Portuguese Verb Conjugation: A Comprehensive Guide For Beginners

We’re thrilled to embark on this language adventure together and equip you with the tools to confidently tackle Portuguese verbs like a pro.

You might be wondering, “Why is verb conjugation so important?” Well, mastering verb conjugation allows you to express actions, desires, and ideas in different contexts, making your conversations more vibrant and engaging.

In this pretty thorough guide, I’ll cover everything you need to know to start your verb conjugation journey, from forms of address to the key differences between regular and irregular verbs. 

Vamos lá?

A guide on Portuguese Verb Conjugation

Persons and forms of address

In Portuguese, just like in English, different pronouns refer to different people when we’re talking or writing. These pronouns are based on the person’s role in the conversation and can also change depending on whether we’re talking to one person or a group.

Here are the main pronouns in Portuguese. I’ll explain each one as we go:

Eu — This means “I” in English, as in Eu gosto de comer pizza (“I like eating pizza.”)

Tu — This means “you” in English. It’s used when talking to someone informally, like a friend or a family member. It’s not as commonly used in Brazil, and most Brazilians will use você instead. In Portugal, tu is more commonly used. For example, Tu és muito simpático (“You are very nice.”)

Ele/Ela – These mean “he” and “she” in English, respectively. You use ele when talking about a male person or thing (remember that all nouns are gendered in Portuguese) and ela when talking about a female person or thing. For instance, Ele trabalha em um escritório (“He works in an office”) and Ela ama dançar. (“She loves to dance.”)

Nós — This means “we” in English, as in Nós vamos ao cinema amanhã (“We are going to the movies tomorrow.”)

Vós — This is the plural form of “you”, but it’s rarely used in Brazil and increasingly less in Portugal. In most cases, you’ll use vocês instead.

Vocês — This also means “you” in English, but it’s used when talking to a group of people; it’s similar to “you guys” or “y’all” in some English dialects. For example, Vocês são meus melhores amigos (“You guys are my best friends.”)

Eles/elas — These mean “they” in English. You use eles when talking about a group of men or male things and elas when talking about a group of women or female things. For example, Eles estão sempre viajando (“They are always traveling”) and Elas estudam na mesma escola (“They study at the same school.”)

Portuguese verb tenses: an outline

Verbs are like action words; they tell us what someone or something is doing. In Portuguese, verbs can change their form to indicate different moods and tenses. 

In layman’s terms, moods show the attitude of the speaker toward the action, while tenses show when the action is happening.

There are three main moods in Portuguese: indicative, subjunctive, and imperative.

Indicative Mood

This is the most common mood, and it’s used to state facts, express opinions, or talk about something real. For example:

• Ela saiu cedo (“She left early”) — stating a fact
• Eu acredito em você (“I believe in you”) — expressing an opinion

Subjunctive Mood

The Subjunctive, which has all but fallen out of use in English, is used to express doubt, possibility, or uncertainty. It often comes after certain conjunctions such as que (“that”).

• Espero que ele venha amanhã (I hope he comes tomorrow.) — expressing doubt or possibility
• Seria bom se você estudasse para o exame (It’d be good if you studied for the exam) — expressing necessity or suggestion

Imperative Mood

This mood is used to give commands or make requests. For example:

• Fale mais devagar (“Speak more slowly”) — giving a command
• Venha aqui, por favor (“Come here, please”) — making a request

Now, let’s talk about tenses. Here are some common tenses in Portuguese:

Simple Present (Presente do Indicativo)

It’s used to talk about actions happening now or things that are generally true. For example:

• Eu falo inglês (“I speak English”) — a fact that is true in general
• Ela está correndo (“She is running”) — an action happening now

Past Tenses

There are a few past tenses in Portuguese, but let’s focus on the Pretérito Perfeito and Pretérito Imperfeito, which are both roughly equivalent to English’s Simple Past depending on the context.

