cobrar

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *cuperāre (“take, seize”), a back-formation from Latin recuperāre (“recover, regain”), whence Catalan recobrar. Doublet of recuperar, a borrowing from Latin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [kuˈβɾa]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [koˈbɾa]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [koˈbɾaɾ]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [koˈβɾa]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)

Verb

cobrar (first-person singular present cobro, first-person singular preterite cobrí, past participle cobrat); root stress: (Northern) /o̞/; (Balearic, Central, Northwestern, Valencia) /ɔ/

1. (transitive) to charge (money)
2. (transitive) to collect, receive (payment)
3. (transitive) to earn, be paid

Conjugation

    Central Catalan conjugation of cobrar (first conjugation)

infinitive			cobrar
gerund			cobrant
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		cobrat		cobrada
		plural		cobrats		cobrades
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	cobro	cobres	cobra	cobrem	cobreu	cobren
	imperfect	cobrava	cobraves	cobrava	cobràvem	cobràveu	cobraven
	future	cobraré	cobraràs	cobrarà	cobrarem	cobrareu	cobraran
	preterite	cobrí	cobrares	cobrà	cobràrem	cobràreu	cobraren
	conditional	cobraria	cobraries	cobraria	cobraríem	cobraríeu	cobrarien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	cobri	cobris	cobri	cobrem	cobreu	cobrin
	imperfect	cobrés	cobressis	cobrés	cobréssim	cobréssiu	cobressin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	cobra	cobri	cobrem	cobreu	cobrin
	negative (no)	—	no cobris	no cobri	no cobrem	no cobreu	no cobrin

Related terms

• recobrar

References

• “cobrar”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “cobrar” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “cobrar”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)
• “cobrar”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026

Anagrams

• barroc, brocar, corbar

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese cobrar, from Vulgar Latin *cuperāre (“take, seize”), rebracketing from Latin recuperāre (“recover, regain”), whence Galician recobrar. Doublet of recuperar, a borrowing from Latin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [koˈβɾaɾ]

Verb

cobrar (first-person singular present cobro, first-person singular preterite cobrei, past participle cobrado)

1. (transitive, archaic) to recover, regain
2. (transitive, archaic) to earn, win
3. (transitive) to charge (ask for a certain amount of money for something)
4. (transitive) to collect, receive (payment)
5. (nautical, transitive) to haul

   Synonym: halar

6. (figuratively) to have what one's deserve (what goes around comes around)

   Para, nena, que vas cobrar! ― Stop it, child, or you'll have what you are asking for

Conjugation

    Conjugation of cobrar

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti)	Third-person (el / ela / Vde.)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / Vdes.)
Infinitive
Impersonal	cobrar
Personal	cobrar	cobrares	cobrar	cobrarmos	cobrardes	cobraren
Gerund
	cobrando
Past participle
Masculine	cobrado			cobrados
Feminine	cobrada			cobradas
Indicative
Present	cobro	cobras	cobra	cobramos	cobrades	cobran
Imperfect	cobraba	cobrabas	cobraba	cobrabamos	cobrabades	cobraban
Preterite	cobrei	cobraches	cobrou	cobramos	cobrastes	cobraron
Pluperfect	cobrara	cobraras	cobrara	cobraramos	cobrarades	cobraran
Future	cobrarei	cobrarás	cobrará	cobraremos	cobraredes	cobrarán
Conditional	cobraría	cobrarías	cobraría	cobrariamos	cobrariades	cobrarían
Subjunctive
Present	cobre	cobres	cobre	cobremos	cobredes	cobren
Imperfect	cobrase	cobrases	cobrase	cobrásemos	cobrásedes	cobrasen
Future	cobrar	cobrares	cobrar	cobrarmos	cobrardes	cobraren
Imperative
Affirmative		cobra	cobre	cobremos	cobrade	cobren
Negative (non)		non cobres	non cobre	non cobremos	non cobredes	non cobren

