empalar

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Late Latin impālāre, from Latin pālus. By surface analysis, en- +‎ pal +‎ -ar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [əm.pəˈla]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [em.paˈlaɾ]

Verb

empalar (first-person singular present empalo, first-person singular preterite empalí, past participle empalat)

1. to impale

Conjugation

    Conjugation of empalar (first conjugation)

infinitive			empalar
gerund			empalant
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		empalat		empalada
		plural		empalats		empalades
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	empalo	empales	empala	empalem	empaleu	empalen
	imperfect	empalava	empalaves	empalava	empalàvem	empalàveu	empalaven
	future	empalaré	empalaràs	empalarà	empalarem	empalareu	empalaran
	preterite	empalí	empalares	empalà	empalàrem	empalàreu	empalaren
	conditional	empalaria	empalaries	empalaria	empalaríem	empalaríeu	empalarien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	empali	empalis	empali	empalem	empaleu	empalin
	imperfect	empalés	empalessis	empalés	empaléssim	empaléssiu	empalessin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	empala	empali	empalem	empaleu	empalin
	negative (no)	—	no empalis	no empali	no empalem	no empaleu	no empalin

Derived terms

• empalament

Related terms

• pal

Further reading

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

Ido

Etymology

Borrowed from English impale, French empaler, Italian impalare, Spanish empalar.

Verb

empalar (present tense empalas, past tense empalis, future tense empalos, imperative empalez, conditional empalus)

1. (transitive) to impale, fix on a sharp stake

Conjugation

Conjugation of empalar

		present		past		future
infinitive		empalar		empalir		empalor
tense		empalas		empalis		empalos
conditional		empalus		—		—
imperative		empalez		—		—
adjective active participle		empalanta		empalinta		empalonta
adverbial active participle		empalante		empalinte		empalonte
nominal active participle	singular	empalanto		empalinto		empalonto
	plural	empalanti		empalinti		empalonti
adjective passive participle		empalata		empalita		empalota
adverbial passive participle		empalate		empalite		empalote
nominal passive participle	singular	empalato		empalito		empaloto
	plural	empalati		empaliti		empaloti

Derived terms

• empaletar (“to impale an insect”)

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish empalar. Compare Catalan empalar, French empaler, Italian impalare, Romanian împăra.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /ẽ.paˈla(ʁ)/ [ẽ.paˈla(h)], (natural pronunciation) /ĩ.paˈla(ʁ)/ [ĩ.paˈla(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /ẽ.paˈla(ʁ)/ [ẽ.paˈla(h)], (natural pronunciation) /ĩ.paˈla(ʁ)/ [ĩ.paˈla(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /ẽ.paˈla(ɾ)/, (natural pronunciation) /ĩ.paˈla(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /ẽ.paˈla(ʁ)/ [ẽ.paˈla(χ)], (natural pronunciation) /ĩ.paˈla(ʁ)/ [ĩ.paˈla(χ)]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /ẽ.paˈla(ɻ)/, (natural pronunciation) /ĩ.paˈla(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ẽ.pɐˈlaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ẽ.pɐˈlaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ẽ.pɐˈla.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: em‧pa‧lar

Verb

empalar (first-person singular present empalo, first-person singular preterite empalei, past participle empalado)

1. to impale (put to death by piercing with a pale)

Conjugation

    Conjugation of empalar (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	empalar
Personal	empalar	empalares	empalar	empalarmos	empalardes	empalarem
Gerund
	empalando
Past participle
Masculine	empalado			empalados
Feminine	empalada			empaladas
Indicative
Present	empalo	empalas	empala	empalamos	empalais	empalam
Imperfect	empalava	empalavas	empalava	empalávamos	empaláveis	empalavam
Preterite	empalei	empalaste	empalou	empalamos1, empalámos2	empalastes	empalaram
Pluperfect	empalara	empalaras	empalara	empaláramos	empaláreis	empalaram
Future	empalarei	empalarás	empalará	empalaremos	empalareis	empalarão
Conditional	empalaria	empalarias	empalaria	empalaríamos	empalaríeis	empalariam
Subjunctive
Present	empale	empales	empale	empalemos	empaleis	empalem
Imperfect	empalasse	empalasses	empalasse	empalássemos	empalásseis	empalassem
Future	empalar	empalares	empalar	empalarmos	empalardes	empalarem
Imperative
Affirmative		empala	empale	empalemos	empalai	empalem
Negative (não)		não empales	não empale	não empalemos	não empaleis	não empalem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Derived terms

• empalamento

Related terms

• pau

Further reading

• “empalar”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Late Latin impālāre, from Latin pālus. By surface analysis, en- +‎ palo +‎ -ar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /empaˈlaɾ/ [ẽm.paˈlaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: em‧pa‧lar

Verb

empalar (first-person singular present empalo, first-person singular preterite empalé, past participle empalado)

1. to impale

Conjugation

    Conjugation of empalar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			empalar
gerund			empalando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		empalado		empalada
		plural		empalados		empaladas
		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	empalo	empalastú empalásvos	empala	empalamos	empaláis	empalan
	imperfect	empalaba	empalabas	empalaba	empalábamos	empalabais	empalaban
	preterite	empalé	empalaste	empaló	empalamos	empalasteis	empalaron
	future	empalaré	empalarás	empalará	empalaremos	empalaréis	empalarán
	conditional	empalaría	empalarías	empalaría	empalaríamos	empalaríais	empalarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	empale	empalestú empalésvos2	empale	empalemos	empaléis	empalen
	imperfect (ra)	empalara	empalaras	empalara	empaláramos	empalarais	empalaran
	imperfect (se)	empalase	empalases	empalase	empalásemos	empalaseis	empalasen
	future1	empalare	empalares	empalare	empaláremos	empalareis	empalaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		empalatú empalávos	empale	empalemos	empalad	empalen
	negative		no empales	no empale	no empalemos	no empaléis	no empalen

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

    Selected combined forms of empalar

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 empalar	dative	empalarme	empalarte	empalarle, empalarse	empalarnos	empalaros	empalarles, empalarse
	accusative	empalarme	empalarte	empalarlo, empalarla, empalarse	empalarnos	empalaros	empalarlos, empalarlas, empalarse
with gerund empalando	dative	empalándome	empalándote	empalándole, empalándose	empalándonos	empalándoos	empalándoles, empalándose
	accusative	empalándome	empalándote	empalándolo, empalándola, empalándose	empalándonos	empalándoos	empalándolos, empalándolas, empalándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative empala	dative	empálame	empálate	empálale	empálanos	not used	empálales
	accusative	empálame	empálate	empálalo, empálala	empálanos	not used	empálalos, empálalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative empalá	dative	empalame	empalate	empalale	empalanos	not used	empalales
	accusative	empalame	empalate	empalalo, empalala	empalanos	not used	empalalos, empalalas
with formal second-person singular imperative empale	dative	empáleme	not used	empálele, empálese	empálenos	not used	empáleles
	accusative	empáleme	not used	empálelo, empálela, empálese	empálenos	not used	empálelos, empálelas
with first-person plural imperative empalemos	dative	not used	empalémoste	empalémosle	empalémonos	empalémoos	empalémosles
	accusative	not used	empalémoste	empalémoslo, empalémosla	empalémonos	empalémoos	empalémoslos, empalémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative empalad	dative	empaladme	not used	empaladle	empaladnos	empalaos	empaladles
	accusative	empaladme	not used	empaladlo, empaladla	empaladnos	empalaos	empaladlos, empaladlas
with formal second-person plural imperative empalen	dative	empálenme	not used	empálenle	empálennos	not used	empálenles, empálense
	accusative	empálenme	not used	empálenlo, empálenla	empálennos	not used	empálenlos, empálenlas, empálense

Derived terms

• empalamiento

Related terms

• palo

Descendants

• → Portuguese: empalar

Further reading

• “empalar”, 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