subsistir

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin subsistere, with normal change of conjugation to -ir.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central, Northwestern) [sup.sisˈti]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [sup.sisˈtiɾ]

Verb

subsistir (first-person singular present subsisteixo, first-person singular preterite subsistí, past participle subsistit)

1. (intransitive) to subsist

Conjugation

    Central Catalan conjugation of subsistir (third conjugation, with -eix-)

infinitive			subsistir
gerund			subsistint
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		subsistit		subsistida
		plural		subsistits		subsistides
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	subsisteixo	subsisteixes	subsisteix	subsistim	subsistiu	subsisteixen
	imperfect	subsistia	subsisties	subsistia	subsistíem	subsistíeu	subsistien
	future	subsistiré	subsistiràs	subsistirà	subsistirem	subsistireu	subsistiran
	preterite	subsistí	subsistires	subsistí	subsistírem	subsistíreu	subsistiren
	conditional	subsistiria	subsistiries	subsistiria	subsistiríem	subsistiríeu	subsistirien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	subsisteixi	subsisteixis	subsisteixi	subsistim	subsistiu	subsisteixin
	imperfect	subsistís	subsistissis	subsistís	subsistíssim	subsistíssiu	subsistissin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	subsisteix	subsisteixi	subsistim	subsistiu	subsisteixin
	negative (no)	—	no subsisteixis	no subsisteixi	no subsistim	no subsistiu	no subsisteixin

Related terms

• subsistència
• subsistent

Further reading

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

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin subsistere, with change of conjugation.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /sub.sisˈt͡ʃi(ʁ)/ [sub.sisˈt͡ʃi(h)], /su.bi.sisˈt͡ʃi(ʁ)/ [su.bi.sisˈt͡ʃi(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /sub.sisˈt͡ʃi(ʁ)/ [sub.sisˈt͡ʃi(h)], /su.bi.sisˈt͡ʃi(ʁ)/ [su.bi.sisˈt͡ʃi(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /sub.sisˈt͡ʃi(ɾ)/, /su.bi.sisˈt͡ʃi(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /sub.siʃˈt͡ʃi(ʁ)/ [sub.siʃˈt͡ʃi(χ)], /su.bi.siʃˈt͡ʃi(ʁ)/ [su.bi.siʃˈt͡ʃi(χ)]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /sub.sisˈt͡ʃi(ɻ)/, /su.bi.sisˈt͡ʃi(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sub.siʃˈtiɾ/ [suβ.siʃˈtiɾ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sub.siʃˈtiɾ/ [suβ.siʃˈtiɾ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /sub.siʃˈti.ɾi/

• (Northeast Brazil) IPA^(key): /sub.siʃˈti(χ)/
• Hyphenation: sub‧sis‧tir

Verb

subsistir (first-person singular present subsisto, first-person singular preterite subsisti, past participle subsistido)

1. to subsist

Conjugation

    Conjugation of subsistir (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	subsistir
Personal	subsistir	subsistires	subsistir	subsistirmos	subsistirdes	subsistirem
Gerund
	subsistindo
Past participle
Masculine	subsistido			subsistidos
Feminine	subsistida			subsistidas
Indicative
Present	subsisto	subsistes	subsiste	subsistimos	subsistis	subsistem
Imperfect	subsistia	subsistias	subsistia	subsistíamos	subsistíeis	subsistiam
Preterite	subsisti	subsististe	subsistiu	subsistimos	subsististes	subsistiram
Pluperfect	subsistira	subsistiras	subsistira	subsistíramos	subsistíreis	subsistiram
Future	subsistirei	subsistirás	subsistirá	subsistiremos	subsistireis	subsistirão
Conditional	subsistiria	subsistirias	subsistiria	subsistiríamos	subsistiríeis	subsistiriam
Subjunctive
Present	subsista	subsistas	subsista	subsistamos	subsistais	subsistam
Imperfect	subsistisse	subsistisses	subsistisse	subsistíssemos	subsistísseis	subsistissem
Future	subsistir	subsistires	subsistir	subsistirmos	subsistirdes	subsistirem
Imperative
Affirmative		subsiste	subsista	subsistamos	subsisti	subsistam
Negative (não)		não subsistas	não subsista	não subsistamos	não subsistais	não subsistam

Related terms

• subsistência
• subsistente

Further reading

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

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *upó

Proto-Italic *supo

Latin sub

Latin sub-

Proto-Indo-European *steh₂-

Proto-Indo-European *stísteh₂ti

Proto-Italic *sistō

Latin sistō

Latin subsistōbor.

Spanish subsistir

Borrowed from Latin subsistō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /subsisˈtiɾ/ [suβ̞.sisˈt̪iɾ]
• Rhymes: -iɾ
• Syllabification: sub‧sis‧tir

Verb

subsistir (first-person singular present subsisto, first-person singular preterite subsistí, past participle subsistido)

1. (intransitive) to subsist

Conjugation

    Conjugation of subsistir (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			subsistir
gerund			subsistiendo
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		subsistido		subsistida
		plural		subsistidos		subsistidas
		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	subsisto	subsistestú subsistísvos	subsiste	subsistimos	subsistís	subsisten
	imperfect	subsistía	subsistías	subsistía	subsistíamos	subsistíais	subsistían
	preterite	subsistí	subsististe	subsistió	subsistimos	subsististeis	subsistieron
	future	subsistiré	subsistirás	subsistirá	subsistiremos	subsistiréis	subsistirán
	conditional	subsistiría	subsistirías	subsistiría	subsistiríamos	subsistiríais	subsistirían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	subsista	subsistastú subsistásvos2	subsista	subsistamos	subsistáis	subsistan
	imperfect (ra)	subsistiera	subsistieras	subsistiera	subsistiéramos	subsistierais	subsistieran
	imperfect (se)	subsistiese	subsistieses	subsistiese	subsistiésemos	subsistieseis	subsistiesen
	future1	subsistiere	subsistieres	subsistiere	subsistiéremos	subsistiereis	subsistieren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		subsistetú subsistívos	subsista	subsistamos	subsistid	subsistan
	negative		no subsistas	no subsista	no subsistamos	no subsistáis	no subsistan

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

Related terms

• subsistencia
• subsistente

Further reading

• “subsistir”, 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