rezar

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese rezar, from Latin recitāre (“to recite”), from re- + citō (“I call forth”).

Verb

rezar (first-person singular present rezo, first-person singular preterite recei, past participle rezado)
rezar (first-person singular present rezo, first-person singular preterite rezei, past participle rezado, reintegrationist norm)

1. to pray

   Synonyms: orar, pregar

Conjugation

    Conjugation of rezar (c-z alternation)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti)	Third-person (el / ela / Vde.)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / Vdes.)
Infinitive
Impersonal	rezar
Personal	rezar	rezares	rezar	rezarmos	rezardes	rezaren
Gerund
	rezando
Past participle
Masculine	rezado			rezados
Feminine	rezada			rezadas
Indicative
Present	rezo	rezas	reza	rezamos	rezades	rezan
Imperfect	rezaba	rezabas	rezaba	rezabamos	rezabades	rezaban
Preterite	recei	rezaches	rezou	rezamos	rezastes	rezaron
Pluperfect	rezara	rezaras	rezara	rezaramos	rezarades	rezaran
Future	rezarei	rezarás	rezará	rezaremos	rezaredes	rezarán
Conditional	rezaría	rezarías	rezaría	rezariamos	rezariades	rezarían
Subjunctive
Present	rece	reces	rece	recemos	recedes	recen
Imperfect	rezase	rezases	rezase	rezásemos	rezásedes	rezasen
Future	rezar	rezares	rezar	rezarmos	rezardes	rezaren
Imperative
Affirmative		reza	rece	recemos	rezade	recen
Negative (non)		non reces	non rece	non recemos	non recedes	non recen

    Reintegrated conjugation of rezar (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	rezar
Personal	rezar	rezares	rezar	rezarmos	rezardes	rezarem
Gerund
	rezando
Past participle
Masculine	rezado			rezados
Feminine	rezada			rezadas
Indicative
Present	rezo	rezas	reza	rezamos	rezades, rezais	rezam
Imperfect	rezava	rezavas	rezava	rezávamos	rezávades, rezáveis, rezávais1	rezavam
Preterite	rezei	rezaste, rezache1	rezou	rezamos	rezastes	rezárom, rezaram
Pluperfect	rezara	rezaras	rezara	rezáramos	rezárades, rezáreis, rezárais1	rezaram
Future	rezarei	rezarás	rezará	rezaremos	rezaredes, rezareis	rezarám, rezarão
Conditional	rezaria	rezarias	rezaria	rezaríamos	rezaríades, rezaríeis, rezaríais1	rezariam
Subjunctive
Present	reze	rezes	reze	rezemos	rezedes, rezeis	rezem
Imperfect	rezasse	rezasses	rezasse	rezássemos	rezássedes, rezásseis	rezassem
Future	rezar	rezares	rezar	rezarmos	rezardes	rezarem
Imperative
Affirmative		reza	reze	rezemos	rezade, rezai	rezem
Negative (nom)		nom rezes	nom reze	nom rezemos	nom rezedes, nom rezeis	nom rezem

¹Less recommended.

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese rezar, from Latin recitāre (“to recite”), from re- + citō (“to call forth”). Doublet of recitar, a borrowing.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁeˈza(ʁ)/ [heˈza(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁeˈza(ʁ)/ [heˈza(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ʁeˈza(ɾ)/ [heˈza(ɾ)]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ʁeˈza(ʁ)/ [χeˈza(χ)]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁeˈza(ɻ)/ [heˈza(ɻ)]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁɨˈzaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁɨˈzaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁɨˈza.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: re‧zar

Verb

rezar (first-person singular present rezo, first-person singular preterite rezei, past participle rezado)

1. (religion, intransitive) to pray (to talk to a god)

   Eles rezavam antes de chegar o carrasco.

   They were praying before the executioner arrived.

2. (religion, transitive) to pray (to recite a given prayer)

   Rezei até muito tarde na igreja.

   I prayed until very late at the church.

3. (Christianity, transitive) to celebrate (to perform mass); the object is almost always missa (“mass”)

   O padre já estava cansado de rezar tantas missas.

