instigar

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin īnstīgāre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ins.tiˈɣa]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ins.tiˈɣaɾ]

Verb

instigar (first-person singular present instigo, first-person singular preterite instiguí, past participle instigat)

1. (ditransitive) to incite (someone to do something); to abet

Conjugation

    Conjugation of instigar (first conjugation, g-gu alternation)

infinitive			instigar
gerund			instigant
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		instigat		instigada
		plural		instigats		instigades
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	instigo	instigues	instiga	instiguem	instigueu	instiguen
	imperfect	instigava	instigaves	instigava	instigàvem	instigàveu	instigaven
	future	instigaré	instigaràs	instigarà	instigarem	instigareu	instigaran
	preterite	instiguí	instigares	instigà	instigàrem	instigàreu	instigaren
	conditional	instigaria	instigaries	instigaria	instigaríem	instigaríeu	instigarien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	instigui	instiguis	instigui	instiguem	instigueu	instiguin
	imperfect	instigués	instiguessis	instigués	instiguéssim	instiguéssiu	instiguessin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	instiga	instigui	instiguem	instigueu	instiguin
	negative (no)	—	no instiguis	no instigui	no instiguem	no instigueu	no instiguin

Derived terms

• instigador

Related terms

• instigació

Further reading

• “instigar”, 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

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin īnstīgāre.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩs.t͡ʃiˈɡa(ʁ)/ [ĩs.t͡ʃiˈɡa(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩs.t͡ʃiˈɡa(ʁ)/ [ĩs.t͡ʃiˈɡa(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ĩs.t͡ʃiˈɡa(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ĩʃ.t͡ʃiˈɡa(ʁ)/ [ĩʃ.t͡ʃiˈɡa(χ)]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩs.t͡ʃiˈɡa(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩʃ.tiˈɡaɾ/ [ĩʃ.tiˈɣaɾ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩʃ.tiˈɡaɾ/ [ĩʃ.tiˈɣaɾ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩʃ.tiˈɡa.ɾi/ [ĩʃ.tiˈɣa.ɾi]

• Hyphenation: ins‧ti‧gar

Verb

instigar (first-person singular present instigo, first-person singular preterite instiguei, past participle instigado)

1. (transitive) to encourage, incite or induce others to practice a certain action
2. (transitive) to tease; stir up
3. (transitive) to advise; suggest; persuade
4. (transitive) ordering or encouraging attack, aggression, etc.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of instigar (g-gu alternation) (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	instigar
Personal	instigar	instigares	instigar	instigarmos	instigardes	instigarem
Gerund
	instigando
Past participle
Masculine	instigado			instigados
Feminine	instigada			instigadas
Indicative
Present	instigo	instigas	instiga	instigamos	instigais	instigam
Imperfect	instigava	instigavas	instigava	instigávamos	instigáveis	instigavam
Preterite	instiguei	instigaste	instigou	instigamos1, instigámos2	instigastes	instigaram
Pluperfect	instigara	instigaras	instigara	instigáramos	instigáreis	instigaram
Future	instigarei	instigarás	instigará	instigaremos	instigareis	instigarão
Conditional	instigaria	instigarias	instigaria	instigaríamos	instigaríeis	instigariam
Subjunctive
Present	instigue	instigues	instigue	instiguemos	instigueis	instiguem
Imperfect	instigasse	instigasses	instigasse	instigássemos	instigásseis	instigassem
Future	instigar	instigares	instigar	instigarmos	instigardes	instigarem
Imperative
Affirmative		instiga	instigue	instiguemos	instigai	instiguem
Negative (não)		não instigues	não instigue	não instiguemos	não instigueis	não instiguem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Related terms

• instigação

Further reading

• “instigar”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “instigar”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2025
• “instigar” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “instigar”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
• “instigar”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
• “instigar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin īnstīgāre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /instiˈɡaɾ/ [ĩns.t̪iˈɣ̞aɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: ins‧ti‧gar

Verb

instigar (first-person singular present instigo, first-person singular preterite instigué, past participle instigado)

1. (transitive) to instigate, incite, urge

Conjugation

    Conjugation of instigar (g-gu alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			instigar
gerund			instigando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		instigado		instigada
		plural		instigados		instigadas
		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	instigo	instigastú instigásvos	instiga	instigamos	instigáis	instigan
	imperfect	instigaba	instigabas	instigaba	instigábamos	instigabais	instigaban
	preterite	instigué	instigaste	instigó	instigamos	instigasteis	instigaron
	future	instigaré	instigarás	instigará	instigaremos	instigaréis	instigarán
	conditional	instigaría	instigarías	instigaría	instigaríamos	instigaríais	instigarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	instigue	instiguestú instiguésvos2	instigue	instiguemos	instiguéis	instiguen
	imperfect (ra)	instigara	instigaras	instigara	instigáramos	instigarais	instigaran
	imperfect (se)	instigase	instigases	instigase	instigásemos	instigaseis	instigasen
	future1	instigare	instigares	instigare	instigáremos	instigareis	instigaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		instigatú instigávos	instigue	instiguemos	instigad	instiguen
	negative		no instigues	no instigue	no instiguemos	no instiguéis	no instiguen

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

    Selected combined forms of instigar (g-gu 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 instigar	dative	instigarme	instigarte	instigarle, instigarse	instigarnos	instigaros	instigarles, instigarse
	accusative	instigarme	instigarte	instigarlo, instigarla, instigarse	instigarnos	instigaros	instigarlos, instigarlas, instigarse
with gerund instigando	dative	instigándome	instigándote	instigándole, instigándose	instigándonos	instigándoos	instigándoles, instigándose
	accusative	instigándome	instigándote	instigándolo, instigándola, instigándose	instigándonos	instigándoos	instigándolos, instigándolas, instigándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative instiga	dative	instígame	instígate	instígale	instíganos	not used	instígales
	accusative	instígame	instígate	instígalo, instígala	instíganos	not used	instígalos, instígalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative instigá	dative	instigame	instigate	instigale	instiganos	not used	instigales
	accusative	instigame	instigate	instigalo, instigala	instiganos	not used	instigalos, instigalas
with formal second-person singular imperative instigue	dative	instígueme	not used	instíguele, instíguese	instíguenos	not used	instígueles
	accusative	instígueme	not used	instíguelo, instíguela, instíguese	instíguenos	not used	instíguelos, instíguelas
with first-person plural imperative instiguemos	dative	not used	instiguémoste	instiguémosle	instiguémonos	instiguémoos	instiguémosles
	accusative	not used	instiguémoste	instiguémoslo, instiguémosla	instiguémonos	instiguémoos	instiguémoslos, instiguémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative instigad	dative	instigadme	not used	instigadle	instigadnos	instigaos	instigadles
	accusative	instigadme	not used	instigadlo, instigadla	instigadnos	instigaos	instigadlos, instigadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative instiguen	dative	instíguenme	not used	instíguenle	instíguennos	not used	instíguenles, instíguense
	accusative	instíguenme	not used	instíguenlo, instíguenla	instíguennos	not used	instíguenlos, instíguenlas, instíguense

Related terms

• instigación
• instigador

Further reading

• “instigar”, 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