establir

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin stabilīre. Cognates include Occitan establir, French établir, Italian stabilire, and archaic Spanish establir.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [əs.təbˈbli], [əs.təˈβli]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [əs.təbˈbli]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [es.taˈbliɾ]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [es.tabˈbli], [es.taˈβli]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Verb

establir (first-person singular present estableixo, first-person singular preterite establí, past participle establert or establit)

1. to establish
2. to ascertain

Conjugation

    Central Catalan conjugation of establir (third conjugation, with -eix-, irregular)

infinitive			establir
gerund			establint
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		establert, establit		establerta, establida
		plural		establerts, establits		establertes, establides
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	estableixo	estableixes	estableix	establim	establiu	estableixen
	imperfect	establia	establies	establia	establíem	establíeu	establien
	future	establiré	establiràs	establirà	establirem	establireu	establiran
	preterite	establí	establires	establí	establírem	establíreu	establiren
	conditional	establiria	establiries	establiria	establiríem	establiríeu	establirien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	estableixi	estableixis	estableixi	establim	establiu	estableixin
	imperfect	establís	establissis	establís	establíssim	establíssiu	establissin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	estableix	estableixi	establim	establiu	estableixin
	negative (no)	—	no estableixis	no estableixi	no establim	no establiu	no estableixin

Synonyms

• basar
• fonamentar

Derived terms

• establiment
• restablir

Further reading

• “establir”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “establir”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “establir” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “establir”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Occitan

Etymology

From Old Occitan establir, from Latin stabilīre.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Béarn):

  (file)

Verb

establir

1. to establish

Conjugation

    Lengadocian (Central Occitan)

		simple			compound
infinitive		establir			aver establit
gerund		establissent			use gerund of aver + past participle
past participle		establit			—
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ieu	tu	el	nosautres	vosautres	eles
	present	establissi	establisses	establís	establissèm	establissètz	establisson
	imperfect	establissiái	establissiás	establissiá	establissiam	establissiatz	establissián
	preterite	establiguèri	establiguères	establiguèt	establiguèrem	establiguèretz	establiguèron
	future	establirai	establiràs	establirà	establirem	establiretz	establiràn
	conditional	establiriái	establiriás	establiriá	establiriam	establiriatz	establirián
	conditional 2nd form1	establiguèra	establiguèras	establiguèra	establigueram	establigueratz	establiguèran
compound tenses	present perfect	use the present tense of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle
	past anterior	use the preterite tense of aver + past participle
	future perfect	use the future tense of aver + past participle
	conditional perfect	use the conditional tense of aver + past participle
subjunctive		que ieu	que tu	que el	que nosautres	que vosautres	que eles
	present	establisca	establiscas	establisca	establiscam	establiscatz	establiscan
	imperfect	establiguèsse	establiguèsses	establiguèsse	establiguèssem	establiguèssetz	establiguèsson
compound tenses	past	use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative		—	tu	—	nosautres	vosautres	—
			establís		establiscam	establissetz	1Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects

Derived terms

• establiment

Old French

Etymology

From Latin stabilīre. Cognates include Italian stabilire.

Verb

establir

1. to establish
   • c. 1150, Turoldus, La Chanson de Roland:

     Apres les dous establisent la terce

     After the first two, they established a third

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a second-group verb (ending in -ir, with an -iss- infix). Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of establir (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		establir			avoir establi
gerund		en establissant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		establissant
past participle		establi
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	establis	establis	establist	establissons	establissez	establissent
	imperfect	establissoie, establisseie	establissoies, establisseies	establissoit, establisseit	establissiiens, establissiens	establissiiez, establissiez	establissoient, establisseient
	preterite	establi	establis	establi	establimes	establistes	establirent
	future	establirai	establiras	establira	establirons	establiroiz, establireiz, establirez	establiront
	conditional	establiroie, establireie	establiroies, establireies	establiroit, establireit	establiriiens, establiriens	establiriiez, establiriez	establiroient, establireient
compound tenses	present perfect	present tense of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	establisse	establisses	establisse	establissons	establissez	establissent
	imperfect	establisse	establisses	establist	establissons, establissiens	establissoiz, establissez, establissiez	establissent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	establis	—	establissons	establissez	—

