Accionamos el pulsador.

Accionamos is the 1st person plural form of accionar.

It can be:

• present indicative: we activate / we operate / we press
• preterite: we activated / we operated / we pressed

So on its own, accionamos is grammatically ambiguous between present and past. The context normally tells you which one is meant.

In technical writing, the present reading is often very natural.

Spanish usually drops subject pronouns when the verb ending already makes the subject clear.

• accionamos already tells you the subject is we
• so nosotros accionamos el pulsador is possible, but usually unnecessary

You would add nosotros only for emphasis, contrast, or clarity:

• Nosotros accionamos el pulsador, no ellos.

Sometimes, yes, but it is usually a bit more technical than the everyday English press.

Accionar often means:

• to activate
• to operate
• to actuate
• in some contexts, to press

With el pulsador, accionar sounds like the kind of wording you might see in:

• manuals
• engineering instructions
• technical descriptions
• machinery documentation

In everyday speech, many speakers would more naturally say:

• Pulsamos el botón
• Apretamos el botón
• Presionamos el botón

Pulsador is a push-button, press-button, or sometimes a momentary switch.

It is more technical than botón.

A rough comparison:

• botón = button, more general and everyday
• pulsador = push-button / switch, more technical or mechanical

So el pulsador sounds like a specific control on a machine, panel, or device.

Because el refers to a specific push-button already known from the context.

Spanish uses the definite article when the speaker and listener can identify the thing:

• Accionamos el pulsador = we operate the push-button

You would use un pulsador if it were not yet identified:

• Vemos un pulsador en el panel.
• Luego accionamos el pulsador.

Because pulsador is a masculine noun.

Many nouns ending in -dor are masculine:

• el pulsador
• el ordenador
• el interruptor
• el motor

The feminine equivalent pattern is often -dora:

• la impresora
• la trituradora

So here, el pulsador is the expected form.

It can do either, depending on context.

In Spanish, the present tense is often used in:

• descriptions of processes
• instructions in manuals
• procedural explanations
• demonstrations

So Accionamos el pulsador can sound like:

• We press the push-button
• Next, we activate the push-button

This is similar to instructional English using we:

• We now connect the cable
• Then we press the button

It does not always mean that a real group of people is literally doing it at that moment. It can be an instructional we.

It is understandable, but it sounds more technical, formal, or specialized than ordinary daily speech.

In everyday Spanish in Spain, people would often prefer:

• pulsamos el botón
• apretamos el botón
• le damos al botón — very common colloquial option in Spain

So:

• Accionamos el pulsador = natural in technical or mechanical contexts
• less likely in casual conversation

Yes. In many contexts, Pulsamos el botón is a more natural everyday alternative.

Compare the tone:

• Accionamos el pulsador

  • more technical
  • more formal
  • sounds like a manual or machine description

• Pulsamos el botón

  • more neutral
  • very common
  • easy everyday wording

So both can work, but they do not have exactly the same register.

In standard Peninsular Spanish, accionamos is pronounced approximately:

ak-thyo-NA-mos

More precisely:

• ac- sounds like ak
• -cio- in Spain has the th sound of think
• stress falls on -na-

So the whole word is roughly:

• ak-thyo-NA-mos

And pulsador is roughly:

• pool-sa-DOR

The final r is lightly tapped.

Spanish often uses several styles for instructions, not just the imperative.

Possible styles include:

• Imperative

  • Accionad el pulsador — plural command in Spain
  • Accione el pulsador — formal singular
  • Accionen el pulsador — formal plural

• Infinitive instruction style

  • Accionar el pulsador

• Present tense procedural style

  • Accionamos el pulsador

The version with accionamos sounds like a procedure being explained step by step, rather than a direct command.

Yes. That is one of the important things to notice.

For many -ar verbs, the 1st person plural form is the same in:

• present
• preterite

For example:

• hablamos = we speak / we are speaking or we spoke
• accionamos = we activate or we activated

So without more context, the sentence is ambiguous.

Context usually makes it clear:

• a manual or process description → probably present
• a story about what happened yesterday → probably past