mascar

Galician

Etymology

From Latin masticāre. Compare the semi-learned doublet mastigar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [masˈkaɾ]

Verb

mascar (first-person singular present masco, first-person singular preterite masquei, past participle mascado)

1. (transitive) to chew, masticate

   Synonym: mastigar

Conjugation

    Conjugation of mascar (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	mascar
Personal	mascar	mascares	mascar	mascarmos	mascardes	mascaren
Gerund
	mascando
Past participle
Masculine	mascado			mascados
Feminine	mascada			mascadas
Indicative
Present	masco	mascas	masca	mascamos	mascades	mascan
Imperfect	mascaba	mascabas	mascaba	mascabamos	mascabades	mascaban
Preterite	masquei	mascaches	mascou	mascamos	mascastes	mascaron
Pluperfect	mascara	mascaras	mascara	mascaramos	mascarades	mascaran
Future	mascarei	mascarás	mascará	mascaremos	mascaredes	mascarán
Conditional	mascaría	mascarías	mascaría	mascariamos	mascariades	mascarían
Subjunctive
Present	masque	masques	masque	masquemos	masquedes	masquen
Imperfect	mascase	mascases	mascase	mascásemos	mascásedes	mascasen
Future	mascar	mascares	mascar	mascarmos	mascardes	mascaren
Imperative
Affirmative		masca	masque	masquemos	mascade	masquen
Negative (non)		non masques	non masque	non masquemos	non masquedes	non masquen

    Reintegrated conjugation of mascar (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	mascar
Personal	mascar	mascares	mascar	mascarmos	mascardes	mascarem
Gerund
	mascando
Past participle
Masculine	mascado			mascados
Feminine	mascada			mascadas
Indicative
Present	masco	mascas	masca	mascamos	mascades, mascais	mascam
Imperfect	mascava	mascavas	mascava	mascávamos	mascávades, mascáveis, mascávais1	mascavam
Preterite	masquei	mascaste, mascache1	mascou	mascamos	mascastes	mascárom, mascaram
Pluperfect	mascara	mascaras	mascara	mascáramos	mascárades, mascáreis, mascárais1	mascaram
Future	mascarei	mascarás	mascará	mascaremos	mascaredes, mascareis	mascarám, mascarão
Conditional	mascaria	mascarias	mascaria	mascaríamos	mascaríades, mascaríeis, mascaríais1	mascariam
Subjunctive
Present	masque	masques	masque	masquemos	masquedes, masqueis	masquem
Imperfect	mascasse	mascasses	mascasse	mascássemos	mascássedes, mascásseis	mascassem
Future	mascar	mascares	mascar	mascarmos	mascardes	mascarem
Imperative
Affirmative		masca	masque	masquemos	mascade, mascai	masquem
Negative (nom)		nom masques	nom masque	nom masquemos	nom masquedes, nom masqueis	nom masquem

¹Less recommended.

References

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “mascar”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• “mascar”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “mascar”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• “mascar”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “mascar”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Interlingua

Verb

mascar

1. to mask

Conjugation

    Conjugation of mascar

infinitive		mascar
participle		present	perfect
		mascante	mascate
active		simple	perfect
	present	masca	ha mascate
	past	mascava	habeva mascate
	future	mascara	habera mascate
	conditional	mascarea	haberea mascate
	imperative	masca	—
passive		simple	perfect
	present	es mascate	ha essite mascate
	past	esseva mascate	habeva essite mascate
	future	essera mascate	habera essite mascate
	conditional	esserea mascate	haberea essite mascate
	imperative	sia mascate	—

Portuguese

Etymology

Inherited from Latin masticāre (“to chew”). Doublet of mastigar.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /masˈka(ʁ)/ [masˈka(h)]

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

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɐʃˈkaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɐʃˈkaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɐʃˈka.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: mas‧car

Verb

mascar (first-person singular present masco, first-person singular preterite masquei, past participle mascado)