Pretérito Perfeito

It’s used to talk about completed actions in the past. For example:

• Eu comi macarrão ontem (“I ate pasta yesterday”) — a specific action that happened and is completed

Pretérito Imperfeito

It’s used to talk about actions that were ongoing or habitual in the past. For instance:

• Quando eu era criança, brincava no parque todos os dias (“When I was a child, I used to play in the park every day”) — a habitual action in the past

Simple Future (Futuro do Presente)

It’s used to talk about actions that will happen in the future. For example:

• Amanhã, nós viajaremos para Portugal (“Tomorrow, we will travel to Portugal”)

Conditional (Futuro do Pretérito) 

It’s used to talk about hypothetical or possible actions in the future, but only if certain conditions are met, as in

• Eles viajariam para Paris se tivessem dinheiro (“They would travel to Paris if they had money”)

Keep in mind that learning verb moods and tenses takes practice, but don’t get overwhelmed. Start with the indicative mood and present tense, as they are the most common and useful for daily conversations. As you progress, you can explore the other tenses and moods.

Verb ending groups

Phew! Next, let’s dive into the three basic verb groups in Portuguese: -ar, –er, and -ir, known respectively as the first, second, and third “conjugations” (conjugações). These endings are like the DNA of verbs, telling us how they behave in different situations.

It’s handy to know these verb groups because once you know them, you can easily recognize how most regular verbs in Portuguese will behave. Practice using different verbs in sentences, and you’ll get the hang of it in no time!

-ar verbs

These are super common in Portuguese. Verbs like amar (“to love”), cantar (“to sing”), dançar (“to speak”), and falar (“to speak”) belong to this group.

When you want to use them in a sentence, you simply drop the -ar and add the appropriate endings for different subjects, i.e. eu, tu, ele/ela/você, nós, vós, and eles/elas/vocês.

For example:

• Ele amava a música (“He used to love music”)
• Vocês cantarão no coral (“You all will sing in the choir”)
• Tu danças bem (“You dance well”)
• Nós falamos com o professor (“We talk/talked to the teacher”)

-er verbs

These are another common group. Verbs like aprender (“to learn”), beber (“to drink”), comer (“to eat”), and ler (“to read”) are in this category. Just like with -ar verbs, you drop the -er and add the right endings for different subjects.

For example:

• Nós aprendemos muito (“We learn/learned a lot”)
• Ela bebeu água (“She drank water”)
• Eu não comia carne antes (“I didn’t use to eat meat before”)
• Eles estão lendo no parque (“They are reading in the park”)

-ir verbs

These are the last and least common group. Verbs like abrir (“to open”), cair (“to fall”), dormir (“to sleep”), and partir (“to leave”) belong here. Again, drop the -ir and use the proper endings based on the subject.

For example:

• Ela abrirá a porta (“She will open the door”)
• Eles caíram da cama (“They fell off the bed”)
• Nós dormíamos cedo (“We used to sleep early”)
• Eu parto amanhã (“I leave tomorrow”)

Portuguese conjugation chart for regular verbs

Here, I’ll focus on the Simple Present, because that’s what you’ll be learning first anyway. But rest assured that the regularness of these verbs applies across the board (or chart).

First group (-ar): Amar (“to love”)	Second group (-er): Viver (“to live”)	Third group (-ir): Abrir (“to open”)
Eu amo	Eu vivo	Eu abro
Tu amas	Tu vives	Tu abres
Ele/Ela/Você ama	Ele/Ela/Você vive	Ele/Ela/Você abre
Nós amamos	Nós vivemos	Nós abrimos
Vós amais	Vós viveis	Vós abris
Eles amam	Eles vivem	Eles abrem

Verbs conjugated like amar: ajudar (“to help”), cantar (“to sing”), chorar (“to cry”), falar (“to speak”), estudar (“to study”), gostar (“to like”), trabalhar (“to work”), usar (“to use”)

