Portuguese verb tenses: the complete table with examples
Portuguese has more tenses than English, but everyday Brazilian speech keeps returning to six or seven of them. Below are all the indicative and subjunctive tenses in two tables — each formed with falar ("to speak"), with its meaning and the level at which it is usually taught. Then the present tense with its endings, the traps for English speakers and a sensible order to learn them in.
How many tenses does Portuguese have
Traditional grammar counts six simple and four compound tenses in the indicative (indicativo), plus three simple and three compound ones in the subjunctive (subjuntivo). On top of that come the imperative and the non-finite forms: the personal infinitive, the gerund and the participle. That sounds like a lot, but conversation runs on the presente, pretérito perfeito, pretérito imperfeito, the future with ir and a couple of subjunctive forms — the rest you can first learn to recognise in texts.
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Table: the indicative (indicativo)
| Tense | Example | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Presente · A1 | eu falo — I speak | now, usually, soon |
| Pretérito perfeito · A2 | eu falei — I spoke | a finished event |
| Pretérito imperfeito · A2 | eu falava — I used to speak | background, past habit |
| Future with ir · A2 | eu vou falar — I'm going to speak | the future in speech |
| Futuro do presente · B1 | eu falarei — I will speak | the future in writing |
| Futuro do pretérito · B1 | eu falaria — I would speak | conditions, politeness |
| Perfeito composto · B1 | eu tenho falado — I've been speaking | repeated up to now |
| Mais-que-perfeito composto · B1 | eu tinha falado — I had spoken | past before the past |
| Mais-que-perfeito simples · C2 | eu falara | the same, literary |
Compound tenses use ter in the right tense plus the participle: tenho falado, tinha falado, terei falado, teria falado. Books also use haver: havia falado.
Table: the subjunctive and other forms
| Form | Example | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Presente do subjuntivo · B1 | que eu fale | wishes, doubt, evaluation |
| Imperfeito do subjuntivo · B1 | se eu falasse | unreal conditions |
| Futuro do subjuntivo · B1 | quando eu falar | the future after quando, se |
| Imperativo · A2 | fala! / fale! | requests, commands |
| Infinitivo pessoal · B1 | para nós falarmos | an infinitive with a subject |
| Gerúndio · A2 | falando | ongoing action: estou falando |
| Particípio · B1 | falado | compound tenses, passive |
Compound subjunctive forms: que eu tenha falado, se eu tivesse falado, quando eu tiver falado. The most useful is tivesse for the unreal past: Se eu tivesse sabido, teria vindo — "If I had known, I would have come."
Presente: the Portuguese present tense
Regular verbs fall into three groups by their infinitive ending: -ar, -er, -ir. In everyday Brazilian speech four forms are enough: eu, você (also ele, ela, a gente), nós, vocês (also eles, elas).
| Person | falar | comer | abrir |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | falo | como | abro |
| você, ele, ela | fala | come | abre |
| nós | falamos | comemos | abrimos |
| vocês, eles, elas | falam | comem | abrem |
The presente covers habits and facts: Eu trabalho no centro — "I work downtown." It also often expresses the near future: Amanhã eu viajo para São Paulo — "Tomorrow I'm going to São Paulo." For something happening right now, Brazilians usually say estar + gerund: Agora eu estou trabalhando — "I'm working now." O que você faz? usually means "What do you do (for a living)?", not "What are you doing?"
The most frequent verbs are irregular, so learn them early: ser — sou, é, somos, são; estar — estou, está, estamos, estão; ter — tenho, tem, temos, têm; ir — vou, vai, vamos, vão; fazer — faço, faz, fazemos, fazem; poder — posso, pode, podemos, podem. Full tables are in the guide to Portuguese verb conjugation, and ser versus estar has its own guide.
Past tenses: perfeito, imperfeito and tenho falado
The pretérito perfeito reports a completed event: Ontem eu falei com ela — "I talked to her yesterday." Endings: falei, falou, falamos, falaram; comi, comeu, comemos, comeram; abri, abriu, abrimos, abriram. The pretérito imperfeito paints the background or a habit: Quando eu era criança, eu falava pouco — "As a child, I didn't talk much." Endings: falava, falávamos, falavam; comia, comíamos, comiam; abria, abríamos, abriam. More examples are in the guide to Portuguese past tenses.
