masticar

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin masticāre. Doublet of mastegar, which is inherited.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [məs.tiˈka]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [mas.tiˈkaɾ]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [mas.tiˈka]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Homophone: masticà
• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)

Verb

masticar (first-person singular present mastico, first-person singular preterite mastiquí, past participle masticat)

1. (transitive) to chew

   Synonym: mastegar

Conjugation

    Central Catalan conjugation of masticar (first conjugation, c-qu alternation)

infinitive			masticar
gerund			masticant
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		masticat		masticada
		plural		masticats		masticades
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	mastico	mastiques	mastica	mastiquem	mastiqueu	mastiquen
	imperfect	masticava	masticaves	masticava	masticàvem	masticàveu	masticaven
	future	masticaré	masticaràs	masticarà	masticarem	masticareu	masticaran
	preterite	mastiquí	masticares	masticà	masticàrem	masticàreu	masticaren
	conditional	masticaria	masticaries	masticaria	masticaríem	masticaríeu	masticarien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	mastiqui	mastiquis	mastiqui	mastiquem	mastiqueu	mastiquin
	imperfect	mastiqués	mastiquessis	mastiqués	mastiquéssim	mastiquéssiu	mastiquessin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	mastica	mastiqui	mastiquem	mastiqueu	mastiquin
	negative (no)	—	no mastiquis	no mastiqui	no mastiquem	no mastiqueu	no mastiquin

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• trascami, trascamí

Interlingua

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mas.tiˈkar/

Verb

masticar

1. to chew

Conjugation

    Conjugation of masticar

infinitive		masticar
participle		present	perfect
		masticante	masticate
active		simple	perfect
	present	mastica	ha masticate
	past	masticava	habeva masticate
	future	masticara	habera masticate
	conditional	masticarea	haberea masticate
	imperative	mastica	—
passive		simple	perfect
	present	es masticate	ha essite masticate
	past	esseva masticate	habeva essite masticate
	future	essera masticate	habera essite masticate
	conditional	esserea masticate	haberea essite masticate
	imperative	sia masticate	—

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin masticāre. The word mascar derives from the same source, but is a direct descendant while masticar is a later loanword. Cognate with English masticate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mastiˈkaɾ/ [mas.t̪iˈkaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: mas‧ti‧car

Verb

masticar (first-person singular present mastico, first-person singular preterite mastiqué, past participle masticado)

1. to chew
2. to think (about an idea)

Conjugation

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

infinitive			masticar
gerund			masticando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		masticado		masticada
		plural		masticados		masticadas
		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	mastico	masticastú masticásvos	mastica	masticamos	masticáis	mastican
	imperfect	masticaba	masticabas	masticaba	masticábamos	masticabais	masticaban
	preterite	mastiqué	masticaste	masticó	masticamos	masticasteis	masticaron
	future	masticaré	masticarás	masticará	masticaremos	masticaréis	masticarán
	conditional	masticaría	masticarías	masticaría	masticaríamos	masticaríais	masticarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	mastique	mastiquestú mastiquésvos2	mastique	mastiquemos	mastiquéis	mastiquen
	imperfect (ra)	masticara	masticaras	masticara	masticáramos	masticarais	masticaran
	imperfect (se)	masticase	masticases	masticase	masticásemos	masticaseis	masticasen
	future1	masticare	masticares	masticare	masticáremos	masticareis	masticaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		masticatú masticávos	mastique	mastiquemos	masticad	mastiquen
	negative		no mastiques	no mastique	no mastiquemos	no mastiquéis	no mastiquen

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

    Selected combined forms of masticar (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 masticar	dative	masticarme	masticarte	masticarle, masticarse	masticarnos	masticaros	masticarles, masticarse
	accusative	masticarme	masticarte	masticarlo, masticarla, masticarse	masticarnos	masticaros	masticarlos, masticarlas, masticarse
with gerund masticando	dative	masticándome	masticándote	masticándole, masticándose	masticándonos	masticándoos	masticándoles, masticándose
	accusative	masticándome	masticándote	masticándolo, masticándola, masticándose	masticándonos	masticándoos	masticándolos, masticándolas, masticándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative mastica	dative	mastícame	mastícate	mastícale	mastícanos	not used	mastícales
	accusative	mastícame	mastícate	mastícalo, mastícala	mastícanos	not used	mastícalos, mastícalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative masticá	dative	masticame	masticate	masticale	masticanos	not used	masticales
	accusative	masticame	masticate	masticalo, masticala	masticanos	not used	masticalos, masticalas
with formal second-person singular imperative mastique	dative	mastíqueme	not used	mastíquele, mastíquese	mastíquenos	not used	mastíqueles
	accusative	mastíqueme	not used	mastíquelo, mastíquela, mastíquese	mastíquenos	not used	mastíquelos, mastíquelas
with first-person plural imperative mastiquemos	dative	not used	mastiquémoste	mastiquémosle	mastiquémonos	mastiquémoos	mastiquémosles
	accusative	not used	mastiquémoste	mastiquémoslo, mastiquémosla	mastiquémonos	mastiquémoos	mastiquémoslos, mastiquémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative masticad	dative	masticadme	not used	masticadle	masticadnos	masticaos	masticadles
	accusative	masticadme	not used	masticadlo, masticadla	masticadnos	masticaos	masticadlos, masticadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative mastiquen	dative	mastíquenme	not used	mastíquenle	mastíquennos	not used	mastíquenles, mastíquense
	accusative	mastíquenme	not used	mastíquenlo, mastíquenla	mastíquennos	not used	mastíquenlos, mastíquenlas, mastíquense

Derived terms

• masticable
• masticador
• masticatorio

Related terms

• masticación

Further reading

• “masticar”, 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