cautivar

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin captivāre. Cognate with English captivate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kautiˈbaɾ/ [kau̯.t̪iˈβべーた̞aɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: cau‧ti‧var

Verb

cautivar (first-person singular present cautivo, first-person singular preterite cautivé, past participle cautivado)

1. (transitive) to captivate, to enthral, to enthrall, to charm, to enchant, to mesmerize, to rapture, to entice

   El bardo, con su canción, cautivó a la princesa.

   The bard, by way of his song, captivated the princess.

2. (transitive) to take prisoner
3. (transitive) to capture, to win over

Conjugation

    Conjugation of cautivar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			cautivar
gerund			cautivando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		cautivado		cautivada
		plural		cautivados		cautivadas
		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	cautivo	cautivastú cautivásvos	cautiva	cautivamos	cautiváis	cautivan
	imperfect	cautivaba	cautivabas	cautivaba	cautivábamos	cautivabais	cautivaban
	preterite	cautivé	cautivaste	cautivó	cautivamos	cautivasteis	cautivaron
	future	cautivaré	cautivarás	cautivará	cautivaremos	cautivaréis	cautivarán
	conditional	cautivaría	cautivarías	cautivaría	cautivaríamos	cautivaríais	cautivarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	cautive	cautivestú cautivésvos2	cautive	cautivemos	cautivéis	cautiven
	imperfect (ra)	cautivara	cautivaras	cautivara	cautiváramos	cautivarais	cautivaran
	imperfect (se)	cautivase	cautivases	cautivase	cautivásemos	cautivaseis	cautivasen
	future1	cautivare	cautivares	cautivare	cautiváremos	cautivareis	cautivaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		cautivatú cautivávos	cautive	cautivemos	cautivad	cautiven
	negative		no cautives	no cautive	no cautivemos	no cautivéis	no cautiven

¹Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of cautivar

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 cautivar
	dative	cautivarme	cautivarte	cautivarle, cautivarse	cautivarnos	cautivaros	cautivarles, cautivarse
	accusative	cautivarme	cautivarte	cautivarlo, cautivarla, cautivarse	cautivarnos	cautivaros	cautivarlos, cautivarlas, cautivarse
with gerund cautivando
	dative	cautivándome	cautivándote	cautivándole, cautivándose	cautivándonos	cautivándoos	cautivándoles, cautivándose
	accusative	cautivándome	cautivándote	cautivándolo, cautivándola, cautivándose	cautivándonos	cautivándoos	cautivándolos, cautivándolas, cautivándose
with informal second-person singular tú imperative cautiva
	dative	cautívame	cautívate	cautívale	cautívanos	not used	cautívales
	accusative	cautívame	cautívate	cautívalo, cautívala	cautívanos	not used	cautívalos, cautívalas
with informal second-person singular vos imperative cautivá
	dative	cautivame	cautivate	cautivale	cautivanos	not used	cautivales
	accusative	cautivame	cautivate	cautivalo, cautivala	cautivanos	not used	cautivalos, cautivalas
with formal second-person singular imperative cautive
	dative	cautíveme	not used	cautívele, cautívese	cautívenos	not used	cautíveles
	accusative	cautíveme	not used	cautívelo, cautívela, cautívese	cautívenos	not used	cautívelos, cautívelas
with first-person plural imperative cautivemos
	dative	not used	cautivémoste	cautivémosle	cautivémonos	cautivémoos	cautivémosles
	accusative	not used	cautivémoste	cautivémoslo, cautivémosla	cautivémonos	cautivémoos	cautivémoslos, cautivémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative cautivad
	dative	cautivadme	not used	cautivadle	cautivadnos	cautivaos	cautivadles
	accusative	cautivadme	not used	cautivadlo, cautivadla	cautivadnos	cautivaos	cautivadlos, cautivadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative cautiven
	dative	cautívenme	not used	cautívenle	cautívennos	not used	cautívenles, cautívense
	accusative	cautívenme	not used	cautívenlo, cautívenla	cautívennos	not used	cautívenlos, cautívenlas, cautívense

Related terms

• caber
• cautivador
• cautiverio
• cautividad
• cautivo
• cazar
• mentecato

 

Further reading

• “cautivar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy, 2023 November 28