cruzar

Portuguese

Etymology

From cruz (“cross”) +‎ -ar.

Pronunciation

 

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

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

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɾuˈzaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɾuˈzaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɾuˈza.ɾi/

Verb

cruzar (first-person singular present cruzo, first-person singular preterite cruzei, past participle cruzado)

1. to cross (all senses)

   Eles cruzaram o rio nadando. ― They swam across the river.

2. (reflexive) to intersect

   As linhas paralelas não se cruzam. ― Parallel lines do not intersect each other.

3. (reflexive) to meet (cross paths)

   Tom geralmente se cruza com Maria no supermercado. ― Tom often runs into Mary at the supermarket.

4. (transitive and intransitive) to crossbreed

Conjugation

    Conjugation of cruzar (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	cruzar
Personal	cruzar	cruzares	cruzar	cruzarmos	cruzardes	cruzarem
Gerund
	cruzando
Past participle
Masculine	cruzado			cruzados
Feminine	cruzada			cruzadas
Indicative
Present	cruzo	cruzas	cruza	cruzamos	cruzais	cruzam
Imperfect	cruzava	cruzavas	cruzava	cruzávamos	cruzáveis	cruzavam
Preterite	cruzei	cruzaste	cruzou	cruzamos1, cruzámos2	cruzastes	cruzaram
Pluperfect	cruzara	cruzaras	cruzara	cruzáramos	cruzáreis	cruzaram
Future	cruzarei	cruzarás	cruzará	cruzaremos	cruzareis	cruzarão
Conditional	cruzaria	cruzarias	cruzaria	cruzaríamos	cruzaríeis	cruzariam
Subjunctive
Present	cruze	cruzes	cruze	cruzemos	cruzeis	cruzem
Imperfect	cruzasse	cruzasses	cruzasse	cruzássemos	cruzásseis	cruzassem
Future	cruzar	cruzares	cruzar	cruzarmos	cruzardes	cruzarem
Imperative
Affirmative		cruza	cruze	cruzemos	cruzai	cruzem
Negative (não)		não cruzes	não cruze	não cruzemos	não cruzeis	não cruzem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Derived terms

• cruzamento

Further reading

• “cruzar”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “cruzar”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “cruzar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026
• “cruzar”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026

Spanish

Etymology

From cruz +‎ -ar. Compare Portuguese cruzar, French croiser.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɾuˈθaɾ/ [kɾuˈθaɾ] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /kɾuˈsaɾ/ [kɾuˈsaɾ] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: cru‧zar

Verb

cruzar (first-person singular present cruzo, first-person singular preterite crucé, past participle cruzado)

1. to cross (including of legs)
2. to exchange (words)
3. to fold (arms)
4. to crossbreed

Conjugation

    Conjugation of cruzar (c-z alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			cruzar
gerund			cruzando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		cruzado		cruzada
		plural		cruzados		cruzadas
		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	cruzo	cruzastú cruzásvos	cruza	cruzamos	cruzáis	cruzan
	imperfect	cruzaba	cruzabas	cruzaba	cruzábamos	cruzabais	cruzaban
	preterite	crucé	cruzaste	cruzó	cruzamos	cruzasteis	cruzaron
	future	cruzaré	cruzarás	cruzará	cruzaremos	cruzaréis	cruzarán
	conditional	cruzaría	cruzarías	cruzaría	cruzaríamos	cruzaríais	cruzarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	cruce	crucestú crucésvos2	cruce	crucemos	crucéis	crucen
	imperfect (ra)	cruzara	cruzaras	cruzara	cruzáramos	cruzarais	cruzaran
	imperfect (se)	cruzase	cruzases	cruzase	cruzásemos	cruzaseis	cruzasen
	future1	cruzare	cruzares	cruzare	cruzáremos	cruzareis	cruzaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		cruzatú cruzávos	cruce	crucemos	cruzad	crucen
	negative		no cruces	no cruce	no crucemos	no crucéis	no crucen

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

    Selected combined forms of cruzar (c-z alternation)

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 cruzar	dative	cruzarme	cruzarte	cruzarle, cruzarse	cruzarnos	cruzaros	cruzarles, cruzarse
	accusative	cruzarme	cruzarte	cruzarlo, cruzarla, cruzarse	cruzarnos	cruzaros	cruzarlos, cruzarlas, cruzarse
with gerund cruzando	dative	cruzándome	cruzándote	cruzándole, cruzándose	cruzándonos	cruzándoos	cruzándoles, cruzándose
	accusative	cruzándome	cruzándote	cruzándolo, cruzándola, cruzándose	cruzándonos	cruzándoos	cruzándolos, cruzándolas, cruzándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative cruza	dative	crúzame	crúzate	crúzale	crúzanos	not used	crúzales
	accusative	crúzame	crúzate	crúzalo, crúzala	crúzanos	not used	crúzalos, crúzalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative cruzá	dative	cruzame	cruzate	cruzale	cruzanos	not used	cruzales
	accusative	cruzame	cruzate	cruzalo, cruzala	cruzanos	not used	cruzalos, cruzalas
with formal second-person singular imperative cruce	dative	crúceme	not used	crúcele, crúcese	crúcenos	not used	crúceles
	accusative	crúceme	not used	crúcelo, crúcela, crúcese	crúcenos	not used	crúcelos, crúcelas
with first-person plural imperative crucemos	dative	not used	crucémoste	crucémosle	crucémonos	crucémoos	crucémosles
	accusative	not used	crucémoste	crucémoslo, crucémosla	crucémonos	crucémoos	crucémoslos, crucémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative cruzad	dative	cruzadme	not used	cruzadle	cruzadnos	cruzaos	cruzadles
	accusative	cruzadme	not used	cruzadlo, cruzadla	cruzadnos	cruzaos	cruzadlos, cruzadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative crucen	dative	crúcenme	not used	crúcenle	crúcennos	not used	crúcenles, crúcense
	accusative	crúcenme	not used	crúcenlo, crúcenla	crúcennos	not used	crúcenlos, crúcenlas, crúcense

Derived terms

• al cruzar de
• cruzar la cara

Related terms

• cruz

Further reading

• “cruzar”, 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