The biggest trap for English speakers is tenho falado. It is not the English present perfect "I have spoken". It means "I have been speaking (lately, repeatedly)": Tenho estudado muito — "I've been studying a lot lately." For a single completed action use the perfeito: Já falei com ele — "I've already talked to him."
The mais-que-perfeito places one past event before another: Quando cheguei, o filme já tinha começado — "When I arrived, the film had already started."
The future: vou falar, falarei and falaria
In conversation the future is almost always ir + infinitive: Vou viajar amanhã — "I'm going to travel tomorrow." The simple future (falarei, falará, falaremos, falarão) appears in the news, documents and formal speech, and in conversation mostly as a guess: Será que vai chover? — "I wonder if it's going to rain."
The futuro do pretérito (falaria, falaríamos, falariam) is the English "would": Eu falaria com ele — "I would talk to him." It also softens requests: Você poderia me ajudar? — "Could you help me?"; Eu gostaria de um café — "I'd like a coffee." In speech the imperfeito often replaces it: Se eu tivesse dinheiro, eu comprava um carro — "If I had money, I'd buy a car."
Only three verbs have irregular future and conditional stems: fazer — farei, faria; dizer — direi, diria; trazer — trarei, traria.
The subjunctive: three tenses
The presente do subjuntivo follows expressions of wishing, doubt and evaluation: Espero que você goste — "I hope you like it"; Talvez ele venha — "Maybe he'll come." It is built from the eu form of the presente: falo → fale, como → coma, faço → faça. Learn the exceptions: ser — seja, estar — esteja, ir — vá, ter — tenha, saber — saiba, querer — queira, dar — dê.
The imperfeito do subjuntivo expresses unreal conditions: Se eu falasse português, morava no Brasil — "If I spoke Portuguese, I'd live in Brazil." Its stem comes from the eles form of the perfeito: falaram → falasse, fizeram → fizesse, tiveram → tivesse, foram → fosse.
The futuro do subjuntivo has no English counterpart. After quando, se, assim que and enquanto referring to the future, Portuguese needs a special form: Quando você chegar, me liga — "When you arrive, call me"; Se eu puder, eu vou — "If I can, I'll go." For regular verbs it looks like the infinitive (falar, comer, abrir); irregular verbs take the eles form of the perfeito minus -am: fizeram → fizer, tiveram → tiver, foram → for, puderam → puder. See the guide to the Portuguese subjunctive and the one on the personal infinitive, which is easy to confuse with it.
The imperative, gerund and participle
In everyday Brazilian speech the affirmative imperative usually sounds like the presente: Fala comigo! Vem cá! Olha! Writing and polite speech use the subjunctive form: Fale comigo. Venha cá. The standard negative is Não fale; in conversation you'll often hear Não fala.
The gerund is formed from the infinitive stem: falando, comendo, abrindo. With estar it expresses an ongoing action: Estou comendo — "I'm eating." Details are in the guide to the Brazilian gerund.
Regular participles are falado and comido; the irregular ones are few but frequent: fazer — feito, dizer — dito, escrever — escrito, abrir — aberto, ver — visto, pôr — posto, vir — vindo. The participle builds compound tenses and the passive: A casa foi construída em 1950 — "The house was built in 1950."
In which order to learn the tenses
- Presente and estar + gerund — from week one.
- The future with ir: vou + infinitive.
- Pretérito perfeito: what happened.
- Pretérito imperfeito: background and past habits.
- Futuro do pretérito for polite requests and conditions.
- Presente do subjuntivo after espero que, quero que, talvez.
- Futuro and imperfeito do subjuntivo: quando você chegar, se eu pudesse.
- Mais-que-perfeito and the simple future — recognise them in texts first.
Don't memorise every ending from the tables at once: practise one tense in short phrases until the form comes automatically, then add the next. The mini-quiz below is on the present tense — the right place to start.
Listen to words from this topic
- falarto speak, to talk[faˈlaʁ]
- comerto eat[koˈmeʁ]
- abrirto open[aˈbɾiʁ]
- serto be (permanent, inherent)[ˈseʁ]
- estarto be (temporary state, location)[isˈtaʁ]
- terto have[ˈteʁ]
- irto go[ˈiʁ]
- fazerto do, to make[faˈzeʁ]
Start with the present tense
Present-tense exercises with an explanation for every answer — then move on to past and future tenses in the grammar section.