asir

A formal, somewhat literary verb meaning to grasp or seize firmly with the hand — asir el mango, asirse a una cuerda. It's one of Spanish's most irregular common verbs, inserting a -g- in the first-person present and the whole subjunctive (asgo, asga), so awkward that many speakers avoid those forms entirely and use agarrar or tomar instead.

• Asió el mango del cuchillo con firmeza. — He gripped the knife handle firmly.
• Se asió a la barandilla para no caer. — She grabbed onto the railing so she wouldn't fall.
• El niño asió la mano de su padre al cruzar la calle. — The child took hold of his father's hand crossing the street.

Confusing the irregular first-person present asgo with asar's regular aso — asgo ("I grasp") and aso ("I roast") are unrelated verbs that differ by a single letter, and even native speakers often sidestep asgo altogether by switching to agarrar.

Often confused with agarrar.