aspaventar

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian spaventare (“to scare”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aspabenˈtaɾ/ [as.pa.β̞ẽn̪ˈt̪aɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: as‧pa‧ven‧tar

Verb

aspaventar (first-person singular present aspaviento, first-person singular preterite aspaventé, past participle aspaventado)

1. to scare, shock

   Synonyms: atemorizar, espantar; see also Thesaurus:asustar

   • 1935, Ricardo G. Luengo, “Conversación con Federico García Lorca”, in Miguel García-Posada, editor, Teatro completo, volume III, Barcelona: DeBolsillo, published 2004, →ISBN, pages 89–90:

     […] Pero, además, una de las finalidades que persigo con mi teatro es precisamente aspaventar y aterrar un poco. Estoy seguro y contento de escandalizar.

     But, in addition, one of the goals I pursue with my theatre is precisely to shock and scare a little. I'm confident and happy to shock.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of aspaventar (e-ie alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			aspaventar
gerund			aspaventando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		aspaventado		aspaventada
		plural		aspaventados		aspaventadas
		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	aspaviento	aspavientastú aspaventásvos	aspavienta	aspaventamos	aspaventáis	aspavientan
	imperfect	aspaventaba	aspaventabas	aspaventaba	aspaventábamos	aspaventabais	aspaventaban
	preterite	aspaventé	aspaventaste	aspaventó	aspaventamos	aspaventasteis	aspaventaron
	future	aspaventaré	aspaventarás	aspaventará	aspaventaremos	aspaventaréis	aspaventarán
	conditional	aspaventaría	aspaventarías	aspaventaría	aspaventaríamos	aspaventaríais	aspaventarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	aspaviente	aspavientestú aspaventésvos2	aspaviente	aspaventemos	aspaventéis	aspavienten
	imperfect (ra)	aspaventara	aspaventaras	aspaventara	aspaventáramos	aspaventarais	aspaventaran
	imperfect (se)	aspaventase	aspaventases	aspaventase	aspaventásemos	aspaventaseis	aspaventasen
	future1	aspaventare	aspaventares	aspaventare	aspaventáremos	aspaventareis	aspaventaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		aspavientatú aspaventávos	aspaviente	aspaventemos	aspaventad	aspavienten
	negative		no aspavientes	no aspaviente	no aspaventemos	no aspaventéis	no aspavienten

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

Derived terms

• aspaviento

 

Further reading

• “aspaventar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10