interpelar

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin interpellāre.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩ.teʁ.peˈla(ʁ)/ [ĩ.teh.peˈla(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩ.teʁ.peˈla(ʁ)/ [ĩ.teh.peˈla(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ĩ.teɾ.peˈla(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ĩ.teʁ.peˈla(ʁ)/ [ĩ.teχ.peˈla(χ)]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩ.teɻ.peˈla(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.tɨɾ.pɨˈlaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.tɨɾ.pɨˈlaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.tɨɾ.pɨˈla.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: in‧ter‧pe‧lar

Verb

interpelar (first-person singular present interpelo, first-person singular preterite interpelei, past participle interpelado)

1. (transitive) to question, to interrogate
2. (transitive) to interpellate
3. to apostrophize

Conjugation

    Conjugation of interpelar (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	interpelar
Personal	interpelar	interpelares	interpelar	interpelarmos	interpelardes	interpelarem
Gerund
	interpelando
Past participle
Masculine	interpelado			interpelados
Feminine	interpelada			interpeladas
Indicative
Present	interpelo	interpelas	interpela	interpelamos	interpelais	interpelam
Imperfect	interpelava	interpelavas	interpelava	interpelávamos	interpeláveis	interpelavam
Preterite	interpelei	interpelaste	interpelou	interpelamos1, interpelámos2	interpelastes	interpelaram
Pluperfect	interpelara	interpelaras	interpelara	interpeláramos	interpeláreis	interpelaram
Future	interpelarei	interpelarás	interpelará	interpelaremos	interpelareis	interpelarão
Conditional	interpelaria	interpelarias	interpelaria	interpelaríamos	interpelaríeis	interpelariam
Subjunctive
Present	interpele	interpeles	interpele	interpelemos	interpeleis	interpelem
Imperfect	interpelasse	interpelasses	interpelasse	interpelássemos	interpelásseis	interpelassem
Future	interpelar	interpelares	interpelar	interpelarmos	interpelardes	interpelarem
Imperative
Affirmative		interpela	interpele	interpelemos	interpelai	interpelem
Negative (não)		não interpeles	não interpele	não interpelemos	não interpeleis	não interpelem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Further reading

• “interpelar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin interpellāre, from interpellō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /inteɾpeˈlaɾ/ [ĩn̪.t̪eɾ.peˈlaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: in‧ter‧pe‧lar

Verb

interpelar (first-person singular present interpelo, first-person singular preterite interpelé, past participle interpelado)

1. to question
2. (politics) to address; to speak to (in parliament)

Conjugation

    Conjugation of interpelar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			interpelar
gerund			interpelando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		interpelado		interpelada
		plural		interpelados		interpeladas
		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	interpelo	interpelastú interpelásvos	interpela	interpelamos	interpeláis	interpelan
	imperfect	interpelaba	interpelabas	interpelaba	interpelábamos	interpelabais	interpelaban
	preterite	interpelé	interpelaste	interpeló	interpelamos	interpelasteis	interpelaron
	future	interpelaré	interpelarás	interpelará	interpelaremos	interpelaréis	interpelarán
	conditional	interpelaría	interpelarías	interpelaría	interpelaríamos	interpelaríais	interpelarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	interpele	interpelestú interpelésvos2	interpele	interpelemos	interpeléis	interpelen
	imperfect (ra)	interpelara	interpelaras	interpelara	interpeláramos	interpelarais	interpelaran
	imperfect (se)	interpelase	interpelases	interpelase	interpelásemos	interpelaseis	interpelasen
	future1	interpelare	interpelares	interpelare	interpeláremos	interpelareis	interpelaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		interpelatú interpelávos	interpele	interpelemos	interpelad	interpelen
	negative		no interpeles	no interpele	no interpelemos	no interpeléis	no interpelen

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

    Selected combined forms of interpelar

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 interpelar	dative	interpelarme	interpelarte	interpelarle, interpelarse	interpelarnos	interpelaros	interpelarles, interpelarse
	accusative	interpelarme	interpelarte	interpelarlo, interpelarla, interpelarse	interpelarnos	interpelaros	interpelarlos, interpelarlas, interpelarse
with gerund interpelando	dative	interpelándome	interpelándote	interpelándole, interpelándose	interpelándonos	interpelándoos	interpelándoles, interpelándose
	accusative	interpelándome	interpelándote	interpelándolo, interpelándola, interpelándose	interpelándonos	interpelándoos	interpelándolos, interpelándolas, interpelándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative interpela	dative	interpélame	interpélate	interpélale	interpélanos	not used	interpélales
	accusative	interpélame	interpélate	interpélalo, interpélala	interpélanos	not used	interpélalos, interpélalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative interpelá	dative	interpelame	interpelate	interpelale	interpelanos	not used	interpelales
	accusative	interpelame	interpelate	interpelalo, interpelala	interpelanos	not used	interpelalos, interpelalas
with formal second-person singular imperative interpele	dative	interpéleme	not used	interpélele, interpélese	interpélenos	not used	interpéleles
	accusative	interpéleme	not used	interpélelo, interpélela, interpélese	interpélenos	not used	interpélelos, interpélelas
with first-person plural imperative interpelemos	dative	not used	interpelémoste	interpelémosle	interpelémonos	interpelémoos	interpelémosles
	accusative	not used	interpelémoste	interpelémoslo, interpelémosla	interpelémonos	interpelémoos	interpelémoslos, interpelémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative interpelad	dative	interpeladme	not used	interpeladle	interpeladnos	interpelaos	interpeladles
	accusative	interpeladme	not used	interpeladlo, interpeladla	interpeladnos	interpelaos	interpeladlos, interpeladlas
with formal second-person plural imperative interpelen	dative	interpélenme	not used	interpélenle	interpélennos	not used	interpélenles, interpélense
	accusative	interpélenme	not used	interpélenlo, interpélenla	interpélennos	not used	interpélenlos, interpélenlas, interpélense

Further reading

• “interpelar”, 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