Descendants

• French: établir
• Norman: êtablyi
• → Middle English: establen
  • Scots: estabill
• → Middle English: stablen, stable, stabli, stabelen, stabile, stabilen, stabil, stabille, stabul, stabulle (e- elided)
  • English: stable
  • Scots: stabil, stabill, stable
• → Middle English: establissen, establishen (via stem form establiss-)
  • English: establish
    • → Scots: estaiblish
  • Scots: establis, establish
• → Middle English: stablishen (via stem form establiss-, e- elided)
  • English: stablish, stabilitate
  • Scots: stablis, stablish

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Latin stabilīre. Cognates include Occitan establir, French établir and Italian stabilire.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /estaˈbliɾ/ [es.t̪aˈβ̞liɾ]
• Rhymes: -iɾ
• Syllabification: es‧ta‧blir

Verb

establir (first-person singular present establo, first-person singular preterite establí, past participle establido)

1. archaic form of establecer

Conjugation

    Conjugation of establir (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			establir
gerund			establiendo
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		establido		establida
		plural		establidos		establidas
		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	establo	establestú establísvos	estable	establimos	establís	establen
	imperfect	establía	establías	establía	establíamos	establíais	establían
	preterite	establí	establiste	establió	establimos	establisteis	establieron
	future	establiré	establirás	establirá	establiremos	establiréis	establirán
	conditional	establiría	establirías	establiría	establiríamos	establiríais	establirían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	establa	establastú establásvos2	establa	establamos	establáis	establan
	imperfect (ra)	establiera	establieras	establiera	establiéramos	establierais	establieran
	imperfect (se)	establiese	establieses	establiese	establiésemos	establieseis	establiesen
	future1	establiere	establieres	establiere	establiéremos	establiereis	establieren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		establetú establívos	establa	establamos	establid	establan
	negative		no establas	no establa	no establamos	no establáis	no establan

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

    Selected combined forms of establir

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 establir	dative	establirme	establirte	establirle, establirse	establirnos	establiros	establirles, establirse
	accusative	establirme	establirte	establirlo, establirla, establirse	establirnos	establiros	establirlos, establirlas, establirse
with gerund establiendo	dative	establiéndome	establiéndote	establiéndole, establiéndose	establiéndonos	establiéndoos	establiéndoles, establiéndose
	accusative	establiéndome	establiéndote	establiéndolo, establiéndola, establiéndose	establiéndonos	establiéndoos	establiéndolos, establiéndolas, establiéndose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative estable	dative	estábleme	estáblete	estáblele	estáblenos	not used	estábleles
	accusative	estábleme	estáblete	estáblelo, estáblela	estáblenos	not used	estáblelos, estáblelas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative establí	dative	establime	establite	establile	establinos	not used	establiles
	accusative	establime	establite	establilo, establila	establinos	not used	establilos, establilas
with formal second-person singular imperative establa	dative	estáblame	not used	estáblale, estáblase	estáblanos	not used	estáblales
	accusative	estáblame	not used	estáblalo, estáblala, estáblase	estáblanos	not used	estáblalos, estáblalas
with first-person plural imperative establamos	dative	not used	establámoste	establámosle	establámonos	establámoos	establámosles
	accusative	not used	establámoste	establámoslo, establámosla	establámonos	establámoos	establámoslos, establámoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative establid	dative	establidme	not used	establidle	establidnos	establíos	establidles
	accusative	establidme	not used	establidlo, establidla	establidnos	establíos	establidlos, establidlas
with formal second-person plural imperative establan	dative	estáblanme	not used	estáblanle	estáblannos	not used	estáblanles, estáblanse
	accusative	estáblanme	not used	estáblanlo, estáblanla	estáblannos	not used	estáblanlos, estáblanlas, estáblanse

Further reading

• “establir”, 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