deletrear

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *de

Proto-Indo-European *-h₁

Proto-Indo-European *déh₁

Proto-Italic *dē

Latin dē

Latin dē-

Spanish de-

Spanish letra

Proto-Indo-European *-id-

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti

Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō

Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)bor.

Latin -izō

Latin -idiāre

Spanish -ear

Spanish deletrear

From de- + letra + -ear.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /deletɾeˈaɾ/ [d̪e.le.t̪ɾeˈaɾ]
Rhymes: -aɾ
Syllabification: de‧le‧tre‧ar

Verb

deletrear (first-person singular present deletreo, first-person singular preterite deletreé, past participle deletreado)

to spell, to spell out (a word or words)^[1]
to say the letters that make up each syllable of a given word, saying each syllable as it is completed, and eventually, the complete word; for example: c, a, ca, d, a, da; cada for cada^[1]

Conjugation

Conjugation of deletrear (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

		singular			plural
infinitive			deletrear
gerund			deletreando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		deletreado		deletreada
		plural		deletreados		deletreadas
		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	deletreo	deletreas^{^tú} deletreás^{^vos}	deletrea	deletreamos	deletreáis	deletrean
	imperfect	deletreaba	deletreabas	deletreaba	deletreábamos	deletreabais	deletreaban
	preterite	deletreé	deletreaste	deletreó	deletreamos	deletreasteis	deletrearon
	future	deletrearé	deletrearás	deletreará	deletrearemos	deletrearéis	deletrearán
	conditional	deletrearía	deletrearías	deletrearía	deletrearíamos	deletrearíais	deletrearían

subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	deletree	deletrees^{^tú} deletreés^{^vos²}	deletree	deletreemos	deletreéis	deletreen
	imperfect (ra)	deletreara	deletrearas	deletreara	deletreáramos	deletrearais	deletrearan
	imperfect (se)	deletrease	deletreases	deletrease	deletreásemos	deletreaseis	deletreasen
	future¹	deletreare	deletreares	deletreare	deletreáremos	deletreareis	deletrearen

imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		deletrea^{^tú} deletreá^{^vos}	deletree	deletreemos	deletread	deletreen
	negative		no deletrees	no deletree	no deletreemos	no deletreéis	no deletreen

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

Selected combined forms of deletrear

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 deletrear	dative	deletrearme	deletrearte	deletrearle, deletrearse	deletrearnos	deletrearos	deletrearles, deletrearse
with infinitive deletrear	accusative	deletrearme	deletrearte	deletrearlo, deletrearla, deletrearse	deletrearnos	deletrearos	deletrearlos, deletrearlas, deletrearse

with gerund deletreando	dative	deletreándome	deletreándote	deletreándole, deletreándose	deletreándonos	deletreándoos	deletreándoles, deletreándose
with gerund deletreando	accusative	deletreándome	deletreándote	deletreándolo, deletreándola, deletreándose	deletreándonos	deletreándoos	deletreándolos, deletreándolas, deletreándose

with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative deletrea	dative	deletréame	deletréate	deletréale	deletréanos	not used	deletréales
	accusative	deletréame	deletréate	deletréalo, deletréala	deletréanos	not used	deletréalos, deletréalas

with informal second-person singular voseo imperative deletreá	dative	deletreame	deletreate	deletreale	deletreanos	not used	deletreales
	accusative	deletreame	deletreate	deletrealo, deletreala	deletreanos	not used	deletrealos, deletrealas

with formal second-person singular imperative deletree	dative	deletréeme	not used	deletréele, deletréese	deletréenos	not used	deletréeles
with formal second-person singular imperative deletree	accusative	deletréeme	not used	deletréelo, deletréela, deletréese	deletréenos	not used	deletréelos, deletréelas

with first-person plural imperative deletreemos	dative	not used	deletreémoste	deletreémosle	deletreémonos	deletreémoos	deletreémosles
with first-person plural imperative deletreemos	accusative	not used	deletreémoste	deletreémoslo, deletreémosla	deletreémonos	deletreémoos	deletreémoslos, deletreémoslas

with informal second-person plural imperative deletread	dative	deletreadme	not used	deletreadle	deletreadnos	deletreaos	deletreadles
with informal second-person plural imperative deletread	accusative	deletreadme	not used	deletreadlo, deletreadla	deletreadnos	deletreaos	deletreadlos, deletreadlas

with formal second-person plural imperative deletreen	dative	deletréenme	not used	deletréenle	deletréennos	not used	deletréenles, deletréense
with formal second-person plural imperative deletreen	accusative	deletréenme	not used	deletréenlo, deletréenla	deletréennos	not used	deletréenlos, deletréenlas, deletréense

Derived terms

deletreador

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 “deletrear”, 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