Present Continuous Tense in Portuguese
The Present Progressive or Continual Present tense is very useful and easy to form in Portuguese. This tense represent ongoing action in the present; its counterpart in English is the construction [subject] is [verb] – ing for example: I am running
To form this tense in Portuguese, all you need to do is employ the verb
estar and the
gerund of the verb you wish to use. One forms the gerund in Portuguese by dropping the ending (-ar, -er, -ir) and adding
-ando, -endo, -indo respectively.
Some examples:
Estou
falando;
I am speaking
Ele está
indo;
He is going
O presidente está
mandando;
The president is ordering
A familia está
despedindo;
The family is saying goodbye
Ela está
treinando;
She is training
Você está
fazendo;
You are doing
This form is one where the continental (European) form is different from the Brazilian. In Portugal, the
presente contínuo is comprised of the verb
estar plus
a and the
infinitive. An example would be: Você está
a escrever?
Are you writing.
This difference is one of the first things to jump out at a student of Brazilian Portuguese when hearing continental Portuguese for the first time.
Present Progressive (Present Continuous) – refers to an action that is happening or “going on” right now.
Example:
- I am studying now – Eu estou estudando agora.
Observe that in English to compose that structure, was used the person
I,
verb to be conjugated according to the person –
“I am” and the action that is happening with the suffix
“ing” added to the verb.
Forming this kind of structure in Portuguese is easy and very similar to English. You just need the
person, conjugate in the present tense
verb estar according to the person that you want to refer, and finally use the
action that is going on right now.
There are 3 equivalents for “ing” in Portuguese. Each equivalent depends on the termination of the verb in its infinitive form.
| Type of verbs |
Equivalent to “ing” in Portuguese |
| Verbs ending in ar |
ANDO |
| Verbs ending in er |
ENDO |
| Verbs ending in ir |
INDO |
In the chart below, observe how to add the suffix to the verb. You must drop the termination of the verb and add the suffixes
“ando”, “endo” and
“indo”
| Infinitive for |
Adding the right suffix |
| Falar (to speak) |
falANDO (speaking) |
| Comer (to eat) |
comENDO (eating) |
| Dormir (to sleep) |
dormINDO (sleeping) |
Now observe how to form the Present Progressive in Portuguese:
| Structure |
Person |
Verb estar (to be) conjugated |
Action that is happening right now with the appropriate suffix |
| English |
She |
is |
eating |
| Portuguese |
Ela |
está |
comendo |
Present Progressive (Present Continuous) – refers to an action that is happening or “going on” right now.
Example:
- I am studying now – Eu estou estudando agora.
Observe that in English to compose that structure, was used the person
I,
verb to be conjugated according to the person –
“I am” and the action that is happening with the suffix
“ing” added to the verb.
Forming this kind of structure in Portuguese is easy and very similar to English. You just need the
person, conjugate in the present tense
verb estar according to the person that you want to refer, and finally use the
action that is going on right now.
| Structure |
Person |
Verb estar (to be) conjugated |
Action that is happening right now with the appropriate suffix |
| English |
She |
is |
eating |
| Portuguese |
Ela |
está |
comendo |
Examples:
- Eu estou comendo. – I’m eating.
- Ela está comendo. – She is eating.
- Ele está comendo. – He is eating.
- Você está comendo. – You are eating
- A gente está comendo. – We are eating.
- Nós estamos comendo. – We are eating.
- Elas estão comendo. – They are eating.
This form is one where the continental (European) form is different from the Brazilian. In Portugal, the
presente contínuo is comprised of the verb
estar plus
a and the
infinitive. An example would be: Você está
a escrever?
Are you writing.
This difference is one of the first things to jump out at a student of Brazilian Portuguese when hearing continental Portuguese for the first time.
| Present Continuous of the regular verb trabalhar (to work) in European Portuguese |
| estou a trabalhar |
estamos a trablahar |
| estás a trabalhar |
estais a trabalhar |
| está a trabalhar |
estão a trabalhar |
Because the present continuous uses ‘estar’ + ‘a’ + the infinitive, the conjugations are the same for all verbs (regular and irregular).
Brazilians use the present participle instead of ‘a’ + infinitive. More on participles later.
| Present Continuous of the regular verb trabalhar (to work) in Brazilian Portuguese |
| estou trabalhando |
estamos trabalhando |
| estás trabalhando |
estais trabalhando |
| está trabalhando |
estão trabalhando |
Present Progressive Conjugation
In English the present progressive is formed adding –ing to the verb.
