conservar

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cōnservāre (“to preserve; to conserve”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Verb

conservar (first-person singular present conservo, first-person singular preterite conserví, past participle conservat); root stress: (Northern) /e̞/; (Balearic, Central, Northwestern, Valencia) /e/

1. to preserve
2. (reflexive) to be preserved

Conjugation

    Central Catalan conjugation of conservar (first conjugation)

infinitive			conservar
gerund			conservant
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		conservat		conservada
		plural		conservats		conservades
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	conservo	conserves	conserva	conservem	conserveu	conserven
	imperfect	conservava	conservaves	conservava	conservàvem	conservàveu	conservaven
	future	conservaré	conservaràs	conservarà	conservarem	conservareu	conservaran
	preterite	conserví	conservares	conservà	conservàrem	conservàreu	conservaren
	conditional	conservaria	conservaries	conservaria	conservaríem	conservaríeu	conservarien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	conservi	conservis	conservi	conservem	conserveu	conservin
	imperfect	conservés	conservessis	conservés	conservéssim	conservéssiu	conservessin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	conserva	conservi	conservem	conserveu	conservin
	negative (no)	—	no conservis	no conservi	no conservem	no conserveu	no conservin

Related terms

• conservació
• conservatori

Further reading

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

Interlingua

Etymology

From Latin cōnservō (“to preserve; to conserve”).

Verb

conservar

1. to preserve
2. to conserve

Conjugation

    Conjugation of conservar

infinitive		conservar
participle		present	perfect
		conservante	conservate
active		simple	perfect
	present	conserva	ha conservate
	past	conservava	habeva conservate
	future	conservara	habera conservate
	conditional	conservarea	haberea conservate
	imperative	conserva	—
passive		simple	perfect
	present	es conservate	ha essite conservate
	past	esseva conservate	habeva essite conservate
	future	essera conservate	habera essite conservate
	conditional	esserea conservate	haberea essite conservate
	imperative	sia conservate	—

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin cōnservāre (“to preserve; to conserve”), probably borrowed.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kõ.seʁˈva(ʁ)/ [kõ.seɦˈva(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kõ.seʁˈva(ʁ)/ [kõ.seɦˈva(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /kõ.seɾˈva(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /kõ.seʁˈva(ʁ)/ [kõ.seʁˈva(χ)]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /kõ.seɻˈva(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kõ.sɨɾˈvaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kõ.sɨɾˈvaɾ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /kõ.sɨɾˈbaɾ/ [kõ.sɨɾˈβaɾ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /kõ.sɨɾˈva.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: con‧ser‧var

Verb

conservar (first-person singular present conservo, first-person singular preterite conservei, past participle conservado)

1. to preserve
2. to conserve

Conjugation

    Conjugation of conservar (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	conservar
Personal	conservar	conservares	conservar	conservarmos	conservardes	conservarem
Gerund
	conservando
Past participle
Masculine	conservado			conservados
Feminine	conservada			conservadas
Indicative
Present	conservo	conservas	conserva	conservamos	conservais	conservam
Imperfect	conservava	conservavas	conservava	conservávamos	conserváveis	conservavam
Preterite	conservei	conservaste	conservou	conservamos1, conservámos2	conservastes	conservaram
Pluperfect	conservara	conservaras	conservara	conserváramos	conserváreis	conservaram
Future	conservarei	conservarás	conservará	conservaremos	conservareis	conservarão
Conditional	conservaria	conservarias	conservaria	conservaríamos	conservaríeis	conservariam
Subjunctive
Present	conserve	conserves	conserve	conservemos	conserveis	conservem
Imperfect	conservasse	conservasses	conservasse	conservássemos	conservásseis	conservassem
Future	conservar	conservares	conservar	conservarmos	conservardes	conservarem
Imperative
Affirmative		conserva	conserve	conservemos	conservai	conservem
Negative (não)		não conserves	não conserve	não conservemos	não conserveis	não conservem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:conservar.

Further reading

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

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ḱe?

Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm

Proto-Italic *kom

Proto-Italic *kom-

Latin con-

Proto-Indo-European *ser-der.?

