B1 · The present tense · about 4 minutes
Spelling changes in the present
Two of these rules add a letter and two swap one — and none of them is an irregularity.
Do you know this already?
“New to me”: the explanation first, then practice. “Test myself”: 3 short questions – get at least two right and you go straight to the harder exercises.
Words you will need1
They appear in this topic’s examples and exercises and are new at this point on the learning path.
- o cursothe course of study
Missing a word? Look it up in the dictionary
Understand
RememberThe sound decides and the letter follows.
- When
- Before the past
- The past
- Past linked to the present
- The present
- The future
- Completed in the future
The present — What holds at the moment, what is under way, or what is always the case.
- Signal words
- fiquei
- cheguei
- comecei
- conheço
- protejo
The form
How the forms are built
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in Portuguese. The colours show what changes from one form to the next.
stem (regular) person ending ending for tense and person
| I stayed | ficar → fiquei |
| I arrived | chegar → cheguei |
| I began | começar → comecei |
| I know | conhecer → conheço |
| I protect | proteger → protejo |
| I follow | seguir → sigo |
| I arrived | (eu) cheguei |
| you arrived | (tu) chegaste |
| he arrived, you arrived | (ele, ela, você) chegou |
| we arrived | (nós) chegámos |
| you arrived, plural and formal | (vós) chegastes |
| they arrived, you all arrived | (eles, elas, vocês) chegaram |
| I protect | (eu) protejo |
| you protect | (tu) proteges |
| he protects, you protect | (ele, ela, você) protege |
| we protect | (nós) protegemos |
| you protect, plural and formal | (vós) protegeis |
| they protect, you all protect | (eles, elas, vocês) protegem |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
c becomes qu in front of e.
Fiquei em casa todo o dia.I stayed at home all day.
g becomes gu in front of e.
Cheguei tarde outra vez.I arrived late again.
ç becomes c in front of e.
Comecei a trabalhar às oito.I started work at eight.
c becomes ç in front of o.
Não conheço esta rua.I do not know this street.
Example sentences
Cheguei a casa depois da meia-noite.I got home after midnight.
Comecei o curso no mês passado.I started the course last month.
Não conheço ninguém nesta cidade.I do not know anybody in this city.
1 more example sentences
Fique aqui, eu já volto.Wait here, I will be right back.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
None of this is an irregularity and it must not be learnt as one. Cheguei is built exactly like falei: same ending, same stem, and a u inserted only so the g does not go soft in front of the e. Learn it as a form and you have four verbs to memorise; learn it as a spelling rule and you have none, because the rule then tells you what to write for any verb you meet.
Quick check
A warm-up: 2 questions, answered straight away. They do not count towards your progress.
Practise
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Now write it yourself4 sentences on this topic, typed and checked instantly.
Your progress
What your lesson on this topic shows:
The lesson decides this, not a button: passed at 80% on the first try, mastered when you pass it again on another day.
Next on the path: 85 · Pluperfect (mais-que-perfeito)Back to the learning path
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Some verbs look irregular and are not. They change one letter so that the sound can stay the same: ficar gives fique, chegar gives chegue, começar gives comece.
The reason is the spelling system. C sounds like a k in front of a, o, u and like an s in front of e, i; g behaves the same way. English knows this from « cat » against « city » and lives with the consequences; Portuguese refuses to, and moves the spelling instead.
Count what actually happens and the theme shrinks. Two of the rules add a letter to keep a hard sound — qu for c, gu for g — and two swap one to keep a soft sound: ç becomes c before e, and c becomes ç before o. Nothing is ever deleted and no ending is affected.
In the present this is barely visible, because the endings are -a and -o. It shows up in the conjuntivo, in the imperative and in the I-form of the perfeito: cheguei, comecei, fiquei. The -cer and -ger verbs run the same way: conheço, protejo.
The verbs on this page, in every form: ficar · chegar · começar · conhecer · trabalhar · voltar