ficar

Catalan

Alternative forms

• aficar

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *fīccō, *fīccāre (compare Occitan ficar, French ficher, Spanish hincar).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [fiˈka]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [fiˈkaɾ]
• Homophone: ficà
• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)

Verb

ficar (first-person singular present fico, first-person singular preterite fiquí, past participle ficat)

1. (transitive) to insert, to put in

   Synonyms: introduir, metre, posar

   Fica les coses dins aquella capsa. ― Put the things in that box.

2. (pronominal) to meddle, to interfere

   Synonym: entrar

   No t'hi fiquis si no t'ho demanen. ― Don't get involved if they don't ask you to.

Derived terms

• ficar el nas

Further reading

• “ficar” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “ficar”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “ficar” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

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Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician and Old Galician-Portuguese ficar, from Vulgar Latin *fīccō, *fīccāre, from earlier *fīgicō, from Latin fīgō (“I fasten”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fiˈkaɾ/

Verb

1. to remain; to be left
   • 1281, M. Lucas Álvarez & P. Lucas Domínguez (eds.), El priorato benedictino de San Vicenzo de Pombeiro y su colección diplomática en la Edad Media. Sada / A Coruña: Ediciós do Castro, page 76:

     Et depoys de uossa morte fique este casar sobredito a uosso fillo Lourenço et a una persona que uos nomeardes a uosso passamento

     And after your death, this said farmhouse will be left to your son Lourenzo and to a person that you'll appoint at the moment of your decease

   Synonym: quedar

2. (copulative) to become; to get; to end up

Related terms

• fito

References

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “ficar”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “ficar”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “ficar”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “ficar”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “ficar”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

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Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese ficar (see also the variant fincar), from Vulgar Latin *fīccō, *fīccāre, from earlier *fīgicō, from Latin fīgō (“I fasten”). Doublet of fincar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fi.ˈkaɾ/
• IPA^(key): /fi.ˈka(ʁ)/, [fɪ.ˈkä(h)]
  • IPA^(key): /fi.ˈka(ɾ)/, /fi.ˈka(ɹ)/

Verb

2. (copulative) to become; to get; to end up

   Eu vou ficar rico. ― I’ll get rich.

   Ficamos com nojo daquela comida. ― We were disgusted by that food.

   Eu fiquei sem dinheiro. ― I ended up without any money.

   Synonym: tornar-se

4. Template:indtr to be [in a fixed location]

   A casa dela fica na esquina desse quarteirão. ― Her house is on the corner of this block.

   Londres fica no sul da Inglaterra. ― London is in the south of England.

   Synonyms: localizar-se, ser

6. Template:indtr to stay (at); to remain

   Ela não quis vir, ficou em casa. ― She didn’t want to come, she stayed home.

   • 2000, J. K. Rowling, Lya Wyler, Harry Potter e o Cálice de Fogo, Rocco, page 514:

     E quantos serão bastante tolos para ficar longe de mim?

     And how many will be foolish enough to stay away from me?

8. (intransitive) to remain (to be left over)

   Só ficaram algumas migalhas. ― Only a few crumbs remained.

   Synonym: sobrar

10. Template:indtr to stay (to remain in a particular place)

    Fiquei três dias em Munique. ― I stayed three days in Munich.

12. (figurative, intransitive) not to go any further

    Synonym: parar

    A discussão fica por aqui. ― The discussion stops here.

14. (auxiliary, followed by a verb in the gerund) forms the habitual aspect

    João fica lendo o dia inteiro. ― John keeps reading the whole day.

    Eu ficava falando besteira. ― I kept saying nonsense.

16. Template:indtr to engage in a romantic relationship with someone for one night or some short period of time
17. Template:pt-verb-form-of

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:ficar.

Derived terms

• ficante
• ficar atrás
• ficar de
• ficar de fora
• ficar falando sozinho
• ficar para
• ficar para a titia
• ficar por isso mesmo
• não ficar para trás

 

Related terms

• ficação
• fincar
• fixar
• fixo

 

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Spanish

Etymology

From Old Spanish ficar (a variant of fincar), from Vulgar Latin *fīccāre, from earlier *figicāre, from Latin fīgere (“fasten”). Doublet of hincar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fiˈkaɾ/ [fiˈkaɾ]

Verb

ficar (first-person singular present fico, first-person singular preterite fiqué, past participle ficado)

1. (obsolete, intransitive) to stay

   Synonym: quedar

Conjugation

    Conjugation of ficar (c-qu alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			ficar
gerund			ficando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		ficado		ficada
		plural		ficados		ficadas
		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	fico	ficastú ficásvos	fica	ficamos	ficáis	fican
	imperfect	ficaba	ficabas	ficaba	ficábamos	ficabais	ficaban
	preterite	fiqué	ficaste	ficó	ficamos	ficasteis	ficaron
	future	ficaré	ficarás	ficará	ficaremos	ficaréis	ficarán
	conditional	ficaría	ficarías	ficaría	ficaríamos	ficaríais	ficarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	fique	fiquestú fiquésvos2	fique	fiquemos	fiquéis	fiquen
	imperfect (ra)	ficara	ficaras	ficara	ficáramos	ficarais	ficaran
	imperfect (se)	ficase	ficases	ficase	ficásemos	ficaseis	ficasen
	future1	ficare	ficares	ficare	ficáremos	ficareis	ficaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		ficatú ficávos	fique	fiquemos	ficad	fiquen
	negative		no fiques	no fique	no fiquemos	no fiquéis	no fiquen

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

Further reading

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