Aprofiten

Aprofiten is the third-person plural present indicative form of the Catalan verb aprofitar, meaning to profit, to take advantage of, or to make use of. In everyday usage, the form denotes that multiple subjects gain benefit from a situation or resource.

Usage and meaning

Aprofitar encompasses both neutral and evaluative senses, depending on context. It can describe beneficial use of opportunities, resources, or time (positive), or the act of exploiting a situation in a way that may be viewed critically (negative). Examples: “Els negocis aprofiten la demanda del mercat” (The businesses profit from market demand); “Han aprofitat les vacances per estudiar” (They have used the holidays to study). As with many Romance-language verbs, the nuance arises from context, intention, and tone.

Etymology and related forms

Aprofitar derives from a root common to several Romance languages that conveys benefit or advantage. Cognates exist in French profiter, Spanish aprovechar, Italian approfittare, and Portuguese aproveitar, reflecting a shared semantic field of taking advantage of or making the most of something. In Catalan, the verb is regular in its conjugation pattern for -ar verbs.

Conjugation context

Aprofiten, as the present plural form, is used with they or the plural subject. Other standard present-tense forms include jo aprofito, tu aprofites, ell aprofita, nosaltres aprofitem, vosaltres aprofiteu. The word appears in both formal and informal writing and speech.

See also

aprofitar, Catalan verbs, Romance-language cognates, take advantage of.