sucumbir

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• succumbir (pre-standardization spelling)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *upó

Proto-Italic *supo

Latin sub

Latin sub-

Proto-Indo-European *ḱewb-

Proto-Italic *kumbō

Latin *cumbō

Latin succumberelbor.

Portuguese sucumbir

Learned borrowing from Latin succumbere.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /su.kũˈbi(ʁ)/ [su.kũˈbi(h)]

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

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /su.kũˈbiɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /su.kũˈbiɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /su.kũˈbi.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: su‧cum‧bir

Verb

sucumbir (first-person singular present sucumbo, first-person singular preterite sucumbi, past participle sucumbido)

1. (transitive) to succumb (yield to something) [with a or indirect object pronoun]
   • 1880, Maria Amalia Vaz de Carvalho, “Madame de Balsac [Madam of Balsac]”, in Contos e phantasias [Short stories and fantasies]‎^[1], 2nd edition, Lisbon: Parceria Antonio Maria Pereira, published 1905, page 262:

     Quem deixaria de succumbir a esta vida de martyrio?

     Who wouldn't succumb to this life of martyrdom?

2. (intransitive) to succumb (to give up)
3. (intransitive) to succumb (die)

   Não resistiu à doença e sucumbiu. ― He couldn't resist the disease and succumbed.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of sucumbir (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	sucumbir
Personal	sucumbir	sucumbires	sucumbir	sucumbirmos	sucumbirdes	sucumbirem
Gerund
	sucumbindo
Past participle
Masculine	sucumbido			sucumbidos
Feminine	sucumbida			sucumbidas
Indicative
Present	sucumbo	sucumbes	sucumbe	sucumbimos	sucumbis	sucumbem
Imperfect	sucumbia	sucumbias	sucumbia	sucumbíamos	sucumbíeis	sucumbiam
Preterite	sucumbi	sucumbiste	sucumbiu	sucumbimos	sucumbistes	sucumbiram
Pluperfect	sucumbira	sucumbiras	sucumbira	sucumbíramos	sucumbíreis	sucumbiram
Future	sucumbirei	sucumbirás	sucumbirá	sucumbiremos	sucumbireis	sucumbirão
Conditional	sucumbiria	sucumbirias	sucumbiria	sucumbiríamos	sucumbiríeis	sucumbiriam
Subjunctive
Present	sucumba	sucumbas	sucumba	sucumbamos	sucumbais	sucumbam
Imperfect	sucumbisse	sucumbisses	sucumbisse	sucumbíssemos	sucumbísseis	sucumbissem
Future	sucumbir	sucumbires	sucumbir	sucumbirmos	sucumbirdes	sucumbirem
Imperative
Affirmative		sucumbe	sucumba	sucumbamos	sucumbi	sucumbam
Negative (não)		não sucumbas	não sucumba	não sucumbamos	não sucumbais	não sucumbam

Further reading

• “sucumbir”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “sucumbir”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “sucumbir”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “sucumbir”, 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 *ḱewb-

Proto-Italic *kumbō

Latin *cumbō

Latin succumberebor.

Spanish sucumbir

Borrowed from Latin succumbere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sukumˈbiɾ/ [su.kũmˈbiɾ]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iɾ
• Syllabification: su‧cum‧bir

Verb

sucumbir (first-person singular present sucumbo, first-person singular preterite sucumbí, past participle sucumbido)

1. (intransitive) to succumb

Conjugation

    Conjugation of sucumbir (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			sucumbir
gerund			sucumbiendo
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		sucumbido		sucumbida
		plural		sucumbidos		sucumbidas
		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	sucumbo	sucumbestú sucumbísvos	sucumbe	sucumbimos	sucumbís	sucumben
	imperfect	sucumbía	sucumbías	sucumbía	sucumbíamos	sucumbíais	sucumbían
	preterite	sucumbí	sucumbiste	sucumbió	sucumbimos	sucumbisteis	sucumbieron
	future	sucumbiré	sucumbirás	sucumbirá	sucumbiremos	sucumbiréis	sucumbirán
	conditional	sucumbiría	sucumbirías	sucumbiría	sucumbiríamos	sucumbiríais	sucumbirían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	sucumba	sucumbastú sucumbásvos2	sucumba	sucumbamos	sucumbáis	sucumban
	imperfect (ra)	sucumbiera	sucumbieras	sucumbiera	sucumbiéramos	sucumbierais	sucumbieran
	imperfect (se)	sucumbiese	sucumbieses	sucumbiese	sucumbiésemos	sucumbieseis	sucumbiesen
	future1	sucumbiere	sucumbieres	sucumbiere	sucumbiéremos	sucumbiereis	sucumbieren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		sucumbetú sucumbívos	sucumba	sucumbamos	sucumbid	sucumban
	negative		no sucumbas	no sucumba	no sucumbamos	no sucumbáis	no sucumban

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

    Selected combined forms of sucumbir

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 sucumbir	dative	sucumbirme	sucumbirte	sucumbirle, sucumbirse	sucumbirnos	sucumbiros	sucumbirles, sucumbirse
	accusative	sucumbirme	sucumbirte	sucumbirlo, sucumbirla, sucumbirse	sucumbirnos	sucumbiros	sucumbirlos, sucumbirlas, sucumbirse
with gerund sucumbiendo	dative	sucumbiéndome	sucumbiéndote	sucumbiéndole, sucumbiéndose	sucumbiéndonos	sucumbiéndoos	sucumbiéndoles, sucumbiéndose
	accusative	sucumbiéndome	sucumbiéndote	sucumbiéndolo, sucumbiéndola, sucumbiéndose	sucumbiéndonos	sucumbiéndoos	sucumbiéndolos, sucumbiéndolas, sucumbiéndose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative sucumbe	dative	sucúmbeme	sucúmbete	sucúmbele	sucúmbenos	not used	sucúmbeles
	accusative	sucúmbeme	sucúmbete	sucúmbelo, sucúmbela	sucúmbenos	not used	sucúmbelos, sucúmbelas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative sucumbí	dative	sucumbime	sucumbite	sucumbile	sucumbinos	not used	sucumbiles
	accusative	sucumbime	sucumbite	sucumbilo, sucumbila	sucumbinos	not used	sucumbilos, sucumbilas
with formal second-person singular imperative sucumba	dative	sucúmbame	not used	sucúmbale, sucúmbase	sucúmbanos	not used	sucúmbales
	accusative	sucúmbame	not used	sucúmbalo, sucúmbala, sucúmbase	sucúmbanos	not used	sucúmbalos, sucúmbalas
with first-person plural imperative sucumbamos	dative	not used	sucumbámoste	sucumbámosle	sucumbámonos	sucumbámoos	sucumbámosles
	accusative	not used	sucumbámoste	sucumbámoslo, sucumbámosla	sucumbámonos	sucumbámoos	sucumbámoslos, sucumbámoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative sucumbid	dative	sucumbidme	not used	sucumbidle	sucumbidnos	sucumbíos	sucumbidles
	accusative	sucumbidme	not used	sucumbidlo, sucumbidla	sucumbidnos	sucumbíos	sucumbidlos, sucumbidlas
with formal second-person plural imperative sucumban	dative	sucúmbanme	not used	sucúmbanle	sucúmbannos	not used	sucúmbanles, sucúmbanse
	accusative	sucúmbanme	not used	sucúmbanlo, sucúmbanla	sucúmbannos	not used	sucúmbanlos, sucúmbanlas, sucúmbanse

Further reading

• “sucumbir”, 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