    Reintegrated conjugation of cobrar (See Appendix:Reintegrationism)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti / tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	cobrar
Personal	cobrar	cobrares	cobrar	cobrarmos	cobrardes	cobrarem
Gerund
	cobrando
Past participle
Masculine	cobrado			cobrados
Feminine	cobrada			cobradas
Indicative
Present	cobro	cobras	cobra	cobramos	cobrades, cobrais	cobram
Imperfect	cobrava	cobravas	cobrava	cobrávamos	cobrávades, cobráveis, cobrávais1	cobravam
Preterite	cobrei	cobraste, cobrache1	cobrou	cobramos	cobrastes	cobrárom, cobraram
Pluperfect	cobrara	cobraras	cobrara	cobráramos	cobrárades, cobráreis, cobrárais1	cobraram
Future	cobrarei	cobrarás	cobrará	cobraremos	cobraredes, cobrareis	cobrarám, cobrarão
Conditional	cobraria	cobrarias	cobraria	cobraríamos	cobraríades, cobraríeis, cobraríais1	cobrariam
Subjunctive
Present	cobre	cobres	cobre	cobremos	cobredes, cobreis	cobrem
Imperfect	cobrasse	cobrasses	cobrasse	cobrássemos	cobrássedes, cobrásseis	cobrassem
Future	cobrar	cobrares	cobrar	cobrarmos	cobrardes	cobrarem
Imperative
Affirmative		cobra	cobre	cobremos	cobrade, cobrai	cobrem
Negative (nom)		nom cobres	nom cobre	nom cobremos	nom cobredes, nom cobreis	nom cobrem

¹Less recommended.

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “cobrar”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “cobrar”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “cobrar”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• “cobrar”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “cobrar”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• “cobrar”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “cobrar”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Old Galician-Portuguese

Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *cuperāre (“take, seize”), a back-formation from Latin recuperāre (“recover, regain”), whence recobrar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ko.ˈbɾaɾ/
• Rhymes: -aɾ

Verb

cobrar

1. to recover; to regain
   • a. 1284, Alfonso X of Castile, Cantigas de Santa Maria, Códice de los músicos, cantiga 3 (facsimile):

     Eſta é de como ſanta maria fez cobrar a Theophilo a carta que fezera cono demo u ſe tornou ſeu vaſſalo.

     This one is (about) how Holy Mary recovered for Theophilos the contract he had made with the Devil and became his vassal.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of cobrar

infinitive				cobrar
gerund		simple		cobrando
		compound		gerund of haver or tẽer1 + past participle
past participle				singular		plural
		masculine		cobrado		cobrados
		feminine		cobrada		cobradas
present participle				cobrante		cobrantes
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative mood		eu ei	tu	el~ele ela	nos nos outros nos outras	vos vos outros vos outras	eles elas
simple tenses	present	cobro	cobras	cobra	cobramos	cobrades, cobraes, cobrais, cobraas, cobrás	cobran
	imperfect	cobrava	cobravas	cobrava	cobravamos, cobrávamos	cobravades, cobrávades, cobrávaes, cobrávais, cobrávees, cobráveis	cobravan
	preterite	cobrei	cobraste, cobrasche, cobrache	cobrou	cobramos	cobrastes	cobraron
	pluperfect	cobrara	cobraras	cobrara	cobraramos, cobráramos	cobrarades, cobrárades, cobráraes, cobrárais, cobrárees, cobráreis	cobraran
	future	cobrarei	cobrarás	cobrará	cobraremos	cobraredes, cobrarees, cobrareis, cobrarês	cobrarán
	conditional	cobraria	cobrarias	cobraria	cobrariamos, cobraríamos	cobrariades, cobraríades, cobraríaes, cobraríais, cobraríees, cobraríeis	cobrarian
compound tenses	present perfect	present of haver or tẽer1 + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect of haver or tẽer1 + past participle
	past anterior	preterite of haver or tẽer1 + past participle
	pluperfect anterior	simple pluperfect of haver or tẽer1 + past participle
	future perfect	future of haver or tẽer1 + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of haver or tẽer1 + past participle
subjunctive mood		eu ei	tu	el~ele ela	nos nos outros nos outras	vos vos outros vos outras	eles elas
simple tenses	present	cobre	cobres	cobre	cobremos	cobredes, cobrees, cobreis, cobrês	cobren
	imperfect	cobrasse	cobrasses	cobrasse	cobrassemos, cobrássemos	cobrassedes, cobrássedes, cobrássees, cobrásseis	cobrassen
	future	cobrar	cobrares	cobrar	cobrarmos	cobrardes	cobraren
compound tenses	present perfect	present subjunctive of haver or tẽer1 + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of haver or tẽer1 + past participle
	future perfect	future subjunctive of haver or tẽer1 + past participle
imperative mood		—	tu	—	nos nos outros nos outras	vos vos outros vos outras	—
affirmative		—	cobra	—	cobremos	cobrade, cobrae, cobrai	—
negative		—	non cobres	—	non cobremos	non cobredes, non cobrees, non cobreis, non cobrês	—
personal infinitive		eu ei	tu	el~ele ela	nos nos outros nos outras	vos vos outros vos outras	eles elas
		cobrar	cobrares	cobrar	cobrarmos	cobrardes	cobraren
1 Haver is more common than tẽer.

