colmatar

Portuguese

Etymology

From French colmater.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kow.maˈta(ʁ)/ [koʊ̯.maˈta(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kow.maˈta(ʁ)/ [koʊ̯.maˈta(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /kow.maˈta(ɾ)/ [koʊ̯.maˈta(ɾ)]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /kow.maˈta(ʁ)/ [koʊ̯.maˈta(χ)]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /kow.maˈta(ɻ)/ [koʊ̯.maˈta(ɻ)]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kol.mɐˈtaɾ/ [koɫ.mɐˈtaɾ], /kɔl.mɐˈtaɾ/ [kɔɫ.mɐˈtaɾ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kol.mɐˈtaɾ/ [koɫ.mɐˈtaɾ], /kɔl.mɐˈtaɾ/ [kɔɫ.mɐˈtaɾ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /kol.mɐˈta.ɾi/ [koɫ.mɐˈta.ɾi], /kɔl.mɐˈta.ɾi/ [kɔɫ.mɐˈta.ɾi]

• Hyphenation: col‧ma‧tar

Verb

colmatar (first-person singular present colmato, first-person singular preterite colmatei, past participle colmatado)

1. (transitive) to fill
2. (transitive) to bridge
3. (transitive, figuratively) to rectify; to correct

Conjugation

    Conjugation of colmatar (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	colmatar
Personal	colmatar	colmatares	colmatar	colmatarmos	colmatardes	colmatarem
Gerund
	colmatando
Past participle
Masculine	colmatado			colmatados
Feminine	colmatada			colmatadas
Indicative
Present	colmato	colmatas	colmata	colmatamos	colmatais	colmatam
Imperfect	colmatava	colmatavas	colmatava	colmatávamos	colmatáveis	colmatavam
Preterite	colmatei	colmataste	colmatou	colmatamos1, colmatámos2	colmatastes	colmataram
Pluperfect	colmatara	colmataras	colmatara	colmatáramos	colmatáreis	colmataram
Future	colmatarei	colmatarás	colmatará	colmataremos	colmatareis	colmatarão
Conditional	colmataria	colmatarias	colmataria	colmataríamos	colmataríeis	colmatariam
Subjunctive
Present	colmate	colmates	colmate	colmatemos	colmateis	colmatem
Imperfect	colmatasse	colmatasses	colmatasse	colmatássemos	colmatásseis	colmatassem
Future	colmatar	colmatares	colmatar	colmatarmos	colmatardes	colmatarem
Imperative
Affirmative		colmata	colmate	colmatemos	colmatai	colmatem
Negative (não)		não colmates	não colmate	não colmatemos	não colmateis	não colmatem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Derived terms

• colmatar uma lacuna

Further reading

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

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kolmaˈtaɾ/ [kol.maˈt̪aɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: col‧ma‧tar

Verb

colmatar (first-person singular present colmato, first-person singular preterite colmaté, past participle colmatado)

1. to fill in (land, with mud from the river or sea)

Conjugation

    Conjugation of colmatar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			colmatar
gerund			colmatando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		colmatado		colmatada
		plural		colmatados		colmatadas
		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	colmato	colmatastú colmatásvos	colmata	colmatamos	colmatáis	colmatan
	imperfect	colmataba	colmatabas	colmataba	colmatábamos	colmatabais	colmataban
	preterite	colmaté	colmataste	colmató	colmatamos	colmatasteis	colmataron
	future	colmataré	colmatarás	colmatará	colmataremos	colmataréis	colmatarán
	conditional	colmataría	colmatarías	colmataría	colmataríamos	colmataríais	colmatarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	colmate	colmatestú colmatésvos2	colmate	colmatemos	colmatéis	colmaten
	imperfect (ra)	colmatara	colmataras	colmatara	colmatáramos	colmatarais	colmataran
	imperfect (se)	colmatase	colmatases	colmatase	colmatásemos	colmataseis	colmatasen
	future1	colmatare	colmatares	colmatare	colmatáremos	colmatareis	colmataren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		colmatatú colmatávos	colmate	colmatemos	colmatad	colmaten
	negative		no colmates	no colmate	no colmatemos	no colmatéis	no colmaten

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

    Selected combined forms of colmatar

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 colmatar	dative	colmatarme	colmatarte	colmatarle, colmatarse	colmatarnos	colmataros	colmatarles, colmatarse
	accusative	colmatarme	colmatarte	colmatarlo, colmatarla, colmatarse	colmatarnos	colmataros	colmatarlos, colmatarlas, colmatarse
with gerund colmatando	dative	colmatándome	colmatándote	colmatándole, colmatándose	colmatándonos	colmatándoos	colmatándoles, colmatándose
	accusative	colmatándome	colmatándote	colmatándolo, colmatándola, colmatándose	colmatándonos	colmatándoos	colmatándolos, colmatándolas, colmatándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative colmata	dative	colmátame	colmátate	colmátale	colmátanos	not used	colmátales
	accusative	colmátame	colmátate	colmátalo, colmátala	colmátanos	not used	colmátalos, colmátalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative colmatá	dative	colmatame	colmatate	colmatale	colmatanos	not used	colmatales
	accusative	colmatame	colmatate	colmatalo, colmatala	colmatanos	not used	colmatalos, colmatalas
with formal second-person singular imperative colmate	dative	colmáteme	not used	colmátele, colmátese	colmátenos	not used	colmáteles
	accusative	colmáteme	not used	colmátelo, colmátela, colmátese	colmátenos	not used	colmátelos, colmátelas
with first-person plural imperative colmatemos	dative	not used	colmatémoste	colmatémosle	colmatémonos	colmatémoos	colmatémosles
	accusative	not used	colmatémoste	colmatémoslo, colmatémosla	colmatémonos	colmatémoos	colmatémoslos, colmatémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative colmatad	dative	colmatadme	not used	colmatadle	colmatadnos	colmataos	colmatadles
	accusative	colmatadme	not used	colmatadlo, colmatadla	colmatadnos	colmataos	colmatadlos, colmatadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative colmaten	dative	colmátenme	not used	colmátenle	colmátennos	not used	colmátenles, colmátense
	accusative	colmátenme	not used	colmátenlo, colmátenla	colmátennos	not used	colmátenlos, colmátenlas, colmátense

Further reading

• “colmatar”, 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