chiflar

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish chiflar, from a Vulgar Latin *sīfilāre, as a variant of Latin sībilāre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t͡ʃiˈflaɾ/ [t͡ʃiˈflaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: chi‧flar

Verb

chiflar (first-person singular present chiflo, first-person singular preterite chiflé, past participle chiflado)

1. (intransitive) to whistle

   Synonym: silbar

   ¡Oye cómo chifla de bien!

   Hear how well he whistles!

2. (transitive, sometimes pronominal) to whistle at

   No me chifles así.

   Don't whistle at me like that.

   Se la chifló.

   She whistled at her.

Usage notes

• Used more often in Latin America than Spain. This verb may contrast with silbar in referring to either a more vulgar, or louder, whistling.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of chiflar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			chiflar
gerund			chiflando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		chiflado		chiflada
		plural		chiflados		chifladas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	chiflo	chiflastú chiflásvos	chifla	chiflamos	chifláis	chiflan
	imperfect	chiflaba	chiflabas	chiflaba	chiflábamos	chiflabais	chiflaban
	preterite	chiflé	chiflaste	chifló	chiflamos	chiflasteis	chiflaron
	future	chiflaré	chiflarás	chiflará	chiflaremos	chiflaréis	chiflarán
	conditional	chiflaría	chiflarías	chiflaría	chiflaríamos	chiflaríais	chiflarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	chifle	chiflestú chiflésvos2	chifle	chiflemos	chifléis	chiflen
	imperfect (ra)	chiflara	chiflaras	chiflara	chifláramos	chiflarais	chiflaran
	imperfect (se)	chiflase	chiflases	chiflase	chiflásemos	chiflaseis	chiflasen
	future1	chiflare	chiflares	chiflare	chifláremos	chiflareis	chiflaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		chiflatú chiflávos	chifle	chiflemos	chiflad	chiflen
	negative		no chifles	no chifle	no chiflemos	no chifléis	no chiflen

¹Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of chiflar

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive chiflar
	dative	chiflarme	chiflarte	chiflarle, chiflarse	chiflarnos	chiflaros	chiflarles, chiflarse
	accusative	chiflarme	chiflarte	chiflarlo, chiflarla, chiflarse	chiflarnos	chiflaros	chiflarlos, chiflarlas, chiflarse
with gerund chiflando
	dative	chiflándome	chiflándote	chiflándole, chiflándose	chiflándonos	chiflándoos	chiflándoles, chiflándose
	accusative	chiflándome	chiflándote	chiflándolo, chiflándola, chiflándose	chiflándonos	chiflándoos	chiflándolos, chiflándolas, chiflándose
with informal second-person singular tú imperative chifla
	dative	chíflame	chíflate	chíflale	chíflanos	not used	chíflales
	accusative	chíflame	chíflate	chíflalo, chíflala	chíflanos	not used	chíflalos, chíflalas
with informal second-person singular vos imperative chiflá
	dative	chiflame	chiflate	chiflale	chiflanos	not used	chiflales
	accusative	chiflame	chiflate	chiflalo, chiflala	chiflanos	not used	chiflalos, chiflalas
with formal second-person singular imperative chifle
	dative	chífleme	not used	chíflele, chíflese	chíflenos	not used	chífleles
	accusative	chífleme	not used	chíflelo, chíflela, chíflese	chíflenos	not used	chíflelos, chíflelas
with first-person plural imperative chiflemos
	dative	not used	chiflémoste	chiflémosle	chiflémonos	chiflémoos	chiflémosles
	accusative	not used	chiflémoste	chiflémoslo, chiflémosla	chiflémonos	chiflémoos	chiflémoslos, chiflémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative chiflad
	dative	chifladme	not used	chifladle	chifladnos	chiflaos	chifladles
	accusative	chifladme	not used	chifladlo, chifladla	chifladnos	chiflaos	chifladlos, chifladlas
with formal second-person plural imperative chiflen
	dative	chíflenme	not used	chíflenle	chíflennos	not used	chíflenles, chíflense
	accusative	chíflenme	not used	chíflenlo, chíflenla	chíflennos	not used	chíflenlos, chíflenlas, chíflense

Derived terms

• chifla f
• chiflado (adjective)
• chifladura

 

Further reading

• “chiflar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014