yacer

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish yazer, inherited from Latin iacēre, iaceō, from Proto-Italic *jakēō. Cognate with French gésir, Italian giacere, Portuguese jazer, Catalan jeure. Compare English gist and joist.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /ʝaˈθeɾ/ [ɟ͡ʝaˈθeɾ]

 

• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /ʝaˈseɾ/ [ɟ͡ʝaˈseɾ]

• IPA^(key): (most of Latin America, Philippines) /ʝaˈseɾ/ [ɟ͡ʝaˈseɾ]
• IPA^(key): (Buenos Aires and environs) /ʃaˈseɾ/ [ʃaˈseɾ]
• IPA^(key): (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay) /ʒaˈseɾ/ [ʒaˈseɾ]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Syllabification: ya‧cer

Verb

yacer (first-person singular present yazco or yazgo or yago, first-person singular preterite yací, past participle yacido)

1. to lie; to recline

   Synonyms: reposar, recostar

Conjugation

    Conjugation of yacer (irregular; c-zc alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			yacer
gerund			yaciendo
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		yacido		yacida
		plural		yacidos		yacidas
		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	yazco, yazgo, yago	yacestú yacésvos	yace	yacemos	yacéis	yacen
	imperfect	yacía	yacías	yacía	yacíamos	yacíais	yacían
	preterite	yací	yaciste	yació	yacimos	yacisteis	yacieron
	future	yaceré	yacerás	yacerá	yaceremos	yaceréis	yacerán
	conditional	yacería	yacerías	yacería	yaceríamos	yaceríais	yacerían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	yazca, yazga, yaga	yazcas, yazgas, yagastú yazcás, yazgás, yagásvos2	yazca, yazga, yaga	yazcamos, yazgamos, yagamos	yazcáis, yazgáis, yagáis	yazcan, yazgan, yagan
	imperfect (ra)	yaciera	yacieras	yaciera	yaciéramos	yacierais	yacieran
	imperfect (se)	yaciese	yacieses	yaciese	yaciésemos	yacieseis	yaciesen
	future1	yaciere	yacieres	yaciere	yaciéremos	yaciereis	yacieren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		yace, yaztú yacévos	yazca, yazga, yaga	yazcamos, yazgamos, yagamos	yaced	yazcan, yazgan, yagan
	negative		no yazcas, no yazgas, no yagas	no yazca, no yazga, no yaga	no yazcamos, no yazgamos, no yagamos	no yazcáis, no yazgáis, no yagáis	no yazcan, no yazgan, no yagan

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

Derived terms

• yacimiento

Further reading

• “yacer”, 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