is the gerund of apresurar? A. apresuro B. apresuré C. apresurando D. apresurado

  8. Which is the past participle of apresurar, used with haber in the perfect tenses? A. apresuré B. apresurado C. apresurando D. apresuro

Answer key

  1. apresuro — The yo present form of apresurar is apresuro.
  2. apresuras — The tú present form of apresurar is apresuras.
  3. apresura — The él/ella/Ud. present form of apresurar is apresura.
  4. apresuramos — The nosotros/as present form of apresurar is apresuramos.
  5. apresuráis — The vosotros/as present form of apresurar is apresuráis.
  6. apresuran — The ellos/ellas/Uds. present form of apresurar is apresuran.
  7. apresurando — The gerund of apresurar is apresurando: estoy apresurando.
  8. apresurado — The past participle of apresurar is apresurado: he apresurado, has apresurado, ha apresurado.

Frequently asked questions

How is the present tense of apresurar formed?

Take the infinitive apresurar, drop the -ar ending to get the stem apresur-, then add the present endings: -o, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, -an. The full table is above, with every person. No, the present of apresurar is fully regular: the stem apresur- plus the standard -ar endings gives every form.

When do I use the present tense of apresurar?

Use the present for habits, facts and what is happening right now. For example: Apresuro a mi hijo para salir.

What is the difference between the present and the preterite of apresurar?

The present (apresuro) and the preterite (apresuré) answer different questions: the present is for habits and for right now, while the preterite is for one finished action. Compare them in the contrast section above.

How do I practise the present of apresurar?

Drill the six forms in the table until you can say them without looking, then use the full conjugation of apresurar to see how the present fits with the other tenses, and the apresurar examples and quiz page for more sentences. The Spanish Verb Quiz tests the forms under pressure.

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