Present Tense Verbs
Present Tense Verbs
Regular Portuguese verbs fall into three families by their infinitive ending — -ar, -er, -ir — and once you learn one pattern, dozens of verbs immediately become usable.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Three verb families, three sets of endings
falar (to speak), comer (to eat), abrir (to open)
to speak, to eat, to open
An infinitive's last two letters tell you which conjugation pattern it follows: -ar verbs (the largest group, like falar), -er verbs (like comer), and -ir verbs (like abrir) each take their own set of six endings. Strip the -ar/-er/-ir and add the matching ending for each person — falo (I speak), falas (you speak), fala (he/she speaks), and so on.
Endings mark the person — pronouns are often dropped
(Eu) falo português.
I speak Portuguese.
Since falo can only mean "I speak" and falamos can only mean "we speak", the subject pronoun eu/nós is frequently left out in everyday speech — much like the earlier pronouns lesson noted for identifying yourself with sou. Pronouns resurface mainly for emphasis or to avoid ambiguity, particularly between você/ele/ela, which share the same verb form.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- I speak
- English
- you speak
- English
- he/she speaks
- English
- we speak
- English
- they speak
- English
- I eat
- English
- he/she eats
- English
- I open
- English
- he/she opens
- English
- I write
- English
- he/she writes