voltear

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Portuguese volta

Proto-Indo-European *-id-

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti

Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō

Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)bor.

Late Latin -izāre

Old Galician-Portuguese -ear

Portuguese -ear

Portuguese voltear

From volta + -ear.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /vow.teˈa(ʁ)/ [voʊ̯.teˈa(h)], /vow.t͡ʃiˈa(ʁ)/ [voʊ̯.t͡ʃiˈa(h)], (faster) /vowˈt͡ʃja(ʁ)/ [voʊ̯ˈt͡ʃja(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /vow.teˈa(ʁ)/ [voʊ̯.teˈa(h)], /vow.t͡ʃiˈa(ʁ)/ [voʊ̯.t͡ʃiˈa(h)], (faster) /vowˈt͡ʃja(ʁ)/ [voʊ̯ˈt͡ʃja(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /vow.teˈa(ɾ)/ [voʊ̯.teˈa(ɾ)], /vow.t͡ʃiˈa(ɾ)/ [voʊ̯.t͡ʃiˈa(ɾ)], (faster) /vowˈt͡ʃja(ɾ)/ [voʊ̯ˈt͡ʃja(ɾ)]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /vow.teˈa(ʁ)/ [voʊ̯.teˈa(χ)], /vow.t͡ʃiˈa(ʁ)/ [voʊ̯.t͡ʃiˈa(χ)], (faster) /vowˈt͡ʃja(ʁ)/ [voʊ̯ˈt͡ʃja(χ)]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /vow.teˈa(ɻ)/ [voʊ̯.teˈa(ɻ)], /vow.t͡ʃiˈa(ɻ)/ [voʊ̯.t͡ʃiˈa(ɻ)], (faster) /vowˈt͡ʃja(ɻ)/ [voʊ̯ˈt͡ʃja(ɻ)]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /volˈtjaɾ/ [voɫˈtjaɾ], /vɔlˈtjaɾ/ [vɔɫˈtjaɾ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /volˈtjaɾ/ [voɫˈtjaɾ], /vɔlˈtjaɾ/ [vɔɫˈtjaɾ]
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /bolˈtjaɾ/ [boɫˈtjaɾ], /bɔlˈtjaɾ/ [bɔɫˈtjaɾ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /volˈtja.ɾi/ [voɫˈtja.ɾi], /vɔlˈtja.ɾi/ [vɔɫˈtja.ɾi]

• Hyphenation: vol‧te‧ar

Verb

voltear (first-person singular present volteio, first-person singular preterite volteei, past participle volteado)

1. to rotate, turn, veer
2. to flutter

Conjugation

    Conjugation of voltear (e becomes ei when stressed) (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	voltear
Personal	voltear	volteares	voltear	voltearmos	volteardes	voltearem
Gerund
	volteando
Past participle
Masculine	volteado			volteados
Feminine	volteada			volteadas
Indicative
Present	volteio	volteias	volteia	volteamos	volteais	volteiam
Imperfect	volteava	volteavas	volteava	volteávamos	volteáveis	volteavam
Preterite	volteei	volteaste	volteou	volteamos1, volteámos2	volteastes	voltearam
Pluperfect	volteara	voltearas	volteara	volteáramos	volteáreis	voltearam
Future	voltearei	voltearás	volteará	voltearemos	volteareis	voltearão
Conditional	voltearia	voltearias	voltearia	voltearíamos	voltearíeis	volteariam
Subjunctive
Present	volteie	volteies	volteie	volteemos	volteeis	volteiem
Imperfect	volteasse	volteasses	volteasse	volteássemos	volteásseis	volteassem
Future	voltear	volteares	voltear	voltearmos	volteardes	voltearem
Imperative
Affirmative		volteia	volteie	volteemos	volteai	volteiem
Negative (não)		não volteies	não volteie	não volteemos	não volteeis	não volteiem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Further reading

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

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Spanish vuelta

Proto-Indo-European *-id-

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti

Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō

Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)bor.

