Utilizase

Utilizase is a verb form derived from the verb utilizar (to utilize or to use) that appears in certain Iberian languages, notably Galician and, in older or regional Portuguese texts, as well. It is used to express a passive or impersonal construction, roughly corresponding to the English “is used” or “one uses.” In practice, utilizase functions as a single, finite verb form that does not require an explicit subject.

In Galician, the form is part of the present-imperfect or present-passive patterns used with the pronominal se, and it is commonly encountered in formal or literary writings. In contemporary Portuguese, the exact form utilizase is rarely used in everyday language; modern equivalents such as utiliza-se (present passive/impersonal) or é utilizado (passive) are generally preferred. When encountered, utilizase can signal archival or regional orthography, or stylistic choices that aim to reproduce older texts.

Morphology and syntax vary by language. In Galician, the construction aligns with other verbs in the same family that attach the enclitic pronoun to form a passive or impersonal sense. The form does not add a new lexical meaning beyond the base verb utilizAR, but it alters voice and focus of the sentence.

Etymologically, utilizase derives from utilizar, which itself comes from Latin utilis, meaning helpful or useful. The existence of utilizase illustrates how Romance languages reuse verb stems to create passive or impersonal equivalents without resorting to new auxiliary verbs. See also utilizar, se, passive voice.