sapear

Portuguese

Etymology

From sapo (“frog”) +‎ -ear.

Pronunciation

(Brazil) IPA^(key): /sa.peˈa(ʁ)/ [sa.peˈa(h)]
- (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /sa.peˈa(ɾ)/
- (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /sa.peˈa(ʁ)/ [sa.peˈa(χ)]
- (Caipira) IPA^(key): /sa.peˈa(ɻ)/

(Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɐˈpjaɾ/
- (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɐˈpja.ɾi/

Hyphenation: sa‧pe‧ar

Verb

sapear (first-person singular present sapeio, first-person singular preterite sapeei, past participle sapeado)

(Brazil, slang) to spy; to observe while concealed
Synonyms: espreitar, espiar

Conjugation

Conjugation of sapear (e becomes ei when stressed) (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	sapear
Personal	sapear	sapeares	sapear	sapearmos	sapeardes	sapearem
Gerund
	sapeando
Past participle
Masculine	sapeado			sapeados
Feminine	sapeada			sapeadas
Indicative
Present	sapeio	sapeias	sapeia	sapeamos	sapeais	sapeiam
Imperfect	sapeava	sapeavas	sapeava	sapeávamos	sapeáveis	sapeavam
Preterite	sapeei	sapeaste	sapeou	sapeamos¹, sapeámos²	sapeastes	sapearam
Pluperfect	sapeara	sapearas	sapeara	sapeáramos	sapeáreis	sapearam
Future	sapearei	sapearás	sapeará	sapearemos	sapeareis	sapearão
Conditional	sapearia	sapearias	sapearia	sapearíamos	sapearíeis	sapeariam
Subjunctive
Present	sapeie	sapeies	sapeie	sapeemos	sapeeis	sapeiem
Imperfect	sapeasse	sapeasses	sapeasse	sapeássemos	sapeásseis	sapeassem
Future	sapear	sapeares	sapear	sapearmos	sapeardes	sapearem
Imperative
Affirmative		sapeia	sapeie	sapeemos	sapeai	sapeiem
Negative (não)		não sapeies	não sapeie	não sapeemos	não sapeeis	não sapeiem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Further reading

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

Spanish

Etymology

From sapo +‎ -ear.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /sapeˈaɾ/ [sa.peˈaɾ]
Rhymes: -aɾ
Syllabification: sa‧pe‧ar

Verb

sapear (first-person singular present sapeo, first-person singular preterite sapeé, past participle sapeado)

(Latin America) to dob in; snitch
(Latin America) to spy; observe
Synonym: espiar
(Chile, Intransitive) to act like a telltale

Conjugation

Conjugation of sapear (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

		singular			plural
infinitive			sapear
gerund			sapeando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		sapeado		sapeada
		plural		sapeados		sapeadas
		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	sapeo	sapeas^{^tú} sapeás^{^vos}	sapea	sapeamos	sapeáis	sapean
	imperfect	sapeaba	sapeabas	sapeaba	sapeábamos	sapeabais	sapeaban
	preterite	sapeé	sapeaste	sapeó	sapeamos	sapeasteis	sapearon
	future	sapearé	sapearás	sapeará	sapearemos	sapearéis	sapearán
	conditional	sapearía	sapearías	sapearía	sapearíamos	sapearíais	sapearían

subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	sapee	sapees^{^tú} sapeés^{^vos²}	sapee	sapeemos	sapeéis	sapeen
	imperfect (ra)	sapeara	sapearas	sapeara	sapeáramos	sapearais	sapearan
	imperfect (se)	sapease	sapeases	sapease	sapeásemos	sapeaseis	sapeasen
	future¹	sapeare	sapeares	sapeare	sapeáremos	sapeareis	sapearen

imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		sapea^{^tú} sapeá^{^vos}	sapee	sapeemos	sapead	sapeen
	negative		no sapees	no sapee	no sapeemos	no sapeéis	no sapeen

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

Further reading

“sapear”, 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