provocar

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin prōvocāre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [pɾu.βuˈka]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [pɾo.voˈka]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [pɾo.voˈkaɾ]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [pɾo.βoˈka]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Verb

provocar (first-person singular present provoco, first-person singular preterite provoquí, past participle provocat); root stress: (Northern) /o̞/; (Balearic, Central, Northwestern, Valencia) /ɔ/

1. to provoke, bring on

Conjugation

    Central Catalan conjugation of provocar (first conjugation, c-qu alternation)

infinitive			provocar
gerund			provocant
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		provocat		provocada
		plural		provocats		provocades
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	provoco	provoques	provoca	provoquem	provoqueu	provoquen
	imperfect	provocava	provocaves	provocava	provocàvem	provocàveu	provocaven
	future	provocaré	provocaràs	provocarà	provocarem	provocareu	provocaran
	preterite	provoquí	provocares	provocà	provocàrem	provocàreu	provocaren
	conditional	provocaria	provocaries	provocaria	provocaríem	provocaríeu	provocarien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	provoqui	provoquis	provoqui	provoquem	provoqueu	provoquin
	imperfect	provoqués	provoquessis	provoqués	provoquéssim	provoquéssiu	provoquessin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	provoca	provoqui	provoquem	provoqueu	provoquin
	negative (no)	—	no provoquis	no provoqui	no provoquem	no provoqueu	no provoquin

Related terms

• advocar
• convocar
• evocar
• invocar
• provocació
• provocador
• provocatiu
• revocar

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *per-der.?

Proto-Indo-European *per-der.?

Proto-Indo-European *pér

Proto-Indo-European *-o

Proto-Indo-European *pró

Proto-Indo-European *pro-

Proto-Italic *pro-

Latin prō-

Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ-der.

Proto-Indo-European *wokʷ-der.

Latin vocō

Latin prōvocārelbor.

Portuguese provocar

Learned borrowing from Latin prōvocāre.

Pronunciation

 

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

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

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /pɾu.vuˈkaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /pɾu.vuˈkaɾ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /pɾu.buˈkaɾ/ [pɾu.βuˈkaɾ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /pɾu.vuˈka.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: pro‧vo‧car

Verb

provocar (first-person singular present provoco, first-person singular preterite provoquei, past participle provocado)

1. to provoke (all senses)

Conjugation

    Conjugation of provocar (c-qu 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	provocar
Personal	provocar	provocares	provocar	provocarmos	provocardes	provocarem
Gerund
	provocando
Past participle
Masculine	provocado			provocados
Feminine	provocada			provocadas
Indicative
Present	provoco	provocas	provoca	provocamos	provocais	provocam
Imperfect	provocava	provocavas	provocava	provocávamos	provocáveis	provocavam
Preterite	provoquei	provocaste	provocou	provocamos1, provocámos2	provocastes	provocaram
Pluperfect	provocara	provocaras	provocara	provocáramos	provocáreis	provocaram
Future	provocarei	provocarás	provocará	provocaremos	provocareis	provocarão
Conditional	provocaria	provocarias	provocaria	provocaríamos	provocaríeis	provocariam
Subjunctive
Present	provoque	provoques	provoque	provoquemos	provoqueis	provoquem
Imperfect	provocasse	provocasses	provocasse	provocássemos	provocásseis	provocassem
Future	provocar	provocares	provocar	provocarmos	provocardes	provocarem
Imperative
Affirmative		provoca	provoque	provoquemos	provocai	provoquem
Negative (não)		não provoques	não provoque	não provoquemos	não provoqueis	não provoquem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Derived terms

• provocador
• provocadoramente

Related terms

• avocar
• convocar
• evocar
• invocar
• provocação
• provocador
• provocante
• provocativo
• provocatório
• revogar

Descendants

• → Hunsrik: provokeere, provocke

Further reading

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

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin prōvocāre. Cognate with English provoke.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɾoboˈkaɾ/ [pɾo.β̞oˈkaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: pro‧vo‧car

Verb

provocar (first-person singular present provoco, first-person singular preterite provoqué, past participle provocado)

1. to cause or provoke, to prompt
2. to tease sexually
3. (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, pronominal) to fancy, would like

   Synonyms: antojar, apetecer, gustar, tener ganas de, tincar

   ¿Te provoca café? ― Would you like coffee?

