orientar

Catalan

Etymology

From orient +‎ -ar.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Verb

orientar (first-person singular present oriento, first-person singular preterite orientí, past participle orientat); root stress: (Northern) /e̞/; (Balearic, Central, Northwestern, Valencia) /e/

1. (transitive) to orient

Conjugation

    Central Catalan conjugation of orientar (first conjugation)

infinitive			orientar
gerund			orientant
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		orientat		orientada
		plural		orientats		orientades
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	oriento	orientes	orienta	orientem	orienteu	orienten
	imperfect	orientava	orientaves	orientava	orientàvem	orientàveu	orientaven
	future	orientaré	orientaràs	orientarà	orientarem	orientareu	orientaran
	preterite	orientí	orientares	orientà	orientàrem	orientàreu	orientaren
	conditional	orientaria	orientaries	orientaria	orientaríem	orientaríeu	orientarien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	orienti	orientis	orienti	orientem	orienteu	orientin
	imperfect	orientés	orientessis	orientés	orientéssim	orientéssiu	orientessin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	orienta	orienti	orientem	orienteu	orientin
	negative (no)	—	no orientis	no orienti	no orientem	no orienteu	no orientin

Derived terms

• desorientar
• orientació
• reorientar

Further reading

• “orientar”, 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
• “orientar”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “orientar” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “orientar”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Portuguese

Etymology

From oriente + -ar.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /o.ɾi.ẽˈta(ʁ)/ [o.ɾi.ẽˈta(h)], (faster) /o.ɾjẽˈta(ʁ)/ [o.ɾjẽˈta(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /o.ɾi.ẽˈta(ʁ)/ [o.ɾi.ẽˈta(h)], (faster) /o.ɾjẽˈta(ʁ)/ [o.ɾjẽˈta(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /o.ɾi.ẽˈta(ɾ)/, (faster) /o.ɾjẽˈta(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /o.ɾi.ẽˈta(ʁ)/ [o.ɾi.ẽˈta(χ)], (faster) /o.ɾjẽˈta(ʁ)/ [o.ɾjẽˈta(χ)]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /o.ɾi.ẽˈta(ɻ)/, (faster) /o.ɾjẽˈta(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔ.ɾjẽˈtaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔ.ɾjẽˈtaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔ.ɾjẽˈta.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: o‧ri‧en‧tar

Verb

orientar (first-person singular present oriento, first-person singular preterite orientei, past participle orientado)

1. to guide, conduct
2. to orient, orientate
3. to manage, oversee
4. (Portugal, informal) to get, to find

   Synonym: arranjar

   Orientaste um bom café? ― Did you find a nice café?

   Orienta-me cinquenta cêntimos. ― Give me fifty cents.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of orientar (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	orientar
Personal	orientar	orientares	orientar	orientarmos	orientardes	orientarem
Gerund
	orientando
Past participle
Masculine	orientado			orientados
Feminine	orientada			orientadas
Indicative
Present	oriento	orientas	orienta	orientamos	orientais	orientam
Imperfect	orientava	orientavas	orientava	orientávamos	orientáveis	orientavam
Preterite	orientei	orientaste	orientou	orientamos1, orientámos2	orientastes	orientaram
Pluperfect	orientara	orientaras	orientara	orientáramos	orientáreis	orientaram
Future	orientarei	orientarás	orientará	orientaremos	orientareis	orientarão
Conditional	orientaria	orientarias	orientaria	orientaríamos	orientaríeis	orientariam
Subjunctive
Present	oriente	orientes	oriente	orientemos	orienteis	orientem
Imperfect	orientasse	orientasses	orientasse	orientássemos	orientásseis	orientassem
Future	orientar	orientares	orientar	orientarmos	orientardes	orientarem
Imperative
Affirmative		orienta	oriente	orientemos	orientai	orientem
Negative (não)		não orientes	não oriente	não orientemos	não orienteis	não orientem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Derived terms

• desorientar
• orientação
• reorientar

Further reading

• “orientar”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “orientar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₃er-der.

