obstar

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin obstāre.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /obsˈta(ʁ)/ [obsˈta(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /obsˈta(ʁ)/ [obsˈta(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /obsˈta(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /obʃˈta(ʁ)/ [obʃˈta(χ)]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /obsˈta(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔbʃˈtaɾ/ [ɔβʃˈtaɾ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔbʃˈtaɾ/ [ɔβʃˈtaɾ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔbʃˈta.ɾi/ [ɔβʃˈta.ɾi]

Verb

obstar (first-person singular present obsto, first-person singular preterite obstei, past participle obstado)

1. (transitive) to oppose

   Synonym: opor-se

2. (transitive) to obstruct

   Synonym: obstruir

Conjugation

    Conjugation of obstar (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	obstar
Personal	obstar	obstares	obstar	obstarmos	obstardes	obstarem
Gerund
	obstando
Past participle
Masculine	obstado			obstados
Feminine	obstada			obstadas
Indicative
Present	obsto	obstas	obsta	obstamos	obstais	obstam
Imperfect	obstava	obstavas	obstava	obstávamos	obstáveis	obstavam
Preterite	obstei	obstaste	obstou	obstamos1, obstámos2	obstastes	obstaram
Pluperfect	obstara	obstaras	obstara	obstáramos	obstáreis	obstaram
Future	obstarei	obstarás	obstará	obstaremos	obstareis	obstarão
Conditional	obstaria	obstarias	obstaria	obstaríamos	obstaríeis	obstariam
Subjunctive
Present	obste	obstes	obste	obstemos	obsteis	obstem
Imperfect	obstasse	obstasses	obstasse	obstássemos	obstásseis	obstassem
Future	obstar	obstares	obstar	obstarmos	obstardes	obstarem
Imperative
Affirmative		obsta	obste	obstemos	obstai	obstem
Negative (não)		não obstes	não obste	não obstemos	não obsteis	não obstem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Derived terms

• obstante

 

Related terms

• obstáculo

 

Further reading

• “obstar”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2024

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin obstāre. All of the first and second person forms were rendered obsolete during evolution for unknown reasons.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /obsˈtaɾ/ [oβ̞sˈt̪aɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: obs‧tar

Verb

obstar (third-person only, third-person singular present obsta, third-person singular preterite obstó, past participle obstado)

1. (intransitive) to hinder
   • 2017 December 23, ““Annus horribilis””, in El Nacional‎^[1]:

     Resulta interesante contrastar también el celo del procerato “revolucionario” que reacciona vitriólicamente cuando alguien en el exterior osa criticar o rozar con el pétalo de una rosa al gobierno nacional, pero ello no obsta para que el pintoresco Nicolás opine libre y groseramente acerca del proceso de reforma jubilatoria en Argentina o su inconformidad con el recuento de votos en Honduras o lo que le venga en gana.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Usage notes

• Used only in the third person, infinitive, gerund and participle.
• Often is used in the impersonal structure no obsta para que followed by a subjunctive clause, meaning "doesn't stop them from..."

Conjugation

    Conjugation of obstar (third-person only) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			obstar
gerund			obstando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		obstado		obstada
		plural		obstados		obstadas
		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	—	—	obsta	—	—	obstan
	imperfect	—	—	obstaba	—	—	obstaban
	preterite	—	—	obstó	—	—	obstaron
	future	—	—	obstará	—	—	obstarán
	conditional	—	—	obstaría	—	—	obstarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	—	—	obste	—	—	obsten
	imperfect (ra)	—	—	obstara	—	—	obstaran
	imperfect (se)	—	—	obstase	—	—	obstasen
	future1	—	—	obstare	—	—	obstaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		—	—	—	—	—
	negative		—	—	—	—	—

¹Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language.

    Selected combined forms of obstar (third-person only)

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 obstar	dative	obstarme	obstarte	obstarle, obstarse	obstarnos	obstaros	obstarles, obstarse
	accusative	obstarme	obstarte	obstarlo, obstarla, obstarse	obstarnos	obstaros	obstarlos, obstarlas, obstarse
with gerund obstando	dative	obstándome	obstándote	obstándole, obstándose	obstándonos	obstándoos	obstándoles, obstándose
	accusative	obstándome	obstándote	obstándolo, obstándola, obstándose	obstándonos	obstándoos	obstándolos, obstándolas, obstándose
with informal second-person singular tú/vos imperative —	dative	—	—	—	—	not used	—
	accusative	—	—	—, —	—	not used	—, —
with formal second-person singular imperative —	dative	—	not used	—, —	—	not used	—
	accusative	—	not used	—, —, —	—	not used	—, —
with first-person plural imperative —	dative	not used	—	—	—	—	—
	accusative	not used	—	—, —	—	—	—, —
with informal second-person plural imperative —	dative	—	not used	—	—	—	—
	accusative	—	not used	—, —	—	—	—, —
with formal second-person plural imperative —	dative	—	not used	—	—	not used	—, —
	accusative	—	not used	—, —	—	not used	—, —, —

Derived terms

• obstante

 

Further reading

• “obstar”, 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