Brazilian Portuguese Verbs: Conjugation Made Simple (with Tables)

What are the three Portuguese verb groups?

Every Portuguese verb in its base form (the infinitive) ends one of three ways: -ar, -er, or -ir. That ending tells you which conjugation pattern to follow. Once you know the pattern, you can conjugate hundreds of Portuguese verbs without memorizing each one.

In Brazil, you lead with você for "you" instead of tu. You'll also hear a gente ("ah ZHEN-chee") constantly. It means "we" but takes the same ending as ele/ela (he/she). So a gente fala means "we speak," built grammatically like ele fala.

Here are the three model verbs we'll use:

Notice the endings: fal-ar, com-er, abr-ir. Drop them and you're left with the stem (fal-, com-, abr-). You add new endings to that stem. That's the whole trick.

How do you conjugate regular -ar verbs?

The -ar group is the biggest by far, so this pattern pays off the most. Take falar (to speak), drop the -ar, and add the endings below. Most regular -ar verbs follow this exactly.

Want to say "we" the casual Brazilian way? Use a gente fala ("ah ZHEN-chee FAH-lah"). It's everywhere in speech and takes the fala ending, not falamos.

Swap the stem and you've got any -ar verb. Trabalhar (to work) becomes eu trabalho, você trabalha, nós trabalhamos. Same endings, new stem. You just unlocked dozens of verbs.

How do you conjugate regular -er and -ir verbs?

The -er and -ir groups are smaller and nearly identical. Their endings only differ in the nós form. Here's comer (to eat):

Now abrir (to open). Look closely: the only change from comer is comemos versus abrimos.

See the pattern? -er and -ir share -o, -e, -e, -em and split only on -emos versus -imos. Learn one and you nearly know the other.

What are the key irregular Portuguese verbs?

A few verbs refuse to follow the patterns, and they happen to be the ones you'll say most. These four are non-negotiable: ser and estar (both "to be"), ter (to have), and ir (to go). Memorize them as whole tables.

ser ("SEHR"), the permanent "to be":

estar ("es-TAR"), the temporary "to be":

ter ("TEHR"), to have:

ir ("EER"), to go:

Ser vs estar: which "to be" do you use?

Both ser and estar mean "to be," and that trips up every beginner. The simple rule: ser is for what something is (lasting traits), and estar is for how something is right now (current states).

Use ser for identity, origin, profession, and personality. Eu sou brasileiro ("eh-oo soh brah-zee-LAY-roo") means "I am Brazilian" (said by a man; a woman says brasileira, "brah-zee-LAY-rah"). That won't change tomorrow.

Use estar for moods, locations, and temporary conditions. Eu estou cansado ("eh-oo es-TOH kan-SAH-doo") means "I am tired" (a woman says cansada, "kan-SAH-dah"). You'll feel better after a nap.

Quick test: if you could add "right now" to the English, reach for estar. Otherwise, ser.

What are the most common Portuguese verbs to learn first?

Start with the verbs you'll actually say on day one. The four irregulars above plus these regular Portuguese verbs cover a huge share of real conversation. Learn their present-tense eu and você forms first, and you can build basic sentences immediately.

A handy phrase: eu gosto de café ("eh-oo GOHS-too jee kah-FEH") means "I like coffee." Note the de after gostar. In Brazil, gostar almost always pairs with de.