elegir

Catalan

Etymology

Probably borrowed from Latin ēligere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [ə.ləˈʒi]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [e.leˈd͡ʒiɾ]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [e.leˈʒi]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Verb

elegir (first-person singular present elegeixo, first-person singular preterite elegí, past participle elegit)

1. to choose, elect

   Synonym: escollir

Conjugation

    Central Catalan conjugation of elegir (third conjugation, with -eix-)

infinitive			elegir
gerund			elegint
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		elegit		elegida
		plural		elegits		elegides
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	elegeixo	elegeixes	elegeix	elegim	elegiu	elegeixen
	imperfect	elegia	elegies	elegia	elegíem	elegíeu	elegien
	future	elegiré	elegiràs	elegirà	elegirem	elegireu	elegiran
	preterite	elegí	elegires	elegí	elegírem	elegíreu	elegiren
	conditional	elegiria	elegiries	elegiria	elegiríem	elegiríeu	elegirien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	elegeixi	elegeixis	elegeixi	elegim	elegiu	elegeixin
	imperfect	elegís	elegissis	elegís	elegíssim	elegíssiu	elegissin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	elegeix	elegeixi	elegim	elegiu	elegeixin
	negative (no)	—	no elegeixis	no elegeixi	no elegim	no elegiu	no elegeixin

Related terms

• elecció
• electe
• electiu

Further reading

• “elegir”, 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
• “elegir”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “elegir” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “elegir”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Spanish

Alternative forms

• eligir (obsolete)
• esleer, esleír (archaic)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰ

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs

Proto-Italic *eks

Latin ex

Latin ex-

Proto-Indo-European *leǵ-

Proto-Indo-European *-eti

Proto-Indo-European *léǵeti

Proto-Italic *legō

Latin legō

Latin ēligōslbor.

Old Spanish elegir

Spanish elegir

Inherited from Old Spanish elegir, a semi-learned borrowing from Latin ēligere. Compare the inherited form esleer ~ esleír.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eleˈxiɾ/ [e.leˈxiɾ]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iɾ
• Syllabification: e‧le‧gir

Verb

elegir (first-person singular present elijo, first-person singular preterite elegí, past participle elegido or electo)

1. (transitive) to choose

   Synonyms: escoger, seleccionar

   Elijo vivir contento.

   I choose to be happy.

2. to elect

Usage notes

• In nonstandard usage, every conjugation can be written with a g, even though all of them have the /x/ sound.
• Compound tenses using the auxiliary verb haber use the regular past participle elegido while passive voice tenses with ser use both the regular elegido and irregular electo.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of elegir (irregular; e-i alternation; g-j alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			elegir
gerund			eligiendo
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		elegido, electo		elegida, electa
		plural		elegidos, electos		elegidas, electas
		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	elijo	eligestú elegísvos	elige	elegimos	elegís	eligen
	imperfect	elegía	elegías	elegía	elegíamos	elegíais	elegían
	preterite	elegí	elegiste	eligió	elegimos	elegisteis	eligieron
	future	elegiré	elegirás	elegirá	elegiremos	elegiréis	elegirán
	conditional	elegiría	elegirías	elegiría	elegiríamos	elegiríais	elegirían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	elija	elijastú elijásvos2	elija	elijamos	elijáis	elijan
	imperfect (ra)	eligiera	eligieras	eligiera	eligiéramos	eligierais	eligieran
	imperfect (se)	eligiese	eligieses	eligiese	eligiésemos	eligieseis	eligiesen
	future1	eligiere	eligieres	eligiere	eligiéremos	eligiereis	eligieren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		eligetú elegívos	elija	elijamos	elegid	elijan
	negative		no elijas	no elija	no elijamos	no elijáis	no elijan

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

    Selected combined forms of elegir (irregular; e-i alternation; g-j 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 elegir	dative	elegirme	elegirte	elegirle, elegirse	elegirnos	elegiros	elegirles, elegirse
	accusative	elegirme	elegirte	elegirlo, elegirla, elegirse	elegirnos	elegiros	elegirlos, elegirlas, elegirse
with gerund eligiendo	dative	eligiéndome	eligiéndote	eligiéndole, eligiéndose	eligiéndonos	eligiéndoos	eligiéndoles, eligiéndose
	accusative	eligiéndome	eligiéndote	eligiéndolo, eligiéndola, eligiéndose	eligiéndonos	eligiéndoos	eligiéndolos, eligiéndolas, eligiéndose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative elige	dative	elígeme	elígete	elígele	elígenos	not used	elígeles
	accusative	elígeme	elígete	elígelo, elígela	elígenos	not used	elígelos, elígelas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative elegí	dative	elegime	elegite	elegile	eleginos	not used	elegiles
	accusative	elegime	elegite	elegilo, elegila	eleginos	not used	elegilos, elegilas
with formal second-person singular imperative elija	dative	elíjame	not used	elíjale, elíjase	elíjanos	not used	elíjales
	accusative	elíjame	not used	elíjalo, elíjala, elíjase	elíjanos	not used	elíjalos, elíjalas
with first-person plural imperative elijamos	dative	not used	elijámoste	elijámosle	elijámonos	elijámoos	elijámosles
	accusative	not used	elijámoste	elijámoslo, elijámosla	elijámonos	elijámoos	elijámoslos, elijámoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative elegid	dative	elegidme	not used	elegidle	elegidnos	elegíos	elegidles
	accusative	elegidme	not used	elegidlo, elegidla	elegidnos	elegíos	elegidlos, elegidlas
with formal second-person plural imperative elijan	dative	elíjanme	not used	elíjanle	elíjannos	not used	elíjanles, elíjanse
	accusative	elíjanme	not used	elíjanlo, elíjanla	elíjannos	not used	elíjanlos, elíjanlas, elíjanse

Related terms

• elección
• elegible
• elegido
• reelegir

Further reading

• “elegir”, 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