Proto-Italic *serwos

Latin servus

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Latin -ō

Latin servō

Latin cōnservārebor.

Spanish conservar

Borrowed from Latin cōnservāre (“to preserve; to conserve”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /konseɾˈbaɾ/ [kõn.seɾˈβ̞aɾ]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: con‧ser‧var

Verb

conservar (first-person singular present conservo, first-person singular preterite conservé, past participle conservado)

1. (transitive) to conserve
2. (transitive) to preserve, retain.

   conservar rasgos ancestrales

   To retain ancestral traits

   • 1915, Julio Vicuña Cifuentes, Mitos y Supersticiones Recogidos de la Tradición Oral Chilena, page 8:

     Ambos quedaron transformados en terneros, pero conservando la cabeza de hombres.

     Both had been transformed into calves, but keeping the heads of men.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of conservar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			conservar
gerund			conservando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		conservado		conservada
		plural		conservados		conservadas
		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	conservo	conservastú conservásvos	conserva	conservamos	conserváis	conservan
	imperfect	conservaba	conservabas	conservaba	conservábamos	conservabais	conservaban
	preterite	conservé	conservaste	conservó	conservamos	conservasteis	conservaron
	future	conservaré	conservarás	conservará	conservaremos	conservaréis	conservarán
	conditional	conservaría	conservarías	conservaría	conservaríamos	conservaríais	conservarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	conserve	conservestú conservésvos2	conserve	conservemos	conservéis	conserven
	imperfect (ra)	conservara	conservaras	conservara	conserváramos	conservarais	conservaran
	imperfect (se)	conservase	conservases	conservase	conservásemos	conservaseis	conservasen
	future1	conservare	conservares	conservare	conserváremos	conservareis	conservaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		conservatú conservávos	conserve	conservemos	conservad	conserven
	negative		no conserves	no conserve	no conservemos	no conservéis	no conserven

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

    Selected combined forms of conservar

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 conservar	dative	conservarme	conservarte	conservarle, conservarse	conservarnos	conservaros	conservarles, conservarse
	accusative	conservarme	conservarte	conservarlo, conservarla, conservarse	conservarnos	conservaros	conservarlos, conservarlas, conservarse
with gerund conservando	dative	conservándome	conservándote	conservándole, conservándose	conservándonos	conservándoos	conservándoles, conservándose
	accusative	conservándome	conservándote	conservándolo, conservándola, conservándose	conservándonos	conservándoos	conservándolos, conservándolas, conservándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative conserva	dative	consérvame	consérvate	consérvale	consérvanos	not used	consérvales
	accusative	consérvame	consérvate	consérvalo, consérvala	consérvanos	not used	consérvalos, consérvalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative conservá	dative	conservame	conservate	conservale	conservanos	not used	conservales
	accusative	conservame	conservate	conservalo, conservala	conservanos	not used	conservalos, conservalas
with formal second-person singular imperative conserve	dative	consérveme	not used	consérvele, consérvese	consérvenos	not used	consérveles
	accusative	consérveme	not used	consérvelo, consérvela, consérvese	consérvenos	not used	consérvelos, consérvelas
with first-person plural imperative conservemos	dative	not used	conservémoste	conservémosle	conservémonos	conservémoos	conservémosles
	accusative	not used	conservémoste	conservémoslo, conservémosla	conservémonos	conservémoos	conservémoslos, conservémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative conservad	dative	conservadme	not used	conservadle	conservadnos	conservaos	conservadles
	accusative	conservadme	not used	conservadlo, conservadla	conservadnos	conservaos	conservadlos, conservadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative conserven	dative	consérvenme	not used	consérvenle	consérvennos	not used	consérvenles, consérvense
	accusative	consérvenme	not used	consérvenlo, consérvenla	consérvennos	not used	consérvenlos, consérvenlas, consérvense

Derived terms

• conserva
• conservable
• conservante

Related terms

• conservación
• conservador
• conservativo
• conservatorio

Further reading

• “conservar”, 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