   The priest was already tired of celebrating so many masses.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of rezar (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	rezar
Personal	rezar	rezares	rezar	rezarmos	rezardes	rezarem
Gerund
	rezando
Past participle
Masculine	rezado			rezados
Feminine	rezada			rezadas
Indicative
Present	rezo	rezas	reza	rezamos	rezais	rezam
Imperfect	rezava	rezavas	rezava	rezávamos	rezáveis	rezavam
Preterite	rezei	rezaste	rezou	rezamos1, rezámos2	rezastes	rezaram
Pluperfect	rezara	rezaras	rezara	rezáramos	rezáreis	rezaram
Future	rezarei	rezarás	rezará	rezaremos	rezareis	rezarão
Conditional	rezaria	rezarias	rezaria	rezaríamos	rezaríeis	rezariam
Subjunctive
Present	reze	rezes	reze	rezemos	rezeis	rezem
Imperfect	rezasse	rezasses	rezasse	rezássemos	rezásseis	rezassem
Future	rezar	rezares	rezar	rezarmos	rezardes	rezarem
Imperative
Affirmative		reza	reze	rezemos	rezai	rezem
Negative (não)		não rezes	não reze	não rezemos	não rezeis	não rezem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Synonyms

• (to pray): orar
• (to recite): recitar
• (to celebrate): celebrar

Related terms

• recital
• recitar
• reza
• rezadeiro
• rezado
• rezador

Descendants

• → Makalero: reja (“to pray”)

Further reading

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

Spanish

Sense 1

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish rezar, rezdar, from Latin recitāre (“recite”). Doublet of recitar, a borrowing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /reˈθaɾ/ [reˈθaɾ] (Spain)
• IPA^(key): /reˈsaɾ/ [reˈsaɾ] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: re‧zar

Verb

rezar (first-person singular present rezo, first-person singular preterite recé, past participle rezado)

1. (intransitive) to pray, especially to repeat or recite (rather than sing) a memorized prayer such as the Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary, etc.

   Synonym: orar

2. (transitive, of text) to read, say

   El señal reza "no entre"

   The sign says "do not enter"

Conjugation

    Conjugation of rezar (c-z alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			rezar
gerund			rezando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		rezado		rezada
		plural		rezados		rezadas
		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	rezo	rezastú rezásvos	reza	rezamos	rezáis	rezan
	imperfect	rezaba	rezabas	rezaba	rezábamos	rezabais	rezaban
	preterite	recé	rezaste	rezó	rezamos	rezasteis	rezaron
	future	rezaré	rezarás	rezará	rezaremos	rezaréis	rezarán
	conditional	rezaría	rezarías	rezaría	rezaríamos	rezaríais	rezarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	rece	recestú recésvos2	rece	recemos	recéis	recen
	imperfect (ra)	rezara	rezaras	rezara	rezáramos	rezarais	rezaran
	imperfect (se)	rezase	rezases	rezase	rezásemos	rezaseis	rezasen
	future1	rezare	rezares	rezare	rezáremos	rezareis	rezaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		rezatú rezávos	rece	recemos	rezad	recen
	negative		no reces	no rece	no recemos	no recéis	no recen

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

    Selected combined forms of rezar (c-z 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 rezar	dative	rezarme	rezarte	rezarle, rezarse	rezarnos	rezaros	rezarles, rezarse
	accusative	rezarme	rezarte	rezarlo, rezarla, rezarse	rezarnos	rezaros	rezarlos, rezarlas, rezarse
with gerund rezando	dative	rezándome	rezándote	rezándole, rezándose	rezándonos	rezándoos	rezándoles, rezándose
	accusative	rezándome	rezándote	rezándolo, rezándola, rezándose	rezándonos	rezándoos	rezándolos, rezándolas, rezándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative reza	dative	rézame	rézate	rézale	rézanos	not used	rézales
	accusative	rézame	rézate	rézalo, rézala	rézanos	not used	rézalos, rézalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative rezá	dative	rezame	rezate	rezale	rezanos	not used	rezales
	accusative	rezame	rezate	rezalo, rezala	rezanos	not used	rezalos, rezalas
with formal second-person singular imperative rece	dative	réceme	not used	récele, récese	récenos	not used	réceles
	accusative	réceme	not used	récelo, récela, récese	récenos	not used	récelos, récelas
with first-person plural imperative recemos	dative	not used	recémoste	recémosle	recémonos	recémoos	recémosles
	accusative	not used	recémoste	recémoslo, recémosla	recémonos	recémoos	recémoslos, recémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative rezad	dative	rezadme	not used	rezadle	rezadnos	rezaos	rezadles
	accusative	rezadme	not used	rezadlo, rezadla	rezadnos	rezaos	rezadlos, rezadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative recen	dative	récenme	not used	récenle	récennos	not used	récenles, récense
	accusative	récenme	not used	récenlo, récenla	récennos	not used	récenlos, récenlas, récense

Derived terms

• rezo

Descendants

• → Pangasinan: dasal
• → Tagalog: dasal

Further reading

• “rezar”, 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