declinar

Catalan

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin dēclīnāre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [də.kliˈna]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [de.kliˈnaɾ]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [de.kliˈna]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Verb

declinar (first-person singular present declino, first-person singular preterite decliní, past participle declinat)

1. (ambitransitive) to decline

Conjugation

    Central Catalan conjugation of declinar (first conjugation)

infinitive			declinar
gerund			declinant
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		declinat		declinada
		plural		declinats		declinades
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	declino	declines	declina	declinem	declineu	declinen
	imperfect	declinava	declinaves	declinava	declinàvem	declinàveu	declinaven
	future	declinaré	declinaràs	declinarà	declinarem	declinareu	declinaran
	preterite	decliní	declinares	declinà	declinàrem	declinàreu	declinaren
	conditional	declinaria	declinaries	declinaria	declinaríem	declinaríeu	declinarien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	declini	declinis	declini	declinem	declineu	declinin
	imperfect	declinés	declinessis	declinés	declinéssim	declinéssiu	declinessin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	declina	declini	declinem	declineu	declinin
	negative (no)	—	no declinis	no declini	no declinem	no declineu	no declinin

Related terms

• declinació

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *de

Proto-Indo-European *-h₁

Proto-Indo-European *déh₁

Proto-Italic *dē

Latin dē

Latin dē-

Proto-Indo-European *ḱel-

Proto-Indo-European *-éyti

Proto-Indo-European *ḱley-

Proto-Indo-European *-né-

Proto-Indo-European *ḱl̥néyti ~ *ḱl̥n‌yénti

Proto-Italic *kl(e)inō

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Latin -ō

▲

Proto-Italic *klei- ~ *kli-influ.

Latin clīnō

Latin dēclīnārelbor.

Portuguese declinar

Learned borrowing from Latin dēclīnāre.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /de.kliˈna(ʁ)/ [de.kliˈna(h)]

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

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /dɨ.kliˈnaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /dɨ.kliˈnaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /dɨ.kliˈna.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: de‧cli‧nar

Verb

declinar (first-person singular present declino, first-person singular preterite declinei, past participle declinado)

1. to abate (decrease or become less in strength)

   Synonyms: descer, diminuir

2. to decline (refuse)

   Synonym: recusar

3. to decline (inflect)
4. to express something verbally

   Synonym: dizer

5. (grammar) to inflect, decline

Conjugation

    Conjugation of declinar (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	declinar
Personal	declinar	declinares	declinar	declinarmos	declinardes	declinarem
Gerund
	declinando
Past participle
Masculine	declinado			declinados
Feminine	declinada			declinadas
Indicative
Present	declino	declinas	declina	declinamos	declinais	declinam
Imperfect	declinava	declinavas	declinava	declinávamos	declináveis	declinavam
Preterite	declinei	declinaste	declinou	declinamos1, declinámos2	declinastes	declinaram
Pluperfect	declinara	declinaras	declinara	declináramos	declináreis	declinaram
Future	declinarei	declinarás	declinará	declinaremos	declinareis	declinarão
Conditional	declinaria	declinarias	declinaria	declinaríamos	declinaríeis	declinariam
Subjunctive
Present	decline	declines	decline	declinemos	declineis	declinem
Imperfect	declinasse	declinasses	declinasse	declinássemos	declinásseis	declinassem
Future	declinar	declinares	declinar	declinarmos	declinardes	declinarem
Imperative
Affirmative		declina	decline	declinemos	declinai	declinem
Negative (não)		não declines	não decline	não declinemos	não declineis	não declinem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Related terms

• declinação

Further reading

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

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *de

Proto-Indo-European *-h₁

Proto-Indo-European *déh₁

Proto-Italic *dē

Latin dē

Latin dē-

Proto-Indo-European *ḱel-

Proto-Indo-European *-éyti

Proto-Indo-European *ḱley-

Proto-Indo-European *-né-

Proto-Indo-European *ḱl̥néyti ~ *ḱl̥n‌yénti

Proto-Italic *kl(e)inō

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Latin -ō

▲

Proto-Italic *klei- ~ *kli-influ.

Latin clīnō

Latin dēclīnārelbor.

Spanish declinar

Learned borrowing from Latin dēclīnāre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dekliˈnaɾ/ [d̪e.kliˈnaɾ]

• Audio (Spain):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: de‧cli‧nar

Verb

declinar (first-person singular present declino, first-person singular preterite decliné, past participle declinado)

1. (transitive) to decline
2. (transitive, grammar) to decline
3. (intransitive, formal) to draw to an end
4. (reflexive) to lean (hang outwards)

Conjugation

    Conjugation of declinar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			declinar
gerund			declinando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		declinado		declinada
		plural		declinados		declinadas
		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	declino	declinastú declinásvos	declina	declinamos	declináis	declinan
	imperfect	declinaba	declinabas	declinaba	declinábamos	declinabais	declinaban
	preterite	decliné	declinaste	declinó	declinamos	declinasteis	declinaron
	future	declinaré	declinarás	declinará	declinaremos	declinaréis	declinarán
	conditional	declinaría	declinarías	declinaría	declinaríamos	declinaríais	declinarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	decline	declinestú declinésvos2	decline	declinemos	declinéis	declinen
	imperfect (ra)	declinara	declinaras	declinara	declináramos	declinarais	declinaran
	imperfect (se)	declinase	declinases	declinase	declinásemos	declinaseis	declinasen
	future1	declinare	declinares	declinare	declináremos	declinareis	declinaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		declinatú declinávos	decline	declinemos	declinad	declinen
	negative		no declines	no decline	no declinemos	no declinéis	no declinen

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

    Selected combined forms of declinar

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 declinar	dative	declinarme	declinarte	declinarle, declinarse	declinarnos	declinaros	declinarles, declinarse
	accusative	declinarme	declinarte	declinarlo, declinarla, declinarse	declinarnos	declinaros	declinarlos, declinarlas, declinarse
with gerund declinando	dative	declinándome	declinándote	declinándole, declinándose	declinándonos	declinándoos	declinándoles, declinándose
	accusative	declinándome	declinándote	declinándolo, declinándola, declinándose	declinándonos	declinándoos	declinándolos, declinándolas, declinándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative declina	dative	declíname	declínate	declínale	declínanos	not used	declínales
	accusative	declíname	declínate	declínalo, declínala	declínanos	not used	declínalos, declínalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative decliná	dative	decliname	declinate	declinale	declinanos	not used	declinales
	accusative	decliname	declinate	declinalo, declinala	declinanos	not used	declinalos, declinalas
with formal second-person singular imperative decline	dative	declíneme	not used	declínele, declínese	declínenos	not used	declíneles
	accusative	declíneme	not used	declínelo, declínela, declínese	declínenos	not used	declínelos, declínelas
with first-person plural imperative declinemos	dative	not used	declinémoste	declinémosle	declinémonos	declinémoos	declinémosles
	accusative	not used	declinémoste	declinémoslo, declinémosla	declinémonos	declinémoos	declinémoslos, declinémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative declinad	dative	declinadme	not used	declinadle	declinadnos	declinaos	declinadles
	accusative	declinadme	not used	declinadlo, declinadla	declinadnos	declinaos	declinadlos, declinadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative declinen	dative	declínenme	not used	declínenle	declínennos	not used	declínenles, declínense
	accusative	declínenme	not used	declínenlo, declínenla	declínennos	not used	declínenlos, declínenlas, declínense

Related terms

• declinación

Further reading

• “declinar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 24th edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 30 October 2026