proteger

See also: protéger

Galician

Verb

proteger (first-person singular present protejo, first-person singular preterite protegim or protegi, past participle protegido, reintegrationist norm)

1. reintegrationist spelling of protexer

Conjugation

    Reintegrated conjugation of proteger (g-j alternation) (See Appendix:Reintegrationism)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti / tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	proteger
Personal	proteger	protegeres	proteger	protegermos	protegerdes	protegerem
Gerund
	protegendo
Past participle
Masculine	protegido			protegidos
Feminine	protegida			protegidas
Indicative
Present	protejo	proteges	protege	protegemos	protegedes, protegeis	protegem
Imperfect	protegia	protegias	protegia	protegíamos	protegíades, protegíeis, protegíais1	protegiam
Preterite	protegim, protegi	protegeste, protegeche1	protegeu	protegemos	protegestes	protegêrom, protegeram
Pluperfect	protegera	protegeras	protegera	protegêramos	protegêrades, protegêreis, protegêrais1	protegeram
Future	protegerei	protegerás	protegerá	protegeremos	protegeredes, protegereis	protegerám, protegerão
Conditional	protegeria	protegerias	protegeria	protegeríamos	protegeríades, protegeríeis, protegeríais1	protegeriam
Subjunctive
Present	proteja	protejas	proteja	protejamos	protejades, protejais	protejam
Imperfect	protegesse	protegesses	protegesse	protegêssemos	protegêssedes, protegêsseis	protegessem
Future	proteger	protegeres	proteger	protegermos	protegerdes	protegerem
Imperative
Affirmative		protege	proteja	protejamos	protegede, protegei	protejam
Negative (nom)		nom protejas	nom proteja	nom protejamos	nom protejades, nom protejais	nom protejam

¹Less recommended.

References

• “proteger”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2025

Middle French

Verb

proteger

1. to protect

Conjugation

• As parler except an extra e is inserted after the final g before a and o.
• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of proteger

infinitive	simple	proteger
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	protegeant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		protegé
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	protege	proteges	protege	protegeons	protegez	protegent
	imperfect	protegeois, protegeoys	protegeois, protegeoys	protegeoit, protegeoyt	protegions, protegyons	protegiez, protegyez	protegeoient, protegeoyent
	past historic	protegea	protegeas	protegea	protegeasmes	protegeastes	protegerent
	future	protegerai, protegeray	protegeras	protegera	protegerons	protegerez	protegeront
	conditional	protegerois, protegeroys	protegerois, protegeroys	protegeroit, protegeroyt	protegerions, protegeryons	protegeriez, protegeryez	protegeroient, protegeroyent
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	protege	proteges	protege	protegeons	protegez	protegent
	imperfect	protegeasse	protegeasses	protegeast	protegeassions	protegeassiez	protegeassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	protege	—	protegeons	protegez	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

Descendants

• French: protéger

Portuguese

Etymology

Latin protegere.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /pɾo.teˈʒe(ʁ)/ [pɾo.teˈʒe(h)]

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

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /pɾu.tɨˈʒeɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /pɾu.tɨˈʒeɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /pɾu.tɨˈʒe.ɾi/

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: pro‧te‧ger

Verb

proteger (first-person singular present protejo, first-person singular preterite protegi, past participle protegido)

1. to protect
2. to support

Conjugation

    Conjugation of proteger (g-j 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	proteger
Personal	proteger	protegeres	proteger	protegermos	protegerdes	protegerem
Gerund
	protegendo
Past participle
Masculine	protegido			protegidos
Feminine	protegida			protegidas
Indicative
Present	protejo	proteges	protege	protegemos	protegeis	protegem
Imperfect	protegia	protegias	protegia	protegíamos	protegíeis	protegiam
Preterite	protegi	protegeste	protegeu	protegemos	protegestes	protegeram
Pluperfect	protegera	protegeras	protegera	protegêramos	protegêreis	protegeram
Future	protegerei	protegerás	protegerá	protegeremos	protegereis	protegerão
Conditional	protegeria	protegerias	protegeria	protegeríamos	protegeríeis	protegeriam
Subjunctive
Present	proteja	protejas	proteja	protejamos	protejais	protejam
Imperfect	protegesse	protegesses	protegesse	protegêssemos	protegêsseis	protegessem
Future	proteger	protegeres	proteger	protegermos	protegerdes	protegerem
Imperative
Affirmative		protege	proteja	protejamos	protegei	protejam
Negative (não)		não protejas	não proteja	não protejamos	não protejais	não protejam

