empregase

Empregase is a historical reflexive verb form found in Iberian Romance languages, notably Portuguese and Galician, associated with the verb empregar (to employ). It is typically encountered in older texts and in some regional speech where earlier orthography and verb forms persisted. The form expresses a reflexive or self-directed action related to employment or use of one’s own resources. In modern standard Portuguese, the reflexive construction is ordinarily formed with the pronominal particle se attached to the infinitive or conjugated form, as in empregar-se; consequently, empregase/empregase is regarded as archaic or regionally limited today.

Historical texts sometimes used the reflexive form to indicate that the subject acts upon itself in the sense of applying effort, using one’s own means, or assuming employment of oneself rather than someone else. The exact spelling varies with time and region, with early modern orthographies sometimes recording forms like empregase, empregasse, or equivalents depending on the era.

Today, studies of Iberian script and grammar note empregase as part of the larger pattern of reflexive versus non-reflexive verb forms in Romance languages. It is generally discussed in the context of historical conjugation patterns rather than as a living standard. Related terms include emprego (employment), empregado (employee), and empregador (employer).