mercar

Aragonese

Etymology

Inherited from Latin mercārī (“to trade”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /meɾˈka(ɾ)/
• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)
• Syllabification: mer‧car

Verb

mercar

1. to buy

   Synonym: crompar

Related terms

• mercador
• mercant
• mercato
• mercau

 

Asturian

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *mercāre, from Latin mercārī (“to trade”), present active infinitive of mercor.

Verb

mercar (first-person singular indicative present merco, past participle mercáu)

1. to buy

   Dí-y María que se merque un gallu

   Tell María to buy herself a rooster.

Conjugation

Conjugation of mercar

infinitive		mercar
gerund		mercando
past participle		m mercáu, f mercada, n mercao, m pl mercaos, f pl mercaes
person		first singular yo	second singular tu	third singular él/elli	first plural nosotros/nós	second plural vosotros/vós	third plural ellos
indicative	present	merco	merques	merca	mercamos	mercáis	merquen
	imperfect	mercaba	mercabes	mercaba	mercábemos, mercábamos	mercabeis, mercabais	mercaben
	preterite	merqué	mercasti, merquesti	mercó	merquemos	mercastis, merquestis	mercaron
	pluperfect	mercare, mercara	mercares, mercaras	mercare, mercara	mercáremos, mercáramos	mercareis, mercarais	mercaren, mercaran
	future	mercaré	mercarás	mercará	mercaremos	mercaréis	mercarán
	conditional	mercaría	mercaríes	mercaría	mercaríemos, mercaríamos	mercaríeis, mercaríais	mercaríen
subjunctive	present	merque	merques, mercas	merque	merquemos	merquéis	merquen, mercan
	imperfect	mercare, mercara	mercares, mercaras	mercare, mercara	mercáremos, mercáramos	mercareis, mercarais	mercaren, mercaran
imperative		—	merca	—	—	mercái	—

Related terms

• mercáu

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese mercar (“to trade; to buy”), from Vulgar Latin *mercāre, from Latin mercārī (“to trade”), present active infinitive of mercor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /merˈkaɾ/

Verb

mercar (first-person singular present merco, first-person singular preterite merquei, past participle mercado)

1. (dated) to trade

   Antes quero mercar, que rogar. ― I would rather trade than beg. (proverb)

   • 1370, R. Lorenzo, editor, Crónica troiana. Introducción e texto, A Coruña: Fundación Barrié, page 637:

     Et nõ podemos mellor mercar ca en cõprar nosas uidas, ca bẽ ueedes que pouco nos podemos ia defender, se esta guerra muyto dura.

     And we can't trade better than by acquiring our lives, 'cos you know well that we can't almost defend ourselves, if this war takes much longer

2. to buy
   • 1433, X. Ferro Couselo, editor, A vida e a fala dos devanceiros. Escolma de documentos en galego dos séculos XIII ao XVI, Vigo: Galaxia, page 97:

     Iten, ordenaron mays sobre rason das ollas que tragan os oleiros a vender a çidade a qual ordenança feseron en esta maneira: que qual quer ome de fora, oleyro, que trouxese ollas a vender a esta çidade, que as vendese por sy meesmo, ata seyda de mynsa grande, e que esteue con elas as vender por sy meesmo ata que o relogo dese des oras, e que regateyra nenhua que llas nos mercase ata las dez oras, su a pena que está ordenada por lo conçello, et pasente as ditas dez oras, que os olleyros e omees de fora que posan vender as ditas ollas á engrós a quaes quer pesonas que llas quiseren mercar, et as regateyras da dita çidade que llas posan mercar des las des oras endiante sen pena algua

     Item, they ordered about the pots that potters bring to this city for selling, and this ordinance was made this way: that any foreigner, a potter, who brings pots for selling to this city, that they can sell them by themselves till exit of the main mass, and that they should stay with them till the clock strikes ten, and that no reseller could buy them till ten o´clock under the penalty set by the Council; and after ten o'clock that potters and foreigners can sell the aforementioned pots to anyone who would buy them, and that local resellers could buy these pots from them after ten o´clock without any penalty

