Spanish Phrase
Date prisa para no perder los plazos.
Meaning
‘Date prisa para no perder los plazos’ means ‘Hurry up so you don’t miss the deadlines.’ It combines an urgent command with a clear reason, stressing the importance of timeliness.
When to use
Use this phrase when you need to push a colleague, teammate, or student to act quickly in order to meet a deadline—whether in a work project, a school assignment, or any time‑sensitive task.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Dateprisaparanoperderlosplazos
Imperative reflexive (date)
‘Date’ is the affirmative tú‑imperative of the reflexive verb ‘darse’, meaning ‘hurry yourself’ or ‘get moving’.
Noun + dar construction
In Spanish, ‘dar prisa’ (literally ‘give hurry’) is the idiomatic way to say ‘to hurry’.
Purpose clause with para
‘para’ introduces the purpose of the action: ‘so that / in order to’. It is followed by a negative infinitive here.
Negation with no + infinitive
‘no perder’ negates the infinitive ‘perder’, meaning ‘to not miss/lose’.
Definite article with plural noun
‘los plazos’ uses the masculine plural article ‘los’ because ‘plazo’ (deadline) is a countable noun.
🗨In Conversation
Date prisa para no perder los plazos.
Hurry up so you don’t miss the deadlines.
¡Gracias! Ya estoy trabajando en ello.
Thanks! I’m already working on it.
✕Common Mistakes
Da prisa para no perder los plazos.
The correct affirmative tú‑imperative of ‘darse’ is ‘date’, not ‘da’. ‘Da’ is the command for ‘dar’ (to give).
Date prisa para no perder el plazo.
When talking about multiple deadlines you need the plural ‘los plazos’. Using the singular changes the meaning.
Date prisa para no perder los plazo.
The article must agree in number with the noun: ‘los plazos’. Also, avoid dropping the article entirely.
Date prisa para perder los plazos.
In spoken Spanish the negative is often placed before the infinitive, but you must keep ‘no’ directly before ‘perder’. Omitting it changes the meaning to ‘to lose the deadlines’.
↔Alternatives
Apúrate para no perder los plazos.
Hurry up so you don’t miss the deadlines.
Muévete rápido para no perder los plazos.
Move quickly so you don’t miss the deadlines.
Date prisa, que los plazos se acercan.
Hurry up, the deadlines are approaching.
Cultural Tip
In many Spanish‑speaking workplaces, deadlines are taken very seriously. ‘Date prisa’ is informal but perfectly acceptable among peers; with a superior you might soften it to ‘Por favor, apúrese…’. Also, note that ‘plazo’ can refer to legal, academic, or project deadlines, so the phrase works in a wide range of contexts.