inculcar

Galician

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én

Proto-Italic *en

Proto-Italic *en-

Latin in-

Latin calx

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Latin -ō

Latin calcō

Latin inculcārelbor.

Galician inculcar

Learned borrowing from Latin inculcāre.

Verb

inculcar (first-person singular present inculco, first-person singular preterite inculquei, past participle inculcado)

1. (transitive) to drill; to inculcate (to teach by repeated instruction)

Conjugation

    Conjugation of inculcar (c-qu alternation)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti)	Third-person (el / ela / Vde.)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / Vdes.)
Infinitive
Impersonal	inculcar
Personal	inculcar	inculcares	inculcar	inculcarmos	inculcardes	inculcaren
Gerund
	inculcando
Past participle
Masculine	inculcado			inculcados
Feminine	inculcada			inculcadas
Indicative
Present	inculco	inculcas	inculca	inculcamos	inculcades	inculcan
Imperfect	inculcaba	inculcabas	inculcaba	inculcabamos	inculcabades	inculcaban
Preterite	inculquei	inculcaches	inculcou	inculcamos	inculcastes	inculcaron
Pluperfect	inculcara	inculcaras	inculcara	inculcaramos	inculcarades	inculcaran
Future	inculcarei	inculcarás	inculcará	inculcaremos	inculcaredes	inculcarán
Conditional	inculcaría	inculcarías	inculcaría	inculcariamos	inculcariades	inculcarían
Subjunctive
Present	inculque	inculques	inculque	inculquemos	inculquedes	inculquen
Imperfect	inculcase	inculcases	inculcase	inculcásemos	inculcásedes	inculcasen
Future	inculcar	inculcares	inculcar	inculcarmos	inculcardes	inculcaren
Imperative
Affirmative		inculca	inculque	inculquemos	inculcade	inculquen
Negative (non)		non inculques	non inculque	non inculquemos	non inculquedes	non inculquen

    Reintegrated conjugation of inculcar (c-qu alternation) (See Appendix:Reintegrationism)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti / tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	inculcar
Personal	inculcar	inculcares	inculcar	inculcarmos	inculcardes	inculcarem
Gerund
	inculcando
Past participle
Masculine	inculcado			inculcados
Feminine	inculcada			inculcadas
Indicative
Present	inculco	inculcas	inculca	inculcamos	inculcades, inculcais	inculcam
Imperfect	inculcava	inculcavas	inculcava	inculcávamos	inculcávades, inculcáveis, inculcávais1	inculcavam
Preterite	inculquei	inculcaste, inculcache1	inculcou	inculcamos	inculcastes	inculcárom, inculcaram
Pluperfect	inculcara	inculcaras	inculcara	inculcáramos	inculcárades, inculcáreis, inculcárais1	inculcaram
Future	inculcarei	inculcarás	inculcará	inculcaremos	inculcaredes, inculcareis	inculcarám, inculcarão
Conditional	inculcaria	inculcarias	inculcaria	inculcaríamos	inculcaríades, inculcaríeis, inculcaríais1	inculcariam
Subjunctive
Present	inculque	inculques	inculque	inculquemos	inculquedes, inculqueis	inculquem
Imperfect	inculcasse	inculcasses	inculcasse	inculcássemos	inculcássedes, inculcásseis	inculcassem
Future	inculcar	inculcares	inculcar	inculcarmos	inculcardes	inculcarem
Imperative
Affirmative		inculca	inculque	inculquemos	inculcade, inculcai	inculquem
Negative (nom)		nom inculques	nom inculque	nom inculquemos	nom inculquedes, nom inculqueis	nom inculquem

¹Less recommended.

Further reading

• “inculcar”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• “inculcar”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én

Proto-Italic *en

Proto-Italic *en-

Latin in-

Latin calx

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Latin -ō

Latin calcō

Latin inculcārebor.

Portuguese inculcar

Borrowed from Latin inculcāre.

Pronunciation

 

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

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

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.kulˈkaɾ/ [ĩ.kuɫˈkaɾ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.kulˈkaɾ/ [ĩ.kuɫˈkaɾ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.kulˈka.ɾi/ [ĩ.kuɫˈka.ɾi]

• Hyphenation: in‧cul‧car

Verb

inculcar (first-person singular present inculco, first-person singular preterite inculquei, past participle inculcado)

1. (transitive) to drill; to inculcate (to teach by repeated instruction)