Conjugation

    Conjugation of mercar (c-qu alternation)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti)	Third-person (el / ela / Vde.)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / Vdes.)
Infinitive
Impersonal	mercar
Personal	mercar	mercares	mercar	mercarmos	mercardes	mercaren
Gerund
	mercando
Past participle
Masculine	mercado			mercados
Feminine	mercada			mercadas
Indicative
Present	merco	mercas	merca	mercamos	mercades	mercan
Imperfect	mercaba	mercabas	mercaba	mercabamos	mercabades	mercaban
Preterite	merquei	mercaches	mercou	mercamos	mercastes	mercaron
Pluperfect	mercara	mercaras	mercara	mercaramos	mercarades	mercaran
Future	mercarei	mercarás	mercará	mercaremos	mercaredes	mercarán
Conditional	mercaría	mercarías	mercaría	mercariamos	mercariades	mercarían
Subjunctive
Present	merque	merques	merque	merquemos	merquedes	merquen
Imperfect	mercase	mercases	mercase	mercásemos	mercásedes	mercasen
Future	mercar	mercares	mercar	mercarmos	mercardes	mercaren
Imperative
Affirmative		merca	merque	merquemos	mercade	merquen
Negative (non)		non merques	non merque	non merquemos	non merquedes	non merquen

    Reintegrated conjugation of mercar (c-qu alternation) (See Appendix:Reintegrationism)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti / tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	mercar
Personal	mercar	mercares	mercar	mercarmos	mercardes	mercarem
Gerund
	mercando
Past participle
Masculine	mercado			mercados
Feminine	mercada			mercadas
Indicative
Present	merco	mercas	merca	mercamos	mercades, mercais	mercam
Imperfect	mercava	mercavas	mercava	mercávamos	mercávades, mercáveis, mercávais1	mercavam
Preterite	merquei	mercaste, mercache1	mercou	mercamos	mercastes	mercárom, mercaram
Pluperfect	mercara	mercaras	mercara	mercáramos	mercárades, mercáreis, mercárais1	mercaram
Future	mercarei	mercarás	mercará	mercaremos	mercaredes, mercareis	mercarám, mercarão
Conditional	mercaria	mercarias	mercaria	mercaríamos	mercaríades, mercaríeis, mercaríais1	mercariam
Subjunctive
Present	merque	merques	merque	merquemos	merquedes, merqueis	merquem
Imperfect	mercasse	mercasses	mercasse	mercássemos	mercássedes, mercásseis	mercassem
Future	mercar	mercares	mercar	mercarmos	mercardes	mercarem
Imperative
Affirmative		merca	merque	merquemos	mercade, mercai	merquem
Negative (nom)		nom merques	nom merque	nom merquemos	nom merquedes, nom merqueis	nom merquem

¹Less recommended.

Related terms

• mercado

References

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “mercar”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “mercar”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “mercar”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• “mercar”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2024
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “mercar”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• “mercar” in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (2014).
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “mercar”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese mercar (“to trade; to buy”), from Vulgar Latin *mercāre, from Latin mercārī (“to trade”), from merx (“merchandise”), possibly from Etruscan [Term?].

Pronunciation

 

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

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /meʁˈka(ʁ)/ [mehˈka(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /meɾˈka(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /meʁˈka(ʁ)/ [meχˈka(χ)]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /meɻˈka(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɨɾˈkaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɨɾˈkaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɨɾˈka.ɾi/

Verb

mercar (first-person singular present merco, first-person singular preterite merquei, past participle mercado)

1. to trade (to buy and sell goods)