Proto-Italic *oriōr

Latin orior

Latin orientembor.

Spanish oriente

Spanish -ar

Spanish orientar

From oriente + -ar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /oɾjenˈtaɾ/ [o.ɾjẽn̪ˈt̪aɾ]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: o‧rien‧tar

Verb

orientar (first-person singular present oriento, first-person singular preterite orienté, past participle orientado)

1. (transitive) to orient
2. (reflexive) to get one's bearings
3. (reflexive) to be directed
4. (pronominal) to aim, to point at

Conjugation

    Conjugation of orientar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			orientar
gerund			orientando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		orientado		orientada
		plural		orientados		orientadas
		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	oriento	orientastú orientásvos	orienta	orientamos	orientáis	orientan
	imperfect	orientaba	orientabas	orientaba	orientábamos	orientabais	orientaban
	preterite	orienté	orientaste	orientó	orientamos	orientasteis	orientaron
	future	orientaré	orientarás	orientará	orientaremos	orientaréis	orientarán
	conditional	orientaría	orientarías	orientaría	orientaríamos	orientaríais	orientarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	oriente	orientestú orientésvos2	oriente	orientemos	orientéis	orienten
	imperfect (ra)	orientara	orientaras	orientara	orientáramos	orientarais	orientaran
	imperfect (se)	orientase	orientases	orientase	orientásemos	orientaseis	orientasen
	future1	orientare	orientares	orientare	orientáremos	orientareis	orientaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		orientatú orientávos	oriente	orientemos	orientad	orienten
	negative		no orientes	no oriente	no orientemos	no orientéis	no orienten

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

    Selected combined forms of orientar

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 orientar	dative	orientarme	orientarte	orientarle, orientarse	orientarnos	orientaros	orientarles, orientarse
	accusative	orientarme	orientarte	orientarlo, orientarla, orientarse	orientarnos	orientaros	orientarlos, orientarlas, orientarse
with gerund orientando	dative	orientándome	orientándote	orientándole, orientándose	orientándonos	orientándoos	orientándoles, orientándose
	accusative	orientándome	orientándote	orientándolo, orientándola, orientándose	orientándonos	orientándoos	orientándolos, orientándolas, orientándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative orienta	dative	oriéntame	oriéntate	oriéntale	oriéntanos	not used	oriéntales
	accusative	oriéntame	oriéntate	oriéntalo, oriéntala	oriéntanos	not used	oriéntalos, oriéntalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative orientá	dative	orientame	orientate	orientale	orientanos	not used	orientales
	accusative	orientame	orientate	orientalo, orientala	orientanos	not used	orientalos, orientalas
with formal second-person singular imperative oriente	dative	oriénteme	not used	oriéntele, oriéntese	oriéntenos	not used	oriénteles
	accusative	oriénteme	not used	oriéntelo, oriéntela, oriéntese	oriéntenos	not used	oriéntelos, oriéntelas
with first-person plural imperative orientemos	dative	not used	orientémoste	orientémosle	orientémonos	orientémoos	orientémosles
	accusative	not used	orientémoste	orientémoslo, orientémosla	orientémonos	orientémoos	orientémoslos, orientémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative orientad	dative	orientadme	not used	orientadle	orientadnos	orientaos	orientadles
	accusative	orientadme	not used	orientadlo, orientadla	orientadnos	orientaos	orientadlos, orientadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative orienten	dative	oriéntenme	not used	oriéntenle	oriéntennos	not used	oriéntenles, oriéntense
	accusative	oriéntenme	not used	oriéntenlo, oriéntenla	oriéntennos	not used	oriéntenlos, oriéntenlas, oriéntense

Derived terms

• desorientar
• orientación
• programación orientada a objetos
• reorientar

Further reading

• “orientar”, 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