Portuguese grammar · Beginner (A1)

Present tense of irregular verbs

The present tense of the most common irregular verbs, such as ser, ter, ir, fazer and poder, and verbs that change a vowel in the eu form.

Be, have, go, come

The most common verbs are irregular: their forms don't follow the regular endings. Learn these five first. For and , see the page on , and .

Watch the small differences: (has) and (have), (comes) and (come) sound the same in Brazil and only the circumflex tells them apart in writing. means “we come” but also “we saw”, from .

Verb			/ /		/ /
(to be)
(to be)
(to have)
(to go)
(to come)

Eu vou ao mercado. Você vem comigo?I'm going to the market. Are you coming with me?
Eles têm uma casa na praia.They have a house on the beach.

Do, say, can, want, know, see, give

In most of these verbs the form is the one to learn separately: , , , , , . The other forms are close to the infinitive, but , , and lose the final -e in the form: , , , .

is followed by an infinitive for what you can do or are allowed to do: (May I come in?) means “to know” a fact, and with an infinitive “to know how to”: (I can swim.)

Verb			/ /		/ /
(to do, to make)
(to say)
(to bring)
(can)
(to want)
(to know)
(to see)
(to give)

O que você faz no fim de semana?What do you do at the weekend?
Não posso hoje, mas posso amanhã.I can't today, but I can tomorrow.
Você sabe onde fica o banco?Do you know where the bank is?

Go out, put, read, hear

(to go out, to leave) has short forms, , , , and an accent on . (to put) has the circumflex only in the infinitive, to tell it apart from the preposition . (to read) and have a double e in the plural, written without an accent since the spelling reform: , . (to hear, to listen) changes only in the form: .

Verb			/ /		/ /
(to go out)
(to put)
(to read)
(to hear)

Eu saio de casa às sete.I leave home at seven.
Onde eu ponho as malas?Where do I put the suitcases?
Ela lê muito e ouve música o dia todo.She reads a lot and listens to music all day.

Verbs that change a vowel

Many -ir verbs change the vowel of the stem in the form only. An e becomes i: → , → , → . An o becomes u: → . (to ask for) becomes . (to lose, to miss) is an -er verb that also changes only in the form: , .

A few verbs with u change it to an open o in the and forms instead: (to go up) → , , . The form always keeps the vowel of the infinitive: , , .

Infinitive		/ /	Meaning
			to sleep
			to prefer
			to feel
			to put on, to wear
			to repeat
			to follow, to go on
			to manage, to be able to
			to ask for, to order
			to go up

Eu durmo tarde e acordo cedo.I go to bed late and wake up early.
Prefiro chá, obrigada.I prefer tea, thanks. · said by a woman
Não consigo abrir a porta.I can't open the door.
Sempre peço pão de queijo aqui.I always order cheese bread here.