Verbs conjugated like viver: aprender (“to learn”), beber (“to drink”), comer (“to eat”), correr (“to run”), entender (“to understand”), escolher (“to choose”), escrever (“to write”), morrer (“to die”)

Verbs conjugated like abrir: assistir (“to watch” or “to assist”), confundir (“to confuse”), decidir (“to decide”), desistir (“to give up”), dividir (“to split”), fingir (“to pretend”), insistir (“to insist”), partir (“to leave” or “to split”)

Knowing your way around irregular verbs

Irregular verbs might sound a bit intimidating, but once you get the hang of them, they’re not that bad. In Portuguese, we have some frequently used verbs that don’t follow the regular -ar, -er, or -ir patterns. 

For example, ser (“to be”) and ir (“to go”) are highly irregular verbs. They have their own unique conjugations that you need to memorize. But don’t worry, they appear a lot in everyday conversation, so you’ll get used to them quickly.

Luckily, many irregular verbs in Portuguese follow certain patterns, which makes it easier to remember their conjugations. 

For instance, verbs ending in “ver” (to see), such as prever (“to predict”) and rever (“to review”) or “ter” (to have) such as conter (“to contain”) and obter (“to obtain”) follow the same pattern as the verb they derive from.

Other than that, a few verbs in Portuguese are defective, which means they don’t have certain forms. Common examples include abolir (“to abolish”), colorir (“to color”), and demolir (“to demolish”), none of which can be conjugated in the first person of the Simple Present. 

Most common Portuguese verbs

All of the 10 most common Portuguese verbs, as I’ll show below with an asterisk (*), are irregular in one or more persons—and this accounts for the Simple Present alone.

That means you’ll have to practice as hard as you can to get them right. Don’t fret too much about it and you’ll get there sooner than you think!

Verb	Conjugation (Simple Present)
Ser (“to be”, permanent)	Eu sou * Tu és * Ele/Ela/Você é * Nós somos * Vós sois * Eles/Elas/Vocês são *
Estar (“to be”, temporary)	Eu estou * Tu estás * Ele/Ela/Você está * Nós estamos Vós estais Eles/Elas/Vocês estão *
Ter (“to have”)	Eu tenho * Tu tens * Ele/Ela/Você tem * Nós temos Vós tendes * Eles/Elas/Vocês têm *
Fazer (“to do” or “to make”)	Eu faço * Tu fazes Ele/Ela/Você faz * Nós fazemos Vós fazeis Eles/Elas/Vocês fazem
Ir (“to go”)	Eu vou * Tu vais * Ele/Ela/Você vai * Nós vamos * Vós ides * Eles/Elas/Vocês vão *
Ver (“to see”)	Eu vejo * Tu vês * Ele/Ela/Você vê * Nós vemos Vós vedes * Eles/Elas/Vocês veem *
Poder (“can” or “to be able to”)	Eu posso * Tu podes Ele/Ela/Você pode Nós podemos Vós podeis Eles/Elas/Vocês podem
Dar (“to give”)	Eu dou * Tu dás * Ele/Ela/Você dá * Nós damos Vós dais Eles/Elas/Vocês dão *
Saber (“to know”)	Eu sei * Tu sabes Ele/Ela/Você sabe Nós sabemos Vós sabeis Eles/Elas/Vocês sabem
Querer (“to want”)	Eu quero Tu queres Ele/Ela/Você quer * Nós queremos Vós quereis Eles/Elas/Vocês querem

Final thoughts

I hope this journey has hyped you up to dive head-first into the rich world of Portuguese verbs. From mastering verb tenses and exploring regular and irregular verbs, you’ve now gained a solid foundation in this essential aspect of the Portuguese language. 

Whether you’re planning to explore Portugal or dreaming of a Brazilian vacay—or simply have a passion for languages—learning Portuguese verb conjugation is a key step on your language-learning adventure.

And if you’re having a hard time knowing your tu from your vós, don’t think twice before getting one or a couple of Portuguese grammar books to get this over with asap.