tantear

Spanish

Etymology

From tanto +‎ -ear.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tanteˈaɾ/ [t̪ãn̪.t̪eˈaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: tan‧te‧ar

Verb

tantear (first-person singular present tanteo, first-person singular preterite tanteé, past participle tanteado)

1. to grope, to feel one's way, to search by feeling
2. (also figurative) to weigh up, to size up, to sound out
   • 2018 July 6, Jordi Costa, “Nocturno urbano”, in El País‎^[1], Madrid, →ISSN:

     Yo la busco indaga en la fragilidad emocional masculina, tantea nuevos modelos de convivencia y relación, adopta cierto espíritu de novela de caballerías (la entrega del cuaderno) y propone un modelo de discurso claramente indisociable de lo vital.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. to estimate

   Synonym: estimar

Conjugation

    Conjugation of tantear (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			tantear
gerund			tanteando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		tanteado		tanteada
		plural		tanteados		tanteadas
		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	tanteo	tanteastú tanteásvos	tantea	tanteamos	tanteáis	tantean
	imperfect	tanteaba	tanteabas	tanteaba	tanteábamos	tanteabais	tanteaban
	preterite	tanteé	tanteaste	tanteó	tanteamos	tanteasteis	tantearon
	future	tantearé	tantearás	tanteará	tantearemos	tantearéis	tantearán
	conditional	tantearía	tantearías	tantearía	tantearíamos	tantearíais	tantearían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	tantee	tanteestú tanteésvos2	tantee	tanteemos	tanteéis	tanteen
	imperfect (ra)	tanteara	tantearas	tanteara	tanteáramos	tantearais	tantearan
	imperfect (se)	tantease	tanteases	tantease	tanteásemos	tanteaseis	tanteasen
	future1	tanteare	tanteares	tanteare	tanteáremos	tanteareis	tantearen
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		tanteatú tanteávos	tantee	tanteemos	tantead	tanteen
	negative		no tantees	no tantee	no tanteemos	no tanteéis	no tanteen

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

    Selected combined forms of tantear

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 tantear
	dative	tantearme	tantearte	tantearle, tantearse	tantearnos	tantearos	tantearles, tantearse
	accusative	tantearme	tantearte	tantearlo, tantearla, tantearse	tantearnos	tantearos	tantearlos, tantearlas, tantearse
with gerund tanteando
	dative	tanteándome	tanteándote	tanteándole, tanteándose	tanteándonos	tanteándoos	tanteándoles, tanteándose
	accusative	tanteándome	tanteándote	tanteándolo, tanteándola, tanteándose	tanteándonos	tanteándoos	tanteándolos, tanteándolas, tanteándose
with informal second-person singular tú imperative tantea
	dative	tantéame	tantéate	tantéale	tantéanos	not used	tantéales
	accusative	tantéame	tantéate	tantéalo, tantéala	tantéanos	not used	tantéalos, tantéalas
with informal second-person singular vos imperative tanteá
	dative	tanteame	tanteate	tanteale	tanteanos	not used	tanteales
	accusative	tanteame	tanteate	tantealo, tanteala	tanteanos	not used	tantealos, tantealas
with formal second-person singular imperative tantee
	dative	tantéeme	not used	tantéele, tantéese	tantéenos	not used	tantéeles
	accusative	tantéeme	not used	tantéelo, tantéela, tantéese	tantéenos	not used	tantéelos, tantéelas
with first-person plural imperative tanteemos
	dative	not used	tanteémoste	tanteémosle	tanteémonos	tanteémoos	tanteémosles
	accusative	not used	tanteémoste	tanteémoslo, tanteémosla	tanteémonos	tanteémoos	tanteémoslos, tanteémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative tantead
	dative	tanteadme	not used	tanteadle	tanteadnos	tanteaos	tanteadles
	accusative	tanteadme	not used	tanteadlo, tanteadla	tanteadnos	tanteaos	tanteadlos, tanteadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative tanteen
	dative	tantéenme	not used	tantéenle	tantéennos	not used	tantéenles, tantéense
	accusative	tantéenme	not used	tantéenlo, tantéenla	tantéennos	not used	tantéenlos, tantéenlas, tantéense

Derived terms

• tanteador
• tanteo

 

Further reading

• “tantear”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014