Descendants

• Galician: cobrar
• Portuguese: cobrar

Further reading

• Universo Cantigas - "cobrar"

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese cobrar, from Vulgar Latin *cuperāre (“take, seize”), a back-formation from Latin recuperāre (“recover, regain”), whence Portuguese recobrar. Doublet of recuperar, a borrowing from Latin.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /koˈbɾa(ʁ)/ [koˈbɾa(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /koˈbɾa(ʁ)/ [koˈbɾa(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /koˈbɾa(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /koˈbɾa(ʁ)/ [koˈbɾa(χ)]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /koˈbɾa(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kuˈbɾaɾ/ [kuˈβɾaɾ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kuˈbɾaɾ/ [kuˈβɾaɾ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /kuˈbɾa.ɾi/ [kuˈβɾa.ɾi]

• Hyphenation: co‧brar

Verb

cobrar (first-person singular present cobro, first-person singular preterite cobrei, past participle cobrado)(transitive)

1. to charge (ask for a certain amount of money for something)
2. to demand payment
3. (by extension) to demand that something be done
   • 2024 September 7, “Bolsonaro reúne milhares na Paulista, cobra freio a Moraes e repete pedido de anistia do 8/1”, in Folha de S.Paulo‎^[1]:

     Ele cobrou freio ao magistrado e repetiu pedidos de anistia a presos pelo 8 de janeiro de 2023.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

4. (sports) to take

   Synonym: bater

   cobrar falta ― to take a free kick

Conjugation

    Conjugation of cobrar (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	cobrar
Personal	cobrar	cobrares	cobrar	cobrarmos	cobrardes	cobrarem
Gerund
	cobrando
Past participle
Masculine	cobrado			cobrados
Feminine	cobrada			cobradas
Indicative
Present	cobro	cobras	cobra	cobramos	cobrais	cobram
Imperfect	cobrava	cobravas	cobrava	cobrávamos	cobráveis	cobravam
Preterite	cobrei	cobraste	cobrou	cobramos1, cobrámos2	cobrastes	cobraram
Pluperfect	cobrara	cobraras	cobrara	cobráramos	cobráreis	cobraram
Future	cobrarei	cobrarás	cobrará	cobraremos	cobrareis	cobrarão
Conditional	cobraria	cobrarias	cobraria	cobraríamos	cobraríeis	cobrariam
Subjunctive
Present	cobre	cobres	cobre	cobremos	cobreis	cobrem
Imperfect	cobrasse	cobrasses	cobrasse	cobrássemos	cobrásseis	cobrassem
Future	cobrar	cobrares	cobrar	cobrarmos	cobrardes	cobrarem
Imperative
Affirmative		cobra	cobre	cobremos	cobrai	cobrem
Negative (não)		não cobres	não cobre	não cobremos	não cobreis	não cobrem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Synonyms

• (to demand): exigir, mandar

Related terms

• cobrado
• cobrador
• cobrança

References

• http://www.aulete.com.br/cobrar
• https://www.infopedia.pt/dicionarios/lingua-portuguesa/cobrar

Further reading

• “cobrar”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “cobrar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *cuperāre (“take, seize”), a back-formation from Latin recuperāre (“recover, regain”), whence Spanish recobrar. Doublet of recuperar, a borrowing from Latin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /koˈbɾaɾ/ [koˈβ̞ɾaɾ]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: co‧brar

Verb

cobrar (first-person singular present cobro, first-person singular preterite cobré, past participle cobrado)

1. to charge (money, etc.)

