Learn Spanish: Apurarse vs. Darse Prisa for Rushing and Hurrying Up

The problem: English speakers frequently rely on the single English verb hurry and struggle to recognize how Spanish uses both a reflexive verb and a phrase with dar.

Both apurarse and darse prisa mean to hurry up or rush in everyday Spanish. When you want to express picking up your pace to catch transport or arrive on time, darse prisa provides a natural verbal phrase combining a reflexive pronoun with the verb dar.

The problem: Learners sometimes forget that apurarse requires reflexive pronouns that match the grammatical subject of the sentence.

The verb apurarse follows standard -ar reflexive verb endings in the present tense. Make sure the pronoun reflects the subject: yo me apuro, tú te apuras, usted/él/ella se apura, nosotros nos apuramos, and ustedes/ellos se apuran.

You can practise this again in Learn Spanish: Pedir vs. Preguntar for Requests and Inquiries and Learn Spanish: Buscar vs. Encontrar for Looking For and Finding.

The problem: Because dar is irregular in the first-person present, learners often misconjugate the verb in darse prisa.

In the phrase darse prisa, the noun prisa never changes into a plural or an adjective. You conjugate only the verb dar while placing the matching reflexive pronoun before it: me doy prisa, te das prisa, se da prisa, nos damos prisa, and se dan prisa.

The problem: Learners sometimes use English word order like for to arrive or omit prepositions when stating why they are rushing.

When stating an intended goal for hurrying, linking apurarse or darse prisa to an infinitive with para is a common and clear choice. While apurarse can also connect with a (such as apurarse a salir), para clearly introduces the purpose of the action in this sentence.

The problem: In some Spanish-speaking regions and contexts, apurarse can also mean to worry, while darse prisa focuses on picking up speed.

In some Spanish-speaking varieties and everyday contexts, the reflexive verb apurarse can also convey worrying or feeling anxious. For example, 'no te apures' is commonly used to say 'do not worry.' In contrast, darse prisa generally focuses on picking up speed or hurrying along.

The problem: Learners often need to say what specific task they are hurrying to complete rather than just stating a final destination.

When connecting hurrying with a specific action, the preposition en followed by an infinitive is a useful construction to name the task being carried out with haste. You can also connect hurrying to an action using prepositions like para or a depending on the context.

The problem: Learners sometimes struggle to place the reflexive pronoun correctly when pairing apurarse or darse prisa with modal verbs.

When you combine verbs of obligation like tener que or deber with apurarse or darse prisa, you can attach the reflexive pronoun to the end of the infinitive (such as tenemos que apurarnos or debemos darnos prisa), or place it before the conjugated verb (such as nos tenemos que apurar or nos debemos dar prisa). In both positions, make sure the pronoun matches the subject.

The problem: English speakers often confuse being in a hurry (a personal state) with hurrying up (the active process of speeding up).

Spanish distinguishes the state of being pressed for time from the action of speeding up. Use tener prisa to state that you are in a hurry or pressed for time (tengo prisa). Use darse prisa or apurarse when you take action and actively increase your pace (me doy prisa or me apuro).