4. (Canary Islands, reflexive) to get nausea (urge to vomit)

Conjugation

    Conjugation of provocar (c-qu alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			provocar
gerund			provocando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		provocado		provocada
		plural		provocados		provocadas
		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	provoco	provocastú provocásvos	provoca	provocamos	provocáis	provocan
	imperfect	provocaba	provocabas	provocaba	provocábamos	provocabais	provocaban
	preterite	provoqué	provocaste	provocó	provocamos	provocasteis	provocaron
	future	provocaré	provocarás	provocará	provocaremos	provocaréis	provocarán
	conditional	provocaría	provocarías	provocaría	provocaríamos	provocaríais	provocarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	provoque	provoquestú provoquésvos2	provoque	provoquemos	provoquéis	provoquen
	imperfect (ra)	provocara	provocaras	provocara	provocáramos	provocarais	provocaran
	imperfect (se)	provocase	provocases	provocase	provocásemos	provocaseis	provocasen
	future1	provocare	provocares	provocare	provocáremos	provocareis	provocaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		provocatú provocávos	provoque	provoquemos	provocad	provoquen
	negative		no provoques	no provoque	no provoquemos	no provoquéis	no provoquen

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

    Selected combined forms of provocar (c-qu 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 provocar	dative	provocarme	provocarte	provocarle, provocarse	provocarnos	provocaros	provocarles, provocarse
	accusative	provocarme	provocarte	provocarlo, provocarla, provocarse	provocarnos	provocaros	provocarlos, provocarlas, provocarse
with gerund provocando	dative	provocándome	provocándote	provocándole, provocándose	provocándonos	provocándoos	provocándoles, provocándose
	accusative	provocándome	provocándote	provocándolo, provocándola, provocándose	provocándonos	provocándoos	provocándolos, provocándolas, provocándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative provoca	dative	provócame	provócate	provócale	provócanos	not used	provócales
	accusative	provócame	provócate	provócalo, provócala	provócanos	not used	provócalos, provócalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative provocá	dative	provocame	provocate	provocale	provocanos	not used	provocales
	accusative	provocame	provocate	provocalo, provocala	provocanos	not used	provocalos, provocalas
with formal second-person singular imperative provoque	dative	provóqueme	not used	provóquele, provóquese	provóquenos	not used	provóqueles
	accusative	provóqueme	not used	provóquelo, provóquela, provóquese	provóquenos	not used	provóquelos, provóquelas
with first-person plural imperative provoquemos	dative	not used	provoquémoste	provoquémosle	provoquémonos	provoquémoos	provoquémosles
	accusative	not used	provoquémoste	provoquémoslo, provoquémosla	provoquémonos	provoquémoos	provoquémoslos, provoquémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative provocad	dative	provocadme	not used	provocadle	provocadnos	provocaos	provocadles
	accusative	provocadme	not used	provocadlo, provocadla	provocadnos	provocaos	provocadlos, provocadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative provoquen	dative	provóquenme	not used	provóquenle	provóquennos	not used	provóquenles, provóquense
	accusative	provóquenme	not used	provóquenlo, provóquenla	provóquennos	not used	provóquenlos, provóquenlas, provóquense

Related terms

• abogar
• convocar
• evocar
• invocar
• provocación
• provocador
• provocativo
• revocar

Further reading

• “provocar”, 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
• “provocar”, in Diccionario Básico de Canarismos [Basic Dictionary of Canarianisms] (in Spanish), Canarian Academy of the Language [Spanish: Academia Canaria de La Lengua], 2010
• “provocar”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010