garabatear

Spanish

Etymology

From garabato (“doodle, scribble”) +‎ -ar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡaɾabateˈaɾ/ [ɡa.ɾa.β̞a.t̪eˈaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: ga‧ra‧ba‧te‧ar

Verb

garabatear (first-person singular present garabateo, first-person singular preterite garabateé, past participle garabateado)

1. to scribble
2. (Chile, colloquial) to swear

Conjugation

    Conjugation of garabatear (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			garabatear
gerund			garabateando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		garabateado		garabateada
		plural		garabateados		garabateadas
		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	garabateo	garabateastú garabateásvos	garabatea	garabateamos	garabateáis	garabatean
	imperfect	garabateaba	garabateabas	garabateaba	garabateábamos	garabateabais	garabateaban
	preterite	garabateé	garabateaste	garabateó	garabateamos	garabateasteis	garabatearon
	future	garabatearé	garabatearás	garabateará	garabatearemos	garabatearéis	garabatearán
	conditional	garabatearía	garabatearías	garabatearía	garabatearíamos	garabatearíais	garabatearían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	garabatee	garabateestú garabateésvos2	garabatee	garabateemos	garabateéis	garabateen
	imperfect (ra)	garabateara	garabatearas	garabateara	garabateáramos	garabatearais	garabatearan
	imperfect (se)	garabatease	garabateases	garabatease	garabateásemos	garabateaseis	garabateasen
	future1	garabateare	garabateares	garabateare	garabateáremos	garabateareis	garabatearen
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		garabateatú garabateávos	garabatee	garabateemos	garabatead	garabateen
	negative		no garabatees	no garabatee	no garabateemos	no garabateéis	no garabateen

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

Related terms

• garabatero
• garabato

Further reading

• “garabatear”, 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
• “garabatear”, 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