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Conjugation Chart

“Apagar” (to turn off) in the Preterite (Past) Tense

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Understanding the Preterite (Past) Tense of “Apagar”

The preterite of apagar is used to express when something was turned off at a specific moment in the past. For example, when you want to say “I turned off the lights before leaving” – “Apagué las luces antes de salir.”

This verb follows the -gar spelling-changing pattern in the preterite. The ‘g’ changes to ‘gu’ before ‘e’ to maintain the same sound, which occurs in the yo form (apagué).

How to Use Apagar in the Preterite (Past) Tense

The Preterite of apagar indicates completed actions of turning off or extinguishing.

To turn off: Used for switching off devices or lights, for example Apagué la televisión (I turned off the television), or Apagaron todas las luces (They turned off all the lights).

To extinguish: Describes putting out a fire or flame, for example Los bomberos apagaron el fuego (The firefighters extinguished the fire).

Real Life Examples of Apagar in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Apagué las luces antes de salir. (I turned off the lights before leaving.)

¿Quién apagó el aire acondicionado? (Who turned off the air conditioning?)

Apagamos la computadora durante la tormenta. (We turned off the computer during the storm.)

Los bomberos apagaron el incendio rápidamente. (The firefighters put out the fire quickly.)

Apagaste el horno demasiado tarde. (You turned off the oven too late.)

Se apagó el celular en medio de la llamada. (The phone died in the middle of the call.)

Apagaron la música cuando llegó la policía. (They turned off the music when the police arrived.)

Apagué la televisión porque era muy tarde. (I turned off the television because it was very late.)

¿Por qué apagaste la calefacción? (Why did you turn off the heating?)

Apagó el motor del coche. (He/she turned off the car engine.)

Apagamos todas las velas después de la cena. (We blew out all the candles after dinner.)

El viento apagó la fogata. (The wind put out the campfire.)

Apagaron los teléfonos durante la reunión. (They turned off their phones during the meeting.)

Apagué la alarma y seguí durmiendo. (I turned off the alarm and kept sleeping.)

Se apagó la sed con un vaso de agua. (The thirst was quenched with a glass of water.)

Conjugation Chart with English Translations

Conjugations of Apagar (to turn off) in the Preterite (Past) Tense (Castilian Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Castilian Spanish. For Latin American Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Preterite tense is also known as the Simple Past, Past Simple, Definite Past, Absolute Past, or Past Tense Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Perfecto Simple, Pretérito Indefinido, Pretérito Simple, Pasado Simple, or Pretérito de Indicativo in Spanish.