INLINGUA PORTO

VERBS - NOTES

VERBS ESSENTIALS

Unlike in English where "a verb is a verb" and it hardly ever changes (eg I can, you can, he can, she can, it can, we can, you can, they can) in Portuguese the verb changes all the time depending on whether it is I, you, he, we etc.
In fact the verb changes in 5 different ways according to the subject:

English	Portuguese
1) I 2) You (familiar) 3) He / she / it / you (formal) 4) We 5) You (plural - familiar + formal) They	1) Eu 2) Tu (very rare in Brasil) 3) Ele, ela, o senhor/a senhora 4) Nós 5) Vocês / os senhores / as senhoras Eles / elas

Notice that "you plural" and "they" always have the same verb endings in Portuguese which is why you will usually find lists of Portuguese verbs given in 5 forms rather than 6.

As a consequence of this people in Portuguese often omit the subject pronoun. In other words they say "can" (or eat, have, drink, like etc) instead of "we can" (or "they eat", "I have", "she drinks", "you like" etc) because in Portuguese it is superfluous information. You can already tell the difference who is doing the eating, having, doing, drinking and liking etc. just from the verb ending

VERBS: THE GOOD NEWS
99.9% of verbs in Portuguese are regular. This means that they conform to one of three standard formulas: the "AR" verbs the "ER" verbs and the "IR" verbs (so called because this is how the base form - the infinitive - ends. Eg falar (to speak) comer (to eat) and abrir (to open). So once you've learnt the formula for these standard verbs you can confidently use the thousands of other ones that are exactly the same.
And don't worry that there are three standard formulas. There's not much difference between them!

VERBS: THE NOT SO GOOD NEWS
The remaining 0.1% of verbs that don't conform to the standard formulas, the irregular verbs, include some of the most common and most important verbs in the language: eg to have, to go, to say/tell, to do, to be able to, to want, to read, to hear/listen to, to put, to know, to bring, to see, to come. Try speaking a language without these verbs and, to be honest, you won't get far!

VERBS : THE EVEN WORSE NEWS
Probably the world's most common verb - "to be" - has two entirely different forms in Portuguese: "Ser" and "Estar" (pronounced "shtar"). This is because the Portuguese differentiate between a "to be" that is always the case (eg I am English") and a "to be" that is temporarily so (eg I am here).
Although it's a little complicated it does give an interesting nuance to the language. Consider the following example:

Ela é bonita. She is beautiful. (using the verb "ser")
Ela está bonita. She's looking beautiful today. (Using the verb "estar").

PRESENT TENSES
Just like in English there are two types of present tenses. The first (present simple) refers to things that you do habitually. (Eg I sing in the bath. He listens to the radio). The second (the present continuous) refers to things happening right now. (eg I'm singing in the bath / He's listening to the radio). The formation of the present continuous differs in European/African Portuguese and in Brazilian Portuguese.

European/African Portuguese
Use the appropriate present tense form of the verb to be ("estar") and add "a" + the main verb in the infinitive:

Example:
I am speaking = Estou a falar
He is opening = Está a abrir.

Brazilian Portuguese
Use the appropriate present tense form of the verb to be (estar) as above and add the verb with the final "r" omitted and with ending "ndo".

Example
I am speaking = estou falando
he is opening = está abrindo

You will notice that the Brazilian version is more similar to the English.

PAST TENSES (Past Simple + Imperfect)
There are two principal types of past tenses: the "Past Simple" and the "Imperfect". The Past Simple represents no difficulty to English speakers. Like in English you use it to express a completed action that has taken place in the past.
Example:
The meeting finished at 2pm = A reunião terminou às 14.00.

The Imperfect is a little more difficult for us English speakers to get to grips with. It is used to express what was going on regularly over a period of time in the past. It is often (though not always) translated by "used to … + verb" or "would + verb". When it is it is easy to translate into Portuguese:

- Every Wednesday we used to go for a walk. (imperfect tense is used).
- Every Wednesday we would go for a walk. (imperfect tense is used).

However in English we can also say "Every Wednesday we went for a walk." using the Past Simple - "went".
In Portuguese using the Past Simple in the sentence above is wrong. You have to use the Imperfect.

FUTURE TENSES
The best future to learn is the "going to" form. Use the present simple of the verb "ir" (to go) and add your main verb after it.

It's going to rain = Vai chover. (Notice that the ""it" is omitted)
I'm going to make a sandwich = Vou fazer uma sande. (Notice that the "I" is omitted).
I'll get it (the phone) = Vou atender. (notice that the "I"is omitted).
Portugal will win the World Cup = Portugal vai ganhar o mundial.

The Portuguese very often use the present simple tense as well to denote the future, especially for the not too distant future.

Compare the following sentence:
English version: I'll come back tomorrow.
Portuguese version: Volto amanhã. (translation: I come back tomorrow)
Notice that the "I" is omitted (unnecessary) and that the verb is in the present tense.

However you can always use the "going to" form instead:

English version: I'll come back tomorrow.
Portuguese version: Vou voltar amanhã. (translation: I'm going to come back tomorrow)

There is also a formal future form which is used primarily in written Portuguese. It's worth knowing about because it comes up all the time when you're reading. In this future you add the endings -ei, -ás, -á, -emos and -ão to the base form (infinitive) of the verb.

NEGATIVES
Negatives (eg I don't speak English, It's not here etc) are easy in Portuguese. Just add the word "não" before the verb.
percebo - I understand não percebo - I don't understand
gosto deste carro = I like this car não gosto deste carro = I don't like this ice cream
está aqui - it's here não está aqui = it's not here

Anything / anybody: double negatives
Unlike English the Portuguese use double negatives all the time. This means that when you use the words "anything" or "anybody /anyone" in negative sentences in English (eg I don't know anybody here) the Portuguese use "nada" or "ninguém" (literally nothing or nobody).

Examples
there's nobody here = não está ninguém aqui
we didn't buy anything = não comprámos nada
we don't know anything about her = não sabemos nada dela