vigiar

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese vigiar, probably a semi-learned term derived from Latin vigilāre, from vigil (“alert; awake”), from Proto-Indo-European *weǵ- (“to be strong”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /vi.ʒiˈa(ʁ)/ [vi.ʒɪˈa(h)], (faster pronunciation) /viˈʒja(ʁ)/ [viˈʒja(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /vi.ʒiˈa(ʁ)/ [vi.ʒɪˈa(h)], (faster pronunciation) /viˈʒja(ʁ)/ [viˈʒja(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /vi.ʒiˈa(ɾ)/ [vi.ʒɪˈa(ɾ)], (faster pronunciation) /viˈʒja(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /vi.ʒiˈa(ʁ)/ [vi.ʒɪˈa(χ)], (faster pronunciation) /viˈʒja(ʁ)/ [viˈʒja(χ)]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /vi.ʒiˈa(ɻ)/ [vi.ʒɪˈa(ɻ)], (faster pronunciation) /viˈʒja(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /viˈʒjaɾ/, /vɨˈʒjaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /viˈʒjaɾ/, /vɨˈʒjaɾ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /biˈʒjaɾ/, /bɨˈʒjaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /viˈʒja.ɾi/, /vɨˈʒja.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: vi‧gi‧ar

Verb

vigiar (first-person singular present vigio, first-person singular preterite vigiei, past participle vigiado)

1. to watch (to attend or guard)

   Synonym: zelar

2. to watch (to act as a lookout)
3. to observe something carefully

   Synonym: observar

Conjugation

    Conjugation of vigiar (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	vigiar
Personal	vigiar	vigiares	vigiar	vigiarmos	vigiardes	vigiarem
Gerund
	vigiando
Past participle
Masculine	vigiado			vigiados
Feminine	vigiada			vigiadas
Indicative
Present	vigio	vigias	vigia	vigiamos	vigiais	vigiam
Imperfect	vigiava	vigiavas	vigiava	vigiávamos	vigiáveis	vigiavam
Preterite	vigiei	vigiaste	vigiou	vigiamos1, vigiámos2	vigiastes	vigiaram
Pluperfect	vigiara	vigiaras	vigiara	vigiáramos	vigiáreis	vigiaram
Future	vigiarei	vigiarás	vigiará	vigiaremos	vigiareis	vigiarão
Conditional	vigiaria	vigiarias	vigiaria	vigiaríamos	vigiaríeis	vigiariam
Subjunctive
Present	vigie	vigies	vigie	vigiemos	vigieis	vigiem
Imperfect	vigiasse	vigiasses	vigiasse	vigiássemos	vigiásseis	vigiassem
Future	vigiar	vigiares	vigiar	vigiarmos	vigiardes	vigiarem
Imperative
Affirmative		vigia	vigie	vigiemos	vigiai	vigiem
Negative (não)		não vigies	não vigie	não vigiemos	não vigieis	não vigiem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Related terms

• vigia
• vigiado
• vigiador
• vigiante
• vigieiro
• vigil
• vigilador
• vigilância
• vigilante
• vigilantemente
• vigília

Further reading

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

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese vigiar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /biˈxjaɾ/ [biˈxjaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: vi‧giar

Verb

vigiar (first-person singular present vigio, first-person singular preterite vigié, past participle vigiado)

1. (transitive, colloquial, El Salvador) to spy on (someone)

Conjugation

    Conjugation of vigiar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			vigiar
gerund			vigiando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		vigiado		vigiada
		plural		vigiados		vigiadas
		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	vigio	vigiastú vigiásvos	vigia	vigiamos	vigiáis	vigian
	imperfect	vigiaba	vigiabas	vigiaba	vigiábamos	vigiabais	vigiaban
	preterite	vigié	vigiaste	vigió	vigiamos	vigiasteis	vigiaron
	future	vigiaré	vigiarás	vigiará	vigiaremos	vigiaréis	vigiarán
	conditional	vigiaría	vigiarías	vigiaría	vigiaríamos	vigiaríais	vigiarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	vigie	vigiestú vigiésvos2	vigie	vigiemos	vigiéis	vigien
	imperfect (ra)	vigiara	vigiaras	vigiara	vigiáramos	vigiarais	vigiaran
	imperfect (se)	vigiase	vigiases	vigiase	vigiásemos	vigiaseis	vigiasen
	future1	vigiare	vigiares	vigiare	vigiáremos	vigiareis	vigiaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		vigiatú vigiávos	vigie	vigiemos	vigiad	vigien
	negative		no vigies	no vigie	no vigiemos	no vigiéis	no vigien

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

    Selected combined forms of vigiar

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 vigiar	dative	vigiarme	vigiarte	vigiarle, vigiarse	vigiarnos	vigiaros	vigiarles, vigiarse
	accusative	vigiarme	vigiarte	vigiarlo, vigiarla, vigiarse	vigiarnos	vigiaros	vigiarlos, vigiarlas, vigiarse
with gerund vigiando	dative	vigiándome	vigiándote	vigiándole, vigiándose	vigiándonos	vigiándoos	vigiándoles, vigiándose
	accusative	vigiándome	vigiándote	vigiándolo, vigiándola, vigiándose	vigiándonos	vigiándoos	vigiándolos, vigiándolas, vigiándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative vigia	dative	vígiame	vígiate	vígiale	vígianos	not used	vígiales
	accusative	vígiame	vígiate	vígialo, vígiala	vígianos	not used	vígialos, vígialas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative vigiá	dative	vigiame	vigiate	vigiale	vigianos	not used	vigiales
	accusative	vigiame	vigiate	vigialo, vigiala	vigianos	not used	vigialos, vigialas
with formal second-person singular imperative vigie	dative	vígieme	not used	vígiele, vígiese	vígienos	not used	vígieles
	accusative	vígieme	not used	vígielo, vígiela, vígiese	vígienos	not used	vígielos, vígielas
with first-person plural imperative vigiemos	dative	not used	vigiémoste	vigiémosle	vigiémonos	vigiémoos	vigiémosles
	accusative	not used	vigiémoste	vigiémoslo, vigiémosla	vigiémonos	vigiémoos	vigiémoslos, vigiémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative vigiad	dative	vigiadme	not used	vigiadle	vigiadnos	vigiaos	vigiadles
	accusative	vigiadme	not used	vigiadlo, vigiadla	vigiadnos	vigiaos	vigiadlos, vigiadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative vigien	dative	vígienme	not used	vígienle	vígiennos	not used	vígienles, vígiense
	accusative	vígienme	not used	vígienlo, vígienla	vígiennos	not used	vígienlos, vígienlas, vígiense

Further reading

• “vigiar”, 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
• “vigiar”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010