obrar

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin operāre. Doublet of operar, a borrowing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [uˈβɾa]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [oˈbɾa]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [oˈbɾaɾ]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [oˈβɾa]

Verb

obrar (first-person singular present obro, first-person singular preterite obrí, past participle obrat); root stress: (Northern) /o̞/; (Balearic, Central, Northwestern, Valencia) /ɔ/

1. to work (to shape, form or improve a material)
2. to act, to behave
3. to work (to function correctly)

Conjugation

    Central Catalan conjugation of obrar (first conjugation)

infinitive			obrar
gerund			obrant
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		obrat		obrada
		plural		obrats		obrades
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	obro	obres	obra	obrem	obreu	obren
	imperfect	obrava	obraves	obrava	obràvem	obràveu	obraven
	future	obraré	obraràs	obrarà	obrarem	obrareu	obraran
	preterite	obrí	obrares	obrà	obràrem	obràreu	obraren
	conditional	obraria	obraries	obraria	obraríem	obraríeu	obrarien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	obri	obris	obri	obrem	obreu	obrin
	imperfect	obrés	obressis	obrés	obréssim	obréssiu	obressin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	obra	obri	obrem	obreu	obrin
	negative (no)	—	no obris	no obri	no obrem	no obreu	no obrin

Related terms

• obra
• obrer

Further reading

• “obrar”, 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

Galician

Etymology

From Late Latin operāre, from Latin operārī.

Verb

obrar (first-person singular present obro, first-person singular preterite obrei, past participle obrado)

1. to act, accomplish

   Synonym: actuar

2. to cause, to produce (an effect)
3. to construct, build

   Synonyms: construír, edificar

4. (vulgar) to defecate

   Synonyms: defecar, cagar

Conjugation

    Conjugation of obrar

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti)	Third-person (el / ela / Vde.)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / Vdes.)
Infinitive
Impersonal	obrar
Personal	obrar	obrares	obrar	obrarmos	obrardes	obraren
Gerund
	obrando
Past participle
Masculine	obrado			obrados
Feminine	obrada			obradas
Indicative
Present	obro	obras	obra	obramos	obrades	obran
Imperfect	obraba	obrabas	obraba	obrabamos	obrabades	obraban
Preterite	obrei	obraches	obrou	obramos	obrastes	obraron
Pluperfect	obrara	obraras	obrara	obraramos	obrarades	obraran
Future	obrarei	obrarás	obrará	obraremos	obraredes	obrarán
Conditional	obraría	obrarías	obraría	obrariamos	obrariades	obrarían
Subjunctive
Present	obre	obres	obre	obremos	obredes	obren
Imperfect	obrase	obrases	obrase	obrásemos	obrásedes	obrasen
Future	obrar	obrares	obrar	obrarmos	obrardes	obraren
Imperative
Affirmative		obra	obre	obremos	obrade	obren
Negative (non)		non obres	non obre	non obremos	non obredes	non obren

    Reintegrated conjugation of obrar (See Appendix:Reintegrationism)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti / tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	obrar
Personal	obrar	obrares	obrar	obrarmos	obrardes	obrarem
Gerund
	obrando
Past participle
Masculine	obrado			obrados
Feminine	obrada			obradas
Indicative
Present	obro	obras	obra	obramos	obrades, obrais	obram
Imperfect	obrava	obravas	obrava	obrávamos	obrávades, obráveis, obrávais1	obravam
Preterite	obrei	obraste, obrache1	obrou	obramos	obrastes	obrárom, obraram
Pluperfect	obrara	obraras	obrara	obráramos	obrárades, obráreis, obrárais1	obraram
Future	obrarei	obrarás	obrará	obraremos	obraredes, obrareis	obrarám, obrarão
Conditional	obraria	obrarias	obraria	obraríamos	obraríades, obraríeis, obraríais1	obrariam
Subjunctive
Present	obre	obres	obre	obremos	obredes, obreis	obrem
Imperfect	obrasse	obrasses	obrasse	obrássemos	obrássedes, obrásseis	obrassem
Future	obrar	obrares	obrar	obrarmos	obrardes	obrarem
Imperative
Affirmative		obra	obre	obremos	obrade, obrai	obrem
Negative (nom)		nom obres	nom obre	nom obremos	nom obredes, nom obreis	nom obrem

¹Less recommended.

Related terms

• obra
• obradoiro
• obreiro

Portuguese

Etymology

Inherited from Late Latin operāre, from Latin operārī. Doublet of operar, a borrowing.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /oˈbɾa(ʁ)/ [oˈbɾa(h)]

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

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔˈbɾaɾ/ [ɔˈβɾaɾ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔˈbɾaɾ/ [ɔˈβɾaɾ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔˈbɾa.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: o‧brar

Verb

obrar (first-person singular present obro, first-person singular preterite obrei, past participle obrado)

1. (intransitive) to work (to perform a work or labour)

   Synonym: trabalhar

2. (intransitive, informal, humorous) to defecate

   Synonyms: defecar, (vulgar) cagar

Conjugation

    Conjugation of obrar (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	obrar
Personal	obrar	obrares	obrar	obrarmos	obrardes	obrarem
Gerund
	obrando
Past participle
Masculine	obrado			obrados
Feminine	obrada			obradas
Indicative
Present	obro	obras	obra	obramos	obrais	obram
Imperfect	obrava	obravas	obrava	obrávamos	obráveis	obravam
Preterite	obrei	obraste	obrou	obramos1, obrámos2	obrastes	obraram
Pluperfect	obrara	obraras	obrara	obráramos	obráreis	obraram
Future	obrarei	obrarás	obrará	obraremos	obrareis	obrarão
Conditional	obraria	obrarias	obraria	obraríamos	obraríeis	obrariam
Subjunctive
Present	obre	obres	obre	obremos	obreis	obrem
Imperfect	obrasse	obrasses	obrasse	obrássemos	obrásseis	obrassem
Future	obrar	obrares	obrar	obrarmos	obrardes	obrarem
Imperative
Affirmative		obra	obre	obremos	obrai	obrem
Negative (não)		não obres	não obre	não obremos	não obreis	não obrem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Related terms

• obra
• obreiro

Further reading

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

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep-

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *h₃épos

Proto-Italic *opos

Latin opus

Latin opera

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos

Proto-Italic *-ātos

Latin -ātus

Latin operātusbf.

Classical Latin operor

Late Latin operāre

Spanish obrar

Inherited from Late Latin operāre, from Latin operārī. Doublet of operar, a borrowing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /oˈbɾaɾ/ [oˈβ̞ɾaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: o‧brar

Verb

obrar (first-person singular present obro, first-person singular preterite obré, past participle obrado)

1. to act, to behave

   Synonyms: actuar, comportar, portar

2. to work (to function correctly)

   Synonyms: funcionar, marchar, andar

Conjugation

    Conjugation of obrar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			obrar
gerund			obrando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		obrado		obrada
		plural		obrados		obradas
		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	obro	obrastú obrásvos	obra	obramos	obráis	obran
	imperfect	obraba	obrabas	obraba	obrábamos	obrabais	obraban
	preterite	obré	obraste	obró	obramos	obrasteis	obraron
	future	obraré	obrarás	obrará	obraremos	obraréis	obrarán
	conditional	obraría	obrarías	obraría	obraríamos	obraríais	obrarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	obre	obrestú obrésvos2	obre	obremos	obréis	obren
	imperfect (ra)	obrara	obraras	obrara	obráramos	obrarais	obraran
	imperfect (se)	obrase	obrases	obrase	obrásemos	obraseis	obrasen
	future1	obrare	obrares	obrare	obráremos	obrareis	obraren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		obratú obrávos	obre	obremos	obrad	obren
	negative		no obres	no obre	no obremos	no obréis	no obren

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

    Selected combined forms of obrar

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 obrar	dative	obrarme	obrarte	obrarle, obrarse	obrarnos	obraros	obrarles, obrarse
	accusative	obrarme	obrarte	obrarlo, obrarla, obrarse	obrarnos	obraros	obrarlos, obrarlas, obrarse
with gerund obrando	dative	obrándome	obrándote	obrándole, obrándose	obrándonos	obrándoos	obrándoles, obrándose
	accusative	obrándome	obrándote	obrándolo, obrándola, obrándose	obrándonos	obrándoos	obrándolos, obrándolas, obrándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative obra	dative	óbrame	óbrate	óbrale	óbranos	not used	óbrales
	accusative	óbrame	óbrate	óbralo, óbrala	óbranos	not used	óbralos, óbralas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative obrá	dative	obrame	obrate	obrale	obranos	not used	obrales
	accusative	obrame	obrate	obralo, obrala	obranos	not used	obralos, obralas
with formal second-person singular imperative obre	dative	óbreme	not used	óbrele, óbrese	óbrenos	not used	óbreles
	accusative	óbreme	not used	óbrelo, óbrela, óbrese	óbrenos	not used	óbrelos, óbrelas
with first-person plural imperative obremos	dative	not used	obrémoste	obrémosle	obrémonos	obrémoos	obrémosles
	accusative	not used	obrémoste	obrémoslo, obrémosla	obrémonos	obrémoos	obrémoslos, obrémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative obrad	dative	obradme	not used	obradle	obradnos	obraos	obradles
	accusative	obradme	not used	obradlo, obradla	obradnos	obraos	obradlos, obradlas
with formal second-person plural imperative obren	dative	óbrenme	not used	óbrenle	óbrennos	not used	óbrenles, óbrense
	accusative	óbrenme	not used	óbrenlo, óbrenla	óbrennos	not used	óbrenlos, óbrenlas, óbrense

Derived terms

• a bien obrar, bien pagar
• capacidad de obrar

Related terms

• huebra
• obra
• obrador
• obrero

Further reading

• “obrar”, 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

Anagrams

• barro
• borra
• robar