Conjugation

    Conjugation of inculcar (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	inculcar
Personal	inculcar	inculcares	inculcar	inculcarmos	inculcardes	inculcarem
Gerund
	inculcando
Past participle
Masculine	inculcado			inculcados
Feminine	inculcada			inculcadas
Indicative
Present	inculco	inculcas	inculca	inculcamos	inculcais	inculcam
Imperfect	inculcava	inculcavas	inculcava	inculcávamos	inculcáveis	inculcavam
Preterite	inculquei	inculcaste	inculcou	inculcamos1, inculcámos2	inculcastes	inculcaram
Pluperfect	inculcara	inculcaras	inculcara	inculcáramos	inculcáreis	inculcaram
Future	inculcarei	inculcarás	inculcará	inculcaremos	inculcareis	inculcarão
Conditional	inculcaria	inculcarias	inculcaria	inculcaríamos	inculcaríeis	inculcariam
Subjunctive
Present	inculque	inculques	inculque	inculquemos	inculqueis	inculquem
Imperfect	inculcasse	inculcasses	inculcasse	inculcássemos	inculcásseis	inculcassem
Future	inculcar	inculcares	inculcar	inculcarmos	inculcardes	inculcarem
Imperative
Affirmative		inculca	inculque	inculquemos	inculcai	inculquem
Negative (não)		não inculques	não inculque	não inculquemos	não inculqueis	não inculquem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Further reading

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

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én

Proto-Italic *en

Proto-Italic *en-

Latin in-

Latin calx

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Latin -ō

Latin calcō

Latin inculcārebor.

Spanish inculcar

Borrowed from Latin inculcāre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /inkulˈkaɾ/ [ĩŋ.kulˈkaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: in‧cul‧car

Verb

inculcar (first-person singular present inculco, first-person singular preterite inculqué, past participle inculcado)

1. (transitive) to instill, inculcate (in), drum (review to establish memorization)

Conjugation

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

infinitive			inculcar
gerund			inculcando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		inculcado		inculcada
		plural		inculcados		inculcadas
		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	inculco	inculcastú inculcásvos	inculca	inculcamos	inculcáis	inculcan
	imperfect	inculcaba	inculcabas	inculcaba	inculcábamos	inculcabais	inculcaban
	preterite	inculqué	inculcaste	inculcó	inculcamos	inculcasteis	inculcaron
	future	inculcaré	inculcarás	inculcará	inculcaremos	inculcaréis	inculcarán
	conditional	inculcaría	inculcarías	inculcaría	inculcaríamos	inculcaríais	inculcarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	inculque	inculquestú inculquésvos2	inculque	inculquemos	inculquéis	inculquen
	imperfect (ra)	inculcara	inculcaras	inculcara	inculcáramos	inculcarais	inculcaran
	imperfect (se)	inculcase	inculcases	inculcase	inculcásemos	inculcaseis	inculcasen
	future1	inculcare	inculcares	inculcare	inculcáremos	inculcareis	inculcaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		inculcatú inculcávos	inculque	inculquemos	inculcad	inculquen
	negative		no inculques	no inculque	no inculquemos	no inculquéis	no inculquen

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

    Selected combined forms of inculcar (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 inculcar	dative	inculcarme	inculcarte	inculcarle, inculcarse	inculcarnos	inculcaros	inculcarles, inculcarse
	accusative	inculcarme	inculcarte	inculcarlo, inculcarla, inculcarse	inculcarnos	inculcaros	inculcarlos, inculcarlas, inculcarse
with gerund inculcando	dative	inculcándome	inculcándote	inculcándole, inculcándose	inculcándonos	inculcándoos	inculcándoles, inculcándose
	accusative	inculcándome	inculcándote	inculcándolo, inculcándola, inculcándose	inculcándonos	inculcándoos	inculcándolos, inculcándolas, inculcándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative inculca	dative	incúlcame	incúlcate	incúlcale	incúlcanos	not used	incúlcales
	accusative	incúlcame	incúlcate	incúlcalo, incúlcala	incúlcanos	not used	incúlcalos, incúlcalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative inculcá	dative	inculcame	inculcate	inculcale	inculcanos	not used	inculcales
	accusative	inculcame	inculcate	inculcalo, inculcala	inculcanos	not used	inculcalos, inculcalas
with formal second-person singular imperative inculque	dative	incúlqueme	not used	incúlquele, incúlquese	incúlquenos	not used	incúlqueles
	accusative	incúlqueme	not used	incúlquelo, incúlquela, incúlquese	incúlquenos	not used	incúlquelos, incúlquelas
with first-person plural imperative inculquemos	dative	not used	inculquémoste	inculquémosle	inculquémonos	inculquémoos	inculquémosles
	accusative	not used	inculquémoste	inculquémoslo, inculquémosla	inculquémonos	inculquémoos	inculquémoslos, inculquémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative inculcad	dative	inculcadme	not used	inculcadle	inculcadnos	inculcaos	inculcadles
	accusative	inculcadme	not used	inculcadlo, inculcadla	inculcadnos	inculcaos	inculcadlos, inculcadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative inculquen	dative	incúlquenme	not used	incúlquenle	incúlquennos	not used	incúlquenles, incúlquense
	accusative	incúlquenme	not used	incúlquenlo, incúlquenla	incúlquennos	not used	incúlquenlos, incúlquenlas, incúlquense

Related terms

• inculcación

Further reading

• “inculcar”, 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