Latin -izāre

Spanish -ear

Spanish voltear

From vuelta + -ear. Compare Latin volūtāre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bolteˈaɾ/ [bol̪.t̪eˈaɾ]

• Audio (Spain):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: vol‧te‧ar

Verb

voltear (first-person singular present volteo, first-person singular preterite volteé, past participle volteado)

1. to turn

   Synonyms: dar vuelta, girar, volver

   • 1894, Ricardo Palma, Tradiciones peruanas - Quinta serie, es:Un señor de muchos pergaminos:

     -Déjeme en paz el abuelo, que está ñoño, y por hoy no me siento de humor para escuchar chocheces -contestó con arrogancia el de Sotomayor, haciendo ademán de voltear la espalda.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. to toss and turn; to move about
   • 2011, Isidro Cabrera, Hijos Para Dar Consuelo:

     Me fustiga el hastío de voltear en el lecho luchando por dormir, pero sigo despierto.

     I'm sick and tired of the tedium of tossing and turning in bed, struggling to sleep, but I remain awake.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of voltear (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			voltear
gerund			volteando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		volteado		volteada
		plural		volteados		volteadas
		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	volteo	volteastú volteásvos	voltea	volteamos	volteáis	voltean
	imperfect	volteaba	volteabas	volteaba	volteábamos	volteabais	volteaban
	preterite	volteé	volteaste	volteó	volteamos	volteasteis	voltearon
	future	voltearé	voltearás	volteará	voltearemos	voltearéis	voltearán
	conditional	voltearía	voltearías	voltearía	voltearíamos	voltearíais	voltearían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	voltee	volteestú volteésvos2	voltee	volteemos	volteéis	volteen
	imperfect (ra)	volteara	voltearas	volteara	volteáramos	voltearais	voltearan
	imperfect (se)	voltease	volteases	voltease	volteásemos	volteaseis	volteasen
	future1	volteare	volteares	volteare	volteáremos	volteareis	voltearen
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		volteatú volteávos	voltee	volteemos	voltead	volteen
	negative		no voltees	no voltee	no volteemos	no volteéis	no volteen

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

    Selected combined forms of voltear

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 voltear	dative	voltearme	voltearte	voltearle, voltearse	voltearnos	voltearos	voltearles, voltearse
	accusative	voltearme	voltearte	voltearlo, voltearla, voltearse	voltearnos	voltearos	voltearlos, voltearlas, voltearse
with gerund volteando	dative	volteándome	volteándote	volteándole, volteándose	volteándonos	volteándoos	volteándoles, volteándose
	accusative	volteándome	volteándote	volteándolo, volteándola, volteándose	volteándonos	volteándoos	volteándolos, volteándolas, volteándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative voltea	dative	voltéame	voltéate	voltéale	voltéanos	not used	voltéales
	accusative	voltéame	voltéate	voltéalo, voltéala	voltéanos	not used	voltéalos, voltéalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative volteá	dative	volteame	volteate	volteale	volteanos	not used	volteales
	accusative	volteame	volteate	voltealo, volteala	volteanos	not used	voltealos, voltealas
with formal second-person singular imperative voltee	dative	voltéeme	not used	voltéele, voltéese	voltéenos	not used	voltéeles
	accusative	voltéeme	not used	voltéelo, voltéela, voltéese	voltéenos	not used	voltéelos, voltéelas
with first-person plural imperative volteemos	dative	not used	volteémoste	volteémosle	volteémonos	volteémoos	volteémosles
	accusative	not used	volteémoste	volteémoslo, volteémosla	volteémonos	volteémoos	volteémoslos, volteémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative voltead	dative	volteadme	not used	volteadle	volteadnos	volteaos	volteadles
	accusative	volteadme	not used	volteadlo, volteadla	volteadnos	volteaos	volteadlos, volteadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative volteen	dative	voltéenme	not used	voltéenle	voltéennos	not used	voltéenles, voltéense
	accusative	voltéenme	not used	voltéenlo, voltéenla	voltéennos	not used	voltéenlos, voltéenlas, voltéense

Derived terms

• volteada
• volteador
• voltear los ojos
• volteo
• voltereta

Further reading

• “voltear”, 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