Portuguese verbs
The verb carries most of what a sentence does: who, when, whether it is done or still going on. Here you will find the grammar around it, the verbs that do not follow the rules, and practice.
Where to go from here
How a verb changes its form is covered by the grammar topics below. When to use which form is the question of the tenses, and that has a page of its own. The verbs you simply have to know one by one have one too.
The 31 grammar topics around the verb
Each with an explanation, a form table, example sentences and exercises of its own.
A1Going to: ir + infinitiveGoing to, minus the to.B1Simple future (futuro simples)The future you would only ever write.B1Conditional (condicional)« Would » does four jobs in English; this form takes two of them.B2The future for guesses« Onde estarão as chaves? » is a question English cannot ask this way.C1Mesoclisis: dar-lhe-eiA pronoun wedged into the middle of the verb — English has nothing remotely like it.A2Present for the futureEnglish splits this between two presents; Portuguese has one.B1Choosing a future formThe form nearest your grammar book is the one you will use least.B1The future after quando and seEnglish forbids a future after « when »; Portuguese demands a tense of its own.B2Future perfect (futuro composto)Two jobs: what will be done by Friday, and what probably happened yesterday.A1poder and querer: can, wantThese conjugate all the way through; « can » cannot even manage a participle.A2The three ways of saying « must »« Have to », « must » and « need » — the same three, cut along a different line.A2To know: saber or conhecerAnd in the past they stop meaning know and start meaning found out and met.B2Modals in the past« Wouldn't » means refused in English too — and here it is a tense.B1Mustn't and needn'tThe two halves differ by a preposition: não tens de against não podes.B1Guessing with deverDuty or guess is decided by the word after it, not by the verb.A2Asking politelyWhere English reaches for « would », this reaches for a past tense.B1Advising and recommendingThree weights of advice, and the heaviest is already a reproach.C1Rules and signs« No smoking » is a gerund; here the sign takes an infinitive.B1The passive with serThe participle agrees like an adjective, which English participles never do.B1The passive with seThis is the one you will actually hear — and it cannot name who did it.B1estar + participle: the stateAfter estar it is simply an adjective — you can put « very » in front of it.B1Third person plural as passive« I was told » cannot be built here; « they told me » stands in its place.A2The participle: falado, feito, escrito-ado and -ido — and a good dozen verbs that do it differently.A2Infinitive without preposition« Can » is three different verbs here.B1Verb phrases: voltar a, andar a« Again » and « these days » are not words here — they are verbs.B1Verb + a + infinitive« Going to » is here just going, with nothing in between.B1Verb + de + infinitive« I have just arrived » is a verb here, not an adverb.B2mandar and deixar + infinitive« Let » and « leave » are one verb here.B1Verbs that take a, de and emOne verb, three continuations — and « to give up » is none of them.B1Adjective + infinitive« Something to drink » picks its own preposition, and « to » does not say which.B1estar a and the gerúndioYou already make this difference; here it is built two different ways.
Practise 1107 verbs
The verbs from the core vocabulary, across all the topic lists.