cernir

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin cernere.

Pronunciation

 

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

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /seʁˈni(ʁ)/ [seɦˈni(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /seɾˈni(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /seʁˈni(ʁ)/ [seʁˈni(χ)]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /seɻˈni(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨɾˈniɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨɾˈniɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨɾˈni.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: cer‧nir

Verb

cernir (first-person singular present cirno, third-person singular present cerne, first-person singular preterite cerni, past participle cernido)

1. (intransitive, transitive, pronominal) to waddle; to wiggle
2. (transitive) to sift

Conjugation

    Conjugation of cernir (i-e alternation in present singular) (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	cernir
Personal	cernir	cernires	cernir	cernirmos	cernirdes	cernirem
Gerund
	cernindo
Past participle
Masculine	cernido			cernidos
Feminine	cernida			cernidas
Indicative
Present	cirno	cernes	cerne	cernimos	cernis	cernem
Imperfect	cernia	cernias	cernia	cerníamos	cerníeis	cerniam
Preterite	cerni	cerniste	cerniu	cernimos	cernistes	cerniram
Pluperfect	cernira	cerniras	cernira	cerníramos	cerníreis	cerniram
Future	cernirei	cernirás	cernirá	cerniremos	cernireis	cernirão
Conditional	cerniria	cernirias	cerniria	cerniríamos	cerniríeis	cerniriam
Subjunctive
Present	cirna	cirnas	cirna	cirnamos	cirnais	cirnam
Imperfect	cernisse	cernisses	cernisse	cerníssemos	cernísseis	cernissem
Future	cernir	cernires	cernir	cernirmos	cernirdes	cernirem
Imperative
Affirmative		cerne	cirna	cirnamos	cerni	cirnam
Negative (não)		não cirnas	não cirna	não cirnamos	não cirnais	não cirnam

References

• “cernir”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “cernir”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
• “cernir”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Spanish

Etymology

From the same source as its doublet cerner.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /θeɾˈniɾ/ [θeɾˈniɾ] (Spain)
• IPA^(key): /seɾˈniɾ/ [seɾˈniɾ] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -iɾ
• Syllabification: cer‧nir

Verb

cernir (first-person singular present cierno, first-person singular preterite cerní, past participle cernido)

1. alternative form of cerner

Conjugation

    Conjugation of cernir (e-ie alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			cernir
gerund			cerniendo
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		cernido		cernida
		plural		cernidos		cernidas
		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	cierno	ciernestú cernísvos	cierne	cernimos	cernís	ciernen
	imperfect	cernía	cernías	cernía	cerníamos	cerníais	cernían
	preterite	cerní	cerniste	cernió	cernimos	cernisteis	cernieron
	future	cerniré	cernirás	cernirá	cerniremos	cerniréis	cernirán
	conditional	cerniría	cernirías	cerniría	cerniríamos	cerniríais	cernirían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	cierna	ciernastú cernásvos2	cierna	cernamos	cernáis	ciernan
	imperfect (ra)	cerniera	cernieras	cerniera	cerniéramos	cernierais	cernieran
	imperfect (se)	cerniese	cernieses	cerniese	cerniésemos	cernieseis	cerniesen
	future1	cerniere	cernieres	cerniere	cerniéremos	cerniereis	cernieren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		ciernetú cernívos	cierna	cernamos	cernid	ciernan
	negative		no ciernas	no cierna	no cernamos	no cernáis	no ciernan

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

    Selected combined forms of cernir (e-ie alternation)

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 cernir	dative	cernirme	cernirte	cernirle, cernirse	cernirnos	cerniros	cernirles, cernirse
	accusative	cernirme	cernirte	cernirlo, cernirla, cernirse	cernirnos	cerniros	cernirlos, cernirlas, cernirse
with gerund cerniendo	dative	cerniéndome	cerniéndote	cerniéndole, cerniéndose	cerniéndonos	cerniéndoos	cerniéndoles, cerniéndose
	accusative	cerniéndome	cerniéndote	cerniéndolo, cerniéndola, cerniéndose	cerniéndonos	cerniéndoos	cerniéndolos, cerniéndolas, cerniéndose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative cierne	dative	ciérneme	ciérnete	ciérnele	ciérnenos	not used	ciérneles
	accusative	ciérneme	ciérnete	ciérnelo, ciérnela	ciérnenos	not used	ciérnelos, ciérnelas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative cerní	dative	cernime	cernite	cernile	cerninos	not used	cerniles
	accusative	cernime	cernite	cernilo, cernila	cerninos	not used	cernilos, cernilas
with formal second-person singular imperative cierna	dative	ciérname	not used	ciérnale, ciérnase	ciérnanos	not used	ciérnales
	accusative	ciérname	not used	ciérnalo, ciérnala, ciérnase	ciérnanos	not used	ciérnalos, ciérnalas
with first-person plural imperative cernamos	dative	not used	cernámoste	cernámosle	cernámonos	cernámoos	cernámosles
	accusative	not used	cernámoste	cernámoslo, cernámosla	cernámonos	cernámoos	cernámoslos, cernámoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative cernid	dative	cernidme	not used	cernidle	cernidnos	cerníos	cernidles
	accusative	cernidme	not used	cernidlo, cernidla	cernidnos	cerníos	cernidlos, cernidlas
with formal second-person plural imperative ciernan	dative	ciérnanme	not used	ciérnanle	ciérnannos	not used	ciérnanles, ciérnanse
	accusative	ciérnanme	not used	ciérnanlo, ciérnanla	ciérnannos	not used	ciérnanlos, ciérnanlas, ciérnanse

Related terms

• discernir

Further reading

• “cernir”, 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