   Synonyms: comerciar, comercializar, mercadejar

Conjugation

    Conjugation of mercar (c-qu alternation) (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	mercar
Personal	mercar	mercares	mercar	mercarmos	mercardes	mercarem
Gerund
	mercando
Past participle
Masculine	mercado			mercados
Feminine	mercada			mercadas
Indicative
Present	merco	mercas	merca	mercamos	mercais	mercam
Imperfect	mercava	mercavas	mercava	mercávamos	mercáveis	mercavam
Preterite	merquei	mercaste	mercou	mercamos1, mercámos2	mercastes	mercaram
Pluperfect	mercara	mercaras	mercara	mercáramos	mercáreis	mercaram
Future	mercarei	mercarás	mercará	mercaremos	mercareis	mercarão
Conditional	mercaria	mercarias	mercaria	mercaríamos	mercaríeis	mercariam
Subjunctive
Present	merque	merques	merque	merquemos	merqueis	merquem
Imperfect	mercasse	mercasses	mercasse	mercássemos	mercásseis	mercassem
Future	mercar	mercares	mercar	mercarmos	mercardes	mercarem
Imperative
Affirmative		merca	merque	merquemos	mercai	merquem
Negative (não)		não merques	não merque	não merquemos	não merqueis	não merquem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Related terms

• merca
• mercado

Further reading

• “mercar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2024

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Latin mercārī (“to trade”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /meɾˈkaɾ/ [meɾˈkaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: mer‧car

Verb

mercar (first-person singular present merco, first-person singular preterite merqué, past participle mercado)

1. to buy

   Synonym: comprar

Conjugation

    Conjugation of mercar (c-qu alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			mercar
gerund			mercando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		mercado		mercada
		plural		mercados		mercadas
		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	merco	mercastú mercásvos	merca	mercamos	mercáis	mercan
	imperfect	mercaba	mercabas	mercaba	mercábamos	mercabais	mercaban
	preterite	merqué	mercaste	mercó	mercamos	mercasteis	mercaron
	future	mercaré	mercarás	mercará	mercaremos	mercaréis	mercarán
	conditional	mercaría	mercarías	mercaría	mercaríamos	mercaríais	mercarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	merque	merquestú merquésvos2	merque	merquemos	merquéis	merquen
	imperfect (ra)	mercara	mercaras	mercara	mercáramos	mercarais	mercaran
	imperfect (se)	mercase	mercases	mercase	mercásemos	mercaseis	mercasen
	future1	mercare	mercares	mercare	mercáremos	mercareis	mercaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		mercatú mercávos	merque	merquemos	mercad	merquen
	negative		no merques	no merque	no merquemos	no merquéis	no merquen

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

    Selected combined forms of mercar (c-qu alternation)

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 mercar
	dative	mercarme	mercarte	mercarle, mercarse	mercarnos	mercaros	mercarles, mercarse
	accusative	mercarme	mercarte	mercarlo, mercarla, mercarse	mercarnos	mercaros	mercarlos, mercarlas, mercarse
with gerund mercando
	dative	mercándome	mercándote	mercándole, mercándose	mercándonos	mercándoos	mercándoles, mercándose
	accusative	mercándome	mercándote	mercándolo, mercándola, mercándose	mercándonos	mercándoos	mercándolos, mercándolas, mercándose
with informal second-person singular tú imperative merca
	dative	mércame	mércate	mércale	mércanos	not used	mércales
	accusative	mércame	mércate	mércalo, mércala	mércanos	not used	mércalos, mércalas
with informal second-person singular vos imperative mercá
	dative	mercame	mercate	mercale	mercanos	not used	mercales
	accusative	mercame	mercate	mercalo, mercala	mercanos	not used	mercalos, mercalas
with formal second-person singular imperative merque
	dative	mérqueme	not used	mérquele, mérquese	mérquenos	not used	mérqueles
	accusative	mérqueme	not used	mérquelo, mérquela, mérquese	mérquenos	not used	mérquelos, mérquelas
with first-person plural imperative merquemos
	dative	not used	merquémoste	merquémosle	merquémonos	merquémoos	merquémosles
	accusative	not used	merquémoste	merquémoslo, merquémosla	merquémonos	merquémoos	merquémoslos, merquémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative mercad
	dative	mercadme	not used	mercadle	mercadnos	mercaos	mercadles
	accusative	mercadme	not used	mercadlo, mercadla	mercadnos	mercaos	mercadlos, mercadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative merquen
	dative	mérquenme	not used	mérquenle	mérquennos	not used	mérquenles, mérquense
	accusative	mérquenme	not used	mérquenlo, mérquenla	mérquennos	not used	mérquenlos, mérquenlas, mérquense

Derived terms

• mercachifle

 

Related terms

• mercado
• mercador
• mercante

 

Further reading

• “mercar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28