The preterite of apagar is used to express when something was turned off in the past. For example, you might say “I turned off the lights before leaving,” indicating a specific moment when something was switched off.

This is a -gar verb that requires a spelling change in the first person singular (yo) form, where ‘g’ changes to ‘gu’ to maintain the correct sound. All other forms follow the regular -ar pattern.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Apagar (to turn off) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

The preterite of apagar indicates a completed action of turning off or extinguishing in the past.

To turn off: Describes switching off devices or lights, for example Apagué la televisión (I turned off the television) or Apagó todas las luces (He/she turned off all the lights).

To extinguish: Used for putting out fires or flames, for example Los bomberos apagaron el fuego (The firefighters extinguished the fire).

Examples

Examples of Apagar in the Preterite (Past) Tense

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

El bombero apagó el incendio rápidamente. (The firefighter put out the fire quickly.)

Apagaste la computadora sin guardar los cambios. (You turned off the computer without saving the changes.)

Apagamos el aire acondicionado para ahorrar energía. (We turned off the air conditioning to save energy.)

La lluvia apagó la fogata del campamento. (The rain extinguished the campfire.)

Apagaron todos los dispositivos durante la tormenta. (They turned off all devices during the storm.)

Apagué el celular durante la reunión. (I turned off the cell phone during the meeting.)

El técnico apagó el sistema para el mantenimiento. (The technician shut down the system for maintenance.)

Apagaste la televisión en medio del programa. (You turned off the TV in the middle of the program.)

Apagamos la música cuando llegaron los invitados. (We turned off the music when the guests arrived.)

El viento apagó las velas del pastel. (The wind blew out the birthday cake candles.)

Apagaron las calderas durante el verano. (They turned off the heaters during summer.)

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

El guardia apagó todas las luces del edificio. (The security guard turned off all the building lights.)

Apagamos la parrilla después de cocinar. (We turned off the grill after cooking.)

Conjugations with English Translations

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

This post covers Latin American Spanish. For Castilian 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.