Related terms

• protecção, proteção
• protector, protetor
• protectoral, protetoral
• protectório, protetório
• protegido

Further reading

• “proteger”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “proteger” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “proteger”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025, →ISBN
• “proteger”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin protegere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɾoteˈxeɾ/ [pɾo.t̪eˈxeɾ]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Syllabification: pro‧te‧ger

Verb

proteger (first-person singular present protejo, first-person singular preterite protegí, past participle protegido)

1. to protect, to defend

   Synonym: defender

   • 1915, Ricardo Flores Magón, La patria burguesa y la patria universal:

     Protegernos los pobres, está bien: ése es nuestro deber, esa es la obligación que nos impone la solidaridad. Protegernos los unos a los otros, ayudarnos, defendernos mutuamente, es una necesidad que debemos satisfacer si no queremos ser aniquilados por nuestros señores; pero armarnos, y echarnos unos sobre los otros para defender el bolsillo de nuestros amos, es un crimen de lesa clase, es una felonía que debemos rechazar indignados.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Conjugation

    Conjugation of proteger (g-j alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			proteger
gerund			protegiendo
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		protegido		protegida
		plural		protegidos		protegidas
		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	protejo	protegestú protegésvos	protege	protegemos	protegéis	protegen
	imperfect	protegía	protegías	protegía	protegíamos	protegíais	protegían
	preterite	protegí	protegiste	protegió	protegimos	protegisteis	protegieron
	future	protegeré	protegerás	protegerá	protegeremos	protegeréis	protegerán
	conditional	protegería	protegerías	protegería	protegeríamos	protegeríais	protegerían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	proteja	protejastú protejásvos2	proteja	protejamos	protejáis	protejan
	imperfect (ra)	protegiera	protegieras	protegiera	protegiéramos	protegierais	protegieran
	imperfect (se)	protegiese	protegieses	protegiese	protegiésemos	protegieseis	protegiesen
	future1	protegiere	protegieres	protegiere	protegiéremos	protegiereis	protegieren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		protegetú protegévos	proteja	protejamos	proteged	protejan
	negative		no protejas	no proteja	no protejamos	no protejáis	no protejan

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

    Selected combined forms of proteger (g-j 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 proteger	dative	protegerme	protegerte	protegerle, protegerse	protegernos	protegeros	protegerles, protegerse
	accusative	protegerme	protegerte	protegerlo, protegerla, protegerse	protegernos	protegeros	protegerlos, protegerlas, protegerse
with gerund protegiendo	dative	protegiéndome	protegiéndote	protegiéndole, protegiéndose	protegiéndonos	protegiéndoos	protegiéndoles, protegiéndose
	accusative	protegiéndome	protegiéndote	protegiéndolo, protegiéndola, protegiéndose	protegiéndonos	protegiéndoos	protegiéndolos, protegiéndolas, protegiéndose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative protege	dative	protégeme	protégete	protégele	protégenos	not used	protégeles
	accusative	protégeme	protégete	protégelo, protégela	protégenos	not used	protégelos, protégelas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative protegé	dative	protegeme	protegete	protegele	protegenos	not used	protegeles
	accusative	protegeme	protegete	protegelo, protegela	protegenos	not used	protegelos, protegelas
with formal second-person singular imperative proteja	dative	protéjame	not used	protéjale, protéjase	protéjanos	not used	protéjales
	accusative	protéjame	not used	protéjalo, protéjala, protéjase	protéjanos	not used	protéjalos, protéjalas
with first-person plural imperative protejamos	dative	not used	protejámoste	protejámosle	protejámonos	protejámoos	protejámosles
	accusative	not used	protejámoste	protejámoslo, protejámosla	protejámonos	protejámoos	protejámoslos, protejámoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative proteged	dative	protegedme	not used	protegedle	protegednos	protegeos	protegedles
	accusative	protegedme	not used	protegedlo, protegedla	protegednos	protegeos	protegedlos, protegedlas
with formal second-person plural imperative protejan	dative	protéjanme	not used	protéjanle	protéjannos	not used	protéjanles, protéjanse
	accusative	protéjanme	not used	protéjanlo, protéjanla	protéjannos	not used	protéjanlos, protéjanlas, protéjanse

Derived terms

• autoprotegerse
• sobreproteger

Related terms

• protección
• proteccionismo
• proteccionista
• protector, protectora
• protectoría
• protectorio, protectoria

Further reading

• “proteger”, 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