   Me han cobrado dos veces.

   They've charged me twice.

2. to collect
3. to gather up (strength, bravery etc.)
4. to pay for something (get one's dues)
5. (reflexive) to claim (lives)

   El incendio se cobró tres vidas.

   The fire claimed three lives.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of cobrar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			cobrar
gerund			cobrando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		cobrado		cobrada
		plural		cobrados		cobradas
		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	cobro	cobrastú cobrásvos	cobra	cobramos	cobráis	cobran
	imperfect	cobraba	cobrabas	cobraba	cobrábamos	cobrabais	cobraban
	preterite	cobré	cobraste	cobró	cobramos	cobrasteis	cobraron
	future	cobraré	cobrarás	cobrará	cobraremos	cobraréis	cobrarán
	conditional	cobraría	cobrarías	cobraría	cobraríamos	cobraríais	cobrarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	cobre	cobrestú cobrésvos2	cobre	cobremos	cobréis	cobren
	imperfect (ra)	cobrara	cobraras	cobrara	cobráramos	cobrarais	cobraran
	imperfect (se)	cobrase	cobrases	cobrase	cobrásemos	cobraseis	cobrasen
	future1	cobrare	cobrares	cobrare	cobráremos	cobrareis	cobraren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		cobratú cobrávos	cobre	cobremos	cobrad	cobren
	negative		no cobres	no cobre	no cobremos	no cobréis	no cobren

¹Rare; now chiefly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tuteo-form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of cobrar

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 cobrar	dative	cobrarme	cobrarte	cobrarle, cobrarse	cobrarnos	cobraros	cobrarles, cobrarse
	accusative	cobrarme	cobrarte	cobrarlo, cobrarla, cobrarse	cobrarnos	cobraros	cobrarlos, cobrarlas, cobrarse
with gerund cobrando	dative	cobrándome	cobrándote	cobrándole, cobrándose	cobrándonos	cobrándoos	cobrándoles, cobrándose
	accusative	cobrándome	cobrándote	cobrándolo, cobrándola, cobrándose	cobrándonos	cobrándoos	cobrándolos, cobrándolas, cobrándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative cobra	dative	cóbrame	cóbrate	cóbrale	cóbranos	not used	cóbrales
	accusative	cóbrame	cóbrate	cóbralo, cóbrala	cóbranos	not used	cóbralos, cóbralas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative cobrá	dative	cobrame	cobrate	cobrale	cobranos	not used	cobrales
	accusative	cobrame	cobrate	cobralo, cobrala	cobranos	not used	cobralos, cobralas
with formal second-person singular imperative cobre	dative	cóbreme	not used	cóbrele, cóbrese	cóbrenos	not used	cóbreles
	accusative	cóbreme	not used	cóbrelo, cóbrela, cóbrese	cóbrenos	not used	cóbrelos, cóbrelas
with first-person plural imperative cobremos	dative	not used	cobrémoste	cobrémosle	cobrémonos	cobrémoos	cobrémosles
	accusative	not used	cobrémoste	cobrémoslo, cobrémosla	cobrémonos	cobrémoos	cobrémoslos, cobrémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative cobrad	dative	cobradme	not used	cobradle	cobradnos	cobraos	cobradles
	accusative	cobradme	not used	cobradlo, cobradla	cobradnos	cobraos	cobradlos, cobradlas
with formal second-person plural imperative cobren	dative	cóbrenme	not used	cóbrenle	cóbrennos	not used	cóbrenles, cóbrense
	accusative	cóbrenme	not used	cóbrenlo, cóbrenla	cóbrennos	not used	cóbrenlos, cóbrenlas, cóbrense

Derived terms

• cobranza
• cobrar forma
• cobrar sentido
• cobrar vida

Related terms

• cobrador
• recobrar

Descendants

• Chavacano: cobra
• → Cebuano: kobra
• → Tagalog: kobra

Further reading

• “cobrar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025