No te apures, todavía tenemos cinco minutos.

Don’t rush, we still have five minutes.

Breakdown of No te apures, todavía tenemos cinco minutos.

• nosotros: we
• tener: to have
• el minuto: the minute
• no: not
• te: you
• todavía: still
• cinco: five
• apurarse: to rush

Questions & Answers about No te apures, todavía tenemos cinco minutos.

What does apurarse mean here, and is it always reflexive?

In this sentence, apurarse means to hurry (oneself), to rush.

In Latin American Spanish:

• apurarse (reflexive) commonly means to hurry or to get worried / stress out depending on country and context.
• apurar (non‑reflexive) can mean to hurry someone else, to finish/use up (something), or to pressure someone.

Examples:

• No te apures. = Don’t hurry / Don’t stress.
• Apura el café. = Finish your coffee.
• El jefe nos apura. = The boss is pressuring us / making us hurry.

So in No te apures, it’s reflexive because the person is hurrying themself: don’t rush yourself.

Why is it No te apures and not No apúrate?

Because negative commands in Spanish use a different form and different pronoun placement from affirmative commands.

For tú (informal you), with apurarse:

• Affirmative command (Do hurry):

  • Apúrate.
  • Verb is in affirmative imperative, and the pronoun te is attached to the end.

• Negative command (Don’t hurry):

  • No te apures.
  • Verb is in the present subjunctive (apures), and the pronoun te is in front of the verb.

So:

• Apúrate = Hurry up.
• No te apures = Don’t hurry / Don’t rush.

No apúrate is incorrect.

What person and tense is apures?

Apures is:

• Person/number: 2nd person singular (tú)
• Mood: Present subjunctive
• Verb: apurar

The negative tú command uses this subjunctive form:

• (tú) apures → No te apures.

So, structurally, No te apures literally means (I ask that) you not hurry yourself, which is how Spanish forms don’t + verb commands.

What is the function of te in No te apures?

Te is a reflexive pronoun for tú (you, informal singular).

• Verb: apurarse (to hurry oneself)
• Reflexive pronoun for tú: te

Together:

• Tú te apuras. = You hurry (yourself).
• No te apures. = Don’t hurry (yourself).

Spanish doesn’t need to show the subject pronoun tú unless you want emphasis, so we say No te apures, not No tú te apures in normal speech.

Is No te apures the same as No te preocupes?

They are similar but not identical:

• No te apures (LatAm):

  • Typical meanings: Don’t rush / Don’t stress / Don’t worry (about the time).
  • Very common in many Latin American countries for don’t hurry and often don’t stress.

• No te preocupes:

  • Literally: Don’t worry.
  • More focused on mental worry or concern, not necessarily on physical speed.

In this sentence, with todavía tenemos cinco minutos, both could work in many contexts:

• No te apures, todavía tenemos cinco minutos.
  = Don’t rush, we still have five minutes.

• No te preocupes, todavía tenemos cinco minutos.
  = Don’t worry, we still have five minutes.

Some speakers use No te apures mostly for “don’t rush,” others use it heavily as “don’t worry.” It’s a bit regional.

Is No te apures informal? How would I say it to usted or to more than one person?

Yes, No te apures is informal singular (tú).

Other forms:

• Formal singular (usted):

  • No se apure, todavía tenemos cinco minutos.

• Informal plural (vosotros) – mainly Spain:

  • No os apuréis, todavía tenéis cinco minutos.

• Plural (ustedes) – Latin America (used for both formal and informal plural in most of LatAm):

  • No se apuren, todavía tenemos cinco minutos.

So change the pronoun (te → se / os) and the verb ending to match the subject.

What does todavía mean here, and where can it go in the sentence?

Here todavía means still / (we) still have.

In Todavía tenemos cinco minutos the standard word order is:

• todavía
  • verb + rest
    → Todavía tenemos cinco minutos.

You can also say:

• Tenemos todavía cinco minutos.
  (Same meaning; slightly different rhythm or emphasis.)

Placing it at the end, Tenemos cinco minutos todavía, is also possible and natural in speech. The most typical neutral position in this kind of sentence is before the verb: Todavía tenemos…

What’s the difference between todavía and aún?

In this context, todavía and aún can both mean still and are almost interchangeable:

• Todavía tenemos cinco minutos.
• Aún tenemos cinco minutos.

In everyday Latin American Spanish:

• Todavía is more common and neutral in speech.
• Aún can sound a bit more formal or literary in some regions, but many speakers use both without thinking about it.

So you could also say:

• No te apures, aún tenemos cinco minutos.

Meaning stays the same: Don’t rush, we still have five minutes.

Why is it tenemos cinco minutos and not something like faltan cinco minutos?

Both are correct but express the idea slightly differently:

• Tenemos cinco minutos.
  = We have five minutes (available).
  Focus: our remaining time as something we possess or can use.

• Faltan cinco minutos.
  = There are five minutes left / Five minutes are missing (until something).
  Focus: the time remaining until an event (class ends, movie starts, etc.).

In the sentence No te apures, todavía tenemos cinco minutos, the idea is “we still have time to do this.”
If you said:

• No te apures, todavía faltan cinco minutos,

you’d be emphasizing “the event doesn’t start / end yet; there are five minutes left.” Both are natural; context decides which feels more appropriate.

Why is there no article before cinco minutos?

Spanish does not use an article for an unspecified amount of time when you’re just stating how much time you have:

• Tenemos cinco minutos. = We have five minutes.
• Esperé tres horas. = I waited three hours.

You would use an article if you are talking about specific / known minutes:

• Los cinco minutos que tenemos son suficientes.
  = The five minutes that we have are enough.

In todavía tenemos cinco minutos, it’s just a quantity, so no article.

Why is there a comma between No te apures and todavía tenemos cinco minutos?

The comma separates two independent clauses:

1. No te apures – a command: Don’t hurry.
2. Todavía tenemos cinco minutos – a statement: We still have five minutes.

The pause matches natural spoken intonation: first reassure/command, then give the reason.

You could also switch the order:

• Todavía tenemos cinco minutos, no te apures.

Same meaning; just a different emphasis.

How is No te apures different from more “Spain-style” phrases like No tengas prisa?

Meaning is close, but usage and frequency differ by region:

• No te apures

  • Very common in Latin America.
  • Means don’t rush / don’t stress / don’t worry (depending on country and context).

• No tengas prisa

  • Very common in Spain, also understood in Latin America.
  • Literally: Don’t have hurry / Don’t be in a rush.
  • Sounds a bit more like a Peninsular Spanish pattern, though not “wrong” in Latin America.

In Latin American Spanish, No te apures feels more natural and colloquial in many places for this exact sentence.