Brazilian Portuguese Verb Tenses Explained Simply
Every tense you actually need, what it does, when to use it, and how Brazilians really use it — in plain language, with examples you can copy.
Dra. Carla Regiane Dias
PhD in Portuguese Philology · University of São Paulo
Verb tenses are where most Portuguese learners panic. You open a grammar book, you see a wall of conjugation tables — dozens of forms, six tenses, three moods, irregular verbs — and something in your brain shuts down.
You don't need most of it to speak Portuguese well.
A small number of tenses do the overwhelming majority of the work in real Brazilian speech. This guide is organized the way you actually think when you speak — by what you're trying to say, not by abstract grammar categories.
I'll use three model verbs throughout so you can see the patterns clearly:
falar
to speak
-ar verb
comer
to eat
-er verb
partir
to leave
-ir verb
Most Portuguese verbs follow one of these three patterns. Learn the patterns, and you can conjugate thousands of verbs.
A quick word about "you" in Brazil
Traditional Portuguese has five "persons" to conjugate for. In spoken Brazilian Portuguese, two have largely disappeared. tu is rarely used — Brazilians say você, and você takes the same conjugation as ele/ela. vós is extinct — replaced by vocês, which conjugates the same as eles/elas.
In practice: four forms, not six
Good news
Every conjugation in this guide uses only these four forms. You'll still see tu and vós in books and some regional speech — worth recognizing, but you don't need to produce them to speak Brazilian Portuguese well.
The present tense (Presente do Indicativo)
The first tense you learn and the one you'll use most. Covers what's true now, what happens regularly, and general facts.
| falar | comer | partir | |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | falo | como | parto |
| você / ele / ela | fala | come | parte |
| nós | falamos | comemos | partimos |
| vocês / eles / elas | falam | comem | partem |
Brazilian tip
Brazilians often use the present tense for the near future — just like English "going to." Amanhã eu falo com ele. (Tomorrow I'll talk to him.) Don't overthink future tense for near, planned events.
The present continuous (estar + gerúndio)
For something happening right now, in this moment. Form: estar + the gerund (-ando / -endo / -indo).
falar →
falando
comer →
comendo
partir →
partindo
Estou falando. (I'm speaking — right now.)
Ela está comendo. (She's eating.)
Eles estão partindo. (They're leaving.)
Major Brazilian vs European difference
Brazilians use estar + gerúndio (estou falando). European Portuguese uses estar a + infinitive (estou a falar). Use the -ndo form to sound Brazilian. In fast speech: tô falando, tá comendo — normal, casual, educated Brazilian speech.
The simple past (Pretérito Perfeito)
For actions that happened and finished. A specific event, done. Your workhorse for telling what happened.
| falar | comer | partir | |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | falei | comi | parti |
| você / ele / ela | falou | comeu | partiu |
| nós | falamos | comemos | partimos |
| vocês / eles / elas | falaram | comeram | partiram |
Ontem eu falei com a Maria. (Yesterday I spoke with Maria.)
Ela comeu tudo. (She ate everything.)
Cheguei, comi, dormi. (I arrived, ate, slept.)
The imperfect past (Pretérito Imperfeito)
For the past that was ongoing, repeated, or descriptive — not a single finished event, but a backdrop, a habit, or a state that lasted.
| falar | comer | partir | |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | falava | comia | partia |
| você / ele / ela | falava | comia | partia |
| nós | falávamos | comíamos | partíamos |
| vocês / eles / elas | falavam | comiam | partiam |
The key distinction — master this
Pretérito Perfeito = finished event. Ontem eu falei com ele. (I spoke with him — one completed conversation.)
Pretérito Imperfeito = ongoing, habitual, or descriptive. Antigamente eu falava com ele todo dia. (I used to speak with him every day.)
The imperfect paints the scene; the simple past delivers the events. Estava chovendo (imperfect — background) quando o telefone tocou (simple past — the event).
Free · 5 minutes · No email required
Which tenses are holding you back?
My free diagnostic quiz places you precisely on the CEFR scale and identifies your specific grammar gaps — so you know exactly what to work on next.
The spoken future (ir + infinitive)
In everyday speech, Brazilians mostly don't use the "real" future tense. They use ir + infinitive — exactly like English "going to." This is how Brazilians actually express the future in conversation.
ir (present): vou · vai · vamos · vão
Learn this one first
If you learn only one future, learn this one. It's easy (just conjugate ir and add the infinitive) and it's what you'll hear everywhere in Brazil.
The formal future (Futuro do Presente)
You'll see this in writing, news, and formal contexts. Add endings to the whole infinitive:
| falar | comer | partir | |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | falarei | comerei | partirei |
| você / ele / ela | falará | comerá | partirá |
| nós | falaremos | comeremos | partiremos |
| vocês / eles / elas | falarão | comerão | partirão |
Register note
Eu falarei com ele is more formal/written than vou falar. Both are correct — they differ in register. In conversation, vou falar is more natural.
The conditional (Futuro do Pretérito) — would
The "would" tense — for hypotheticals, polite requests, and imagined situations. Add endings to the full infinitive:
| falar | comer | partir | |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | falaria | comeria | partiria |
| você / ele / ela | falaria | comeria | partiria |
| nós | falaríamos | comeríamos | partiríamos |
| vocês / eles / elas | falariam | comeriam | partiriam |
Brazilian tip
In casual speech, Brazilians often replace the conditional with the imperfect. Instead of Eu falaria, you'll hear Eu falava or Eu ia