Present Tense in Portuguese

Present tense / Verbos – Presente do Indicativo

In Portuguese there are 3 different classes of verbs: verbs ending in “ar”, verbs ending in “er”, verbs ending in “ir”. Each class of regular verbs has its own pattern of termination when conjugated. When conjugating regular verbs in Portuguese you just have to preserve the root of the verb and substitute“ar”, “er” or “ir” for the following bold terminations:
Person Amar(to love) Comer(to eat)  Abrir(to open)
Singular  Eu  amo  como abro
 Ele / Ela / Você A gente  ama  come abre
Plural  Nós amamos  comemos  abrimos
 Eles/ Elas/ Vocês amam  comem abrem
Examples: 
  • Eu amo. (I love.)
  • Ela ama. (She loves)
  • Ele ama. (He loves)
  • Você ama. (You love)
  • A gente ama. (We love)
  • Nós amamos. (We love)
  • Eles amam. (They love)
  • Vocês amam. (You love)
Verbs ending in “ir” having the vowel “e” at the second-to-the-last syllable have the root changed when they are conjugated in the Present tense. The vowel “e” is changed for “i” just for the first person“eu”. The other conjugations follow the same pattern that is presented above.
Person  Vestir(to wear)  Mentir(to lie)
Singular Eu  visto minto
 Ele / Ela / Você /   A gente  veste mente
Plural Nós vestimos mentimos
 Eles/ Elas/ Vocês vestem mentem
Examples: 
  • Eu minto. (I lie)
  • Ela mente. (She lies)
  • Ele mente. (He lies)
  • Você mente. (You lie)
  • A gente mente. (We lie)
  • Nós mentimos. (We lie)
  • Eles mentem. (They lie)
  • Vocês mentem. (You lie)
Verbs ending in “ir” having the vowel “o” at the second-to-the-last syllable have the root changed when they are conjugated in the Present tense. The vowel “o” is changed for “u” just for the first person “eu”.
 Person  Dormir(to sleep) Descobrir(to discover)
Singular  Eu durmo  descubro
Ele / Ela / Você /    A gente  dorme descobre
Plural  Nós dormimos  descobrimos
Eles/ Elas/ Vocês  dormem  descobrem
Examples: 
  • Eu durmo cedo. (I sleep early)
  • Ela dorme cedo. (She sleeps early)
  • Ele dorme cedo.(He sleeps early)
  • Você dorme cedo.(You sleep early)
  • A gente dorme cedo.(We sleep early)
  • Nós dormimos cedo.. (We sleep early)
  • Eles dormem cedo.. (They sleep early)
  • Vocês dormem cedo.. (You  sleep early)
Portuguese:Regular verbs Regular verbs have a invariable radical (falar – to speak) and are easy to memorize. Each conjugation follows a different, but regular pattern.

-ar present tense regular verbs

All regular verbs ending in -ar are conjugated the same way. The conjugation is dependent on the subject that the verb is in reference to. Here is an example conjugation for the verb falar:
I speak Eu fal o
You (s,inf) speak Tu fal as
He speaks (also ela, você) Ele fal a
We speak Nós fal amos
You (p) speak Vós fal ais
They speak (also elas, vocês) Eles fal am

-er present tense regular verbs

I eat Eu com o
You (s,inf) eat Tu com es
He eats (also ela, você) Ele com e
We eat Nós com emos
You (p) eat Vós com eis
They eat (also elas, vocês) Eles com em

-ir present tense regular verbs

Regular tense verbs ending in -ir are handled very similarly to -er verbs. The only difference is the conjugation for nós and vós. Here is an example conjugation for the verb partir (to leave):
I leave Eu part o
You (s,inf) leave Tu part es
He leave (also ela, você) Ele part e
We leave Nós part imos
You (p) leave Vós part is
They leave (also elas, vocês) Eles part em
Verbs in Portuguese end in -ar, -er or -ir.  Before a verb is conjugated, it is called the infinitive.  Removing the last two letters gives you the stem of the verb (cantar is to sing, cant– is the stem.)  To conjugate regular verbs in the present tense, add these endings to the stems:  
-ar verbs -er verbs -ir verbs
-o -amos -o -emos -o -imos
-as -ais -es -eis -es -es
-a -am -e -em -e -em
 

Regular verbs:

 
-ar verbs -er verbs -ir verbs
dançar to dance aprender to learn partir to leave
desejar to desire comer to eat imprimir to print
escutar to listen correr to run
estudar to study ler to read
falar to speak vender to sell
praticar to practice beber to drink
tomar to take compreender to understand
viajar to travel
To make sentences negative, simply put não in front of the verb.]]>

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