catear

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kateˈaɾ/ [ka.t̪eˈaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: ca‧te‧ar

Verb

catear (first-person singular present cateo, first-person singular preterite cateé, past participle cateado)

1. to search, prospect (for minerals or petroleum)
2. to frisk
3. to fail, flunk
4. (Mexico) to raid

Conjugation

    Conjugation of catear (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			catear
gerund			cateando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		cateado		cateada
		plural		cateados		cateadas
		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	cateo	cateastú cateásvos	catea	cateamos	cateáis	catean
	imperfect	cateaba	cateabas	cateaba	cateábamos	cateabais	cateaban
	preterite	cateé	cateaste	cateó	cateamos	cateasteis	catearon
	future	catearé	catearás	cateará	catearemos	catearéis	catearán
	conditional	catearía	catearías	catearía	catearíamos	catearíais	catearían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	catee	cateestú cateésvos2	catee	cateemos	cateéis	cateen
	imperfect (ra)	cateara	catearas	cateara	cateáramos	catearais	catearan
	imperfect (se)	catease	cateases	catease	cateásemos	cateaseis	cateasen
	future1	cateare	cateares	cateare	cateáremos	cateareis	catearen
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		cateatú cateávos	catee	cateemos	catead	cateen
	negative		no catees	no catee	no cateemos	no cateéis	no cateen

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

    Selected combined forms of catear

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 catear	dative	catearme	catearte	catearle, catearse	catearnos	catearos	catearles, catearse
	accusative	catearme	catearte	catearlo, catearla, catearse	catearnos	catearos	catearlos, catearlas, catearse
with gerund cateando	dative	cateándome	cateándote	cateándole, cateándose	cateándonos	cateándoos	cateándoles, cateándose
	accusative	cateándome	cateándote	cateándolo, cateándola, cateándose	cateándonos	cateándoos	cateándolos, cateándolas, cateándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative catea	dative	catéame	catéate	catéale	catéanos	not used	catéales
	accusative	catéame	catéate	catéalo, catéala	catéanos	not used	catéalos, catéalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative cateá	dative	cateame	cateate	cateale	cateanos	not used	cateales
	accusative	cateame	cateate	catealo, cateala	cateanos	not used	catealos, catealas
with formal second-person singular imperative catee	dative	catéeme	not used	catéele, catéese	catéenos	not used	catéeles
	accusative	catéeme	not used	catéelo, catéela, catéese	catéenos	not used	catéelos, catéelas
with first-person plural imperative cateemos	dative	not used	cateémoste	cateémosle	cateémonos	cateémoos	cateémosles
	accusative	not used	cateémoste	cateémoslo, cateémosla	cateémonos	cateémoos	cateémoslos, cateémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative catead	dative	cateadme	not used	cateadle	cateadnos	cateaos	cateadles
	accusative	cateadme	not used	cateadlo, cateadla	cateadnos	cateaos	cateadlos, cateadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative cateen	dative	catéenme	not used	catéenle	catéennos	not used	catéenles, catéense
	accusative	catéenme	not used	catéenlo, catéenla	catéennos	not used	catéenlos, catéenlas, catéense

Derived terms

• cateo

Further reading

• “catear”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024