1. (transitive) to chew (to crush with teeth) for a long time

Usage notes

This verb is used when describing the chewing of something that won’t be swallowed (such as gum), or food that requires too much chewing. For normal chewing, use mastigar.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of mascar (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	mascar
Personal	mascar	mascares	mascar	mascarmos	mascardes	mascarem
Gerund
	mascando
Past participle
Masculine	mascado			mascados
Feminine	mascada			mascadas
Indicative
Present	masco	mascas	masca	mascamos	mascais	mascam
Imperfect	mascava	mascavas	mascava	mascávamos	mascáveis	mascavam
Preterite	masquei	mascaste	mascou	mascamos1, mascámos2	mascastes	mascaram
Pluperfect	mascara	mascaras	mascara	mascáramos	mascáreis	mascaram
Future	mascarei	mascarás	mascará	mascaremos	mascareis	mascarão
Conditional	mascaria	mascarias	mascaria	mascaríamos	mascaríeis	mascariam
Subjunctive
Present	masque	masques	masque	masquemos	masqueis	masquem
Imperfect	mascasse	mascasses	mascasse	mascássemos	mascásseis	mascassem
Future	mascar	mascares	mascar	mascarmos	mascardes	mascarem
Imperative
Affirmative		masca	masque	masquemos	mascai	masquem
Negative (não)		não masques	não masque	não masquemos	não masqueis	não masquem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Related terms

• mascada
• mascado

Further reading

• “mascar”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “mascar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Latin masticāre. Doublet of masticar, a borrowing. Cognate with English masticate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /masˈkaɾ/ [masˈkaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: mas‧car

Verb

mascar (first-person singular present masco, first-person singular preterite masqué, past participle mascado)

1. to chew (without ever swallowing)

   Synonym: masticar

2. (Mexico, reflexive) to sense

Usage notes

• This verb is used when describing the chewing of something that won’t be swallowed (such as gum), or food that requires too much chewing. For normal chewing, use masticar.

Conjugation

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

infinitive			mascar
gerund			mascando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		mascado		mascada
		plural		mascados		mascadas
		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	masco	mascastú mascásvos	masca	mascamos	mascáis	mascan
	imperfect	mascaba	mascabas	mascaba	mascábamos	mascabais	mascaban
	preterite	masqué	mascaste	mascó	mascamos	mascasteis	mascaron
	future	mascaré	mascarás	mascará	mascaremos	mascaréis	mascarán
	conditional	mascaría	mascarías	mascaría	mascaríamos	mascaríais	mascarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	masque	masquestú masquésvos2	masque	masquemos	masquéis	masquen
	imperfect (ra)	mascara	mascaras	mascara	mascáramos	mascarais	mascaran
	imperfect (se)	mascase	mascases	mascase	mascásemos	mascaseis	mascasen
	future1	mascare	mascares	mascare	mascáremos	mascareis	mascaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		mascatú mascávos	masque	masquemos	mascad	masquen
	negative		no masques	no masque	no masquemos	no masquéis	no masquen

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

    Selected combined forms of mascar (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 mascar	dative	mascarme	mascarte	mascarle, mascarse	mascarnos	mascaros	mascarles, mascarse
	accusative	mascarme	mascarte	mascarlo, mascarla, mascarse	mascarnos	mascaros	mascarlos, mascarlas, mascarse
with gerund mascando	dative	mascándome	mascándote	mascándole, mascándose	mascándonos	mascándoos	mascándoles, mascándose
	accusative	mascándome	mascándote	mascándolo, mascándola, mascándose	mascándonos	mascándoos	mascándolos, mascándolas, mascándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative masca	dative	máscame	máscate	máscale	máscanos	not used	máscales
	accusative	máscame	máscate	máscalo, máscala	máscanos	not used	máscalos, máscalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative mascá	dative	mascame	mascate	mascale	mascanos	not used	mascales
	accusative	mascame	mascate	mascalo, mascala	mascanos	not used	mascalos, mascalas
with formal second-person singular imperative masque	dative	másqueme	not used	másquele, másquese	másquenos	not used	másqueles
	accusative	másqueme	not used	másquelo, másquela, másquese	másquenos	not used	másquelos, másquelas
with first-person plural imperative masquemos	dative	not used	masquémoste	masquémosle	masquémonos	masquémoos	masquémosles
	accusative	not used	masquémoste	masquémoslo, masquémosla	masquémonos	masquémoos	masquémoslos, masquémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative mascad	dative	mascadme	not used	mascadle	mascadnos	mascaos	mascadles
	accusative	mascadme	not used	mascadlo, mascadla	mascadnos	mascaos	mascadlos, mascadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative masquen	dative	másquenme	not used	másquenle	másquennos	not used	másquenles, másquense
	accusative	másquenme	not used	másquenlo, másquenla	másquennos	not used	másquenlos, másquenlas, másquense

Derived terms

• goma de mascar

Further reading

• “mascar”, 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