In Portuguese you do this:
- Drop the final R of the infinitive form of the verb
- Add: ndo
You do this for every single verb in Portuguese. There are no irregular verbs in the present progressive.
Examples:
| Infinitive |
Present Progressive |
| Falar (to speak, to talk) |
Falando |
| Aprender (to learn) |
Aprendendo |
| Comer (to eat) |
Comendo |
| Fazer (to do, to make) |
Fazendo |
| Ver (to see) |
Vendo |
| Ir (to go) |
Indo |
In other words, you have the following terminations in the present progressive:
- Verbs that end in AR: ando
- Verbs that end in ER: endo
- Verbs that end in IR: indo
Easy, right?
2. Present Progressive Structure
The present progressive structure is very similar in English and in Portuguese. What you need to know is that you use the verb
Estar as auxiliary verb in Portuguese. Thus you need to conjugate the verb
Estar in the present tense.
| Verb Estar – Present Tense Indicative |
| Eu estou |
| Você/Ele/Ela está |
| A gente está |
| Nós estamos |
| Vocês/Eles/Elas estão |
For example, the questions in the lesson introduction are:
- Estou saindo agora. Chego em 20 minutos. = I’m leaving now. I will be there in 20 minutes.
- O que está acontecendo? = What is happening?
You will see several other examples along the lesson.
3. How to Sound Brazilian
In spoken Brazilian Portuguese we very rarely say the verb
Estar as it is. We shorten it by dropping the first syllable (es).
You will also see this short form in informal writing such as text messages and Facebook posts.
So in spoken Brazilian Portuguese, the questions above would be spoken like this:
- Tô saindo agora. = I’m leaving now.
- O que tá acontecendo? = What is happening?
I will show you both the regular form and the colloquial, spoken form for the examples that I give you along the lesson.
[Tweet “Learn this tip on how to speak like a Brazilian”]
4. When to Use the Present Progressive: Learn from Examples
In the examples below, I will use the verb
Estar in its regular form and give you in parentheses how we would say it in spoken Brazilian Portuguese. You do not use both together, but one or another.
We use the present progressive to:
Express actions that are in progress at the moment of speaking
Examples:
- O que você está (tá) comendo? = What are you eating?
- Eles estão (tão) conversando sobre o novo negócio. = They are talking about the new business.
- Está (tá) rindo de quê? = What are you laughing at?
- Está (tá) chovendo. = It’s raining.
Eles estão conversando sobre o novo negócio.
Talk about longer actions that are in progress even though you may not be doing them right now
- Joana está (tá) estudando para o vestibular.= Joana is studying for the vestibular exam.
- A gente está (tá) juntando dinheiro para ir ao Brasil. = We are saving money to go to Brazil.
- Estou (tô) lendo o livro “A Graça da Coisa”, da Martha Medeiros. Estou (tô) adorando! = I am reading Martha Medeiro’s book “A Graça da Coisa”. I am loving it.
Express that something happens repeatedly
- Bia está (tá) sempre reclamando de tudo. = Bia is always complaining about everything.
- Ana é muito simpática. Ela está (tá) sempre sorrindo. = Ana is very friendly. She is always smiling.
- Felipe está (tá) sempre perdendo o telefone. = Felipe is always losing his phone.
In these sentences we use adverbs of frequency such as: sempre, constantemente, o tempo todo. We usually place these words between the verb
Estar and the verb that is in the present progressive.
Talk about trends
- Hoje as pessoas estão usando principalmente o telefone para fazer compras pela internet. = Today people are mainly using their phones to shop online.
- As pessoas estão cada vez mais se interessando por aprender línguas. = People are getting more and more interested in learning languages.
In these sentences, it is common to use expressions such as “more and more” and “less and less”.
- How to Say More and More and Less and Less in Portugueset’s Different in Portugal
In European Portuguese you form the present progressive in a different way:
- Verb Estar in the present tense + a + infinitive of main verb
For ex:
| Brazil |
Portugal |
| Estou estudando. |
Estou a estudar. |
| Estamos conversando. |
Estamos a conversar. |
6. Useful bonus phrase
Say you are watching TV. Your roommate calls from the kitchen asking for help. You answer, as you get up:
See the difference? In English we’d say: “I’m coming.” In Portuguese we say: I’m going.]]>
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.
Examples: