imprecar

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én

Proto-Italic *en

Proto-Italic *en-

Latin in-

Proto-Indo-European *preḱ-

Proto-Italic *preks

Latin prex

Latin precor

Latin imprecārīlbor.

Portuguese imprecar

Learned borrowing from Latin imprecārī.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩ.pɾeˈka(ʁ)/ [ĩ.pɾeˈka(h)]

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

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.pɾɨˈkaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.pɾɨˈkaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.pɾɨˈka.ɾi/

Verb

imprecar (first-person singular present impreco, first-person singular preterite imprequei, past participle imprecado)

1. to imprecate; to curse

   Synonym: rogar

Conjugation

    Conjugation of imprecar (c-qu alternation) (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	imprecar
Personal	imprecar	imprecares	imprecar	imprecarmos	imprecardes	imprecarem
Gerund
	imprecando
Past participle
Masculine	imprecado			imprecados
Feminine	imprecada			imprecadas
Indicative
Present	impreco	imprecas	impreca	imprecamos	imprecais	imprecam
Imperfect	imprecava	imprecavas	imprecava	imprecávamos	imprecáveis	imprecavam
Preterite	imprequei	imprecaste	imprecou	imprecamos1, imprecámos2	imprecastes	imprecaram
Pluperfect	imprecara	imprecaras	imprecara	imprecáramos	imprecáreis	imprecaram
Future	imprecarei	imprecarás	imprecará	imprecaremos	imprecareis	imprecarão
Conditional	imprecaria	imprecarias	imprecaria	imprecaríamos	imprecaríeis	imprecariam
Subjunctive
Present	impreque	impreques	impreque	imprequemos	imprequeis	imprequem
Imperfect	imprecasse	imprecasses	imprecasse	imprecássemos	imprecásseis	imprecassem
Future	imprecar	imprecares	imprecar	imprecarmos	imprecardes	imprecarem
Imperative
Affirmative		impreca	impreque	imprequemos	imprecai	imprequem
Negative (não)		não impreques	não impreque	não imprequemos	não imprequeis	não imprequem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Further reading

• “imprecar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin imprecārī.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /impɾeˈkaɾ/ [ĩm.pɾeˈkaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: im‧pre‧car

Verb

imprecar (first-person singular present impreco, first-person singular preterite imprequé, past participle imprecado)

1. (transitive) to imprecate, curse

Conjugation

    Conjugation of imprecar (c-qu alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			imprecar
gerund			imprecando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		imprecado		imprecada
		plural		imprecados		imprecadas
		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	impreco	imprecastú imprecásvos	impreca	imprecamos	imprecáis	imprecan
	imperfect	imprecaba	imprecabas	imprecaba	imprecábamos	imprecabais	imprecaban
	preterite	imprequé	imprecaste	imprecó	imprecamos	imprecasteis	imprecaron
	future	imprecaré	imprecarás	imprecará	imprecaremos	imprecaréis	imprecarán
	conditional	imprecaría	imprecarías	imprecaría	imprecaríamos	imprecaríais	imprecarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	impreque	imprequestú imprequésvos2	impreque	imprequemos	imprequéis	imprequen
	imperfect (ra)	imprecara	imprecaras	imprecara	imprecáramos	imprecarais	imprecaran
	imperfect (se)	imprecase	imprecases	imprecase	imprecásemos	imprecaseis	imprecasen
	future1	imprecare	imprecares	imprecare	imprecáremos	imprecareis	imprecaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		imprecatú imprecávos	impreque	imprequemos	imprecad	imprequen
	negative		no impreques	no impreque	no imprequemos	no imprequéis	no imprequen

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

    Selected combined forms of imprecar (c-qu 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 imprecar	dative	imprecarme	imprecarte	imprecarle, imprecarse	imprecarnos	imprecaros	imprecarles, imprecarse
	accusative	imprecarme	imprecarte	imprecarlo, imprecarla, imprecarse	imprecarnos	imprecaros	imprecarlos, imprecarlas, imprecarse
with gerund imprecando	dative	imprecándome	imprecándote	imprecándole, imprecándose	imprecándonos	imprecándoos	imprecándoles, imprecándose
	accusative	imprecándome	imprecándote	imprecándolo, imprecándola, imprecándose	imprecándonos	imprecándoos	imprecándolos, imprecándolas, imprecándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative impreca	dative	imprécame	imprécate	imprécale	imprécanos	not used	imprécales
	accusative	imprécame	imprécate	imprécalo, imprécala	imprécanos	not used	imprécalos, imprécalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative imprecá	dative	imprecame	imprecate	imprecale	imprecanos	not used	imprecales
	accusative	imprecame	imprecate	imprecalo, imprecala	imprecanos	not used	imprecalos, imprecalas
with formal second-person singular imperative impreque	dative	impréqueme	not used	impréquele, impréquese	impréquenos	not used	impréqueles
	accusative	impréqueme	not used	impréquelo, impréquela, impréquese	impréquenos	not used	impréquelos, impréquelas
with first-person plural imperative imprequemos	dative	not used	imprequémoste	imprequémosle	imprequémonos	imprequémoos	imprequémosles
	accusative	not used	imprequémoste	imprequémoslo, imprequémosla	imprequémonos	imprequémoos	imprequémoslos, imprequémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative imprecad	dative	imprecadme	not used	imprecadle	imprecadnos	imprecaos	imprecadles
	accusative	imprecadme	not used	imprecadlo, imprecadla	imprecadnos	imprecaos	imprecadlos, imprecadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative imprequen	dative	impréquenme	not used	impréquenle	impréquennos	not used	impréquenles, impréquense
	accusative	impréquenme	not used	impréquenlo, impréquenla	impréquennos	not used	impréquenlos, impréquenlas, impréquense

Derived terms

• imprecatorio

Related terms

• imprecación

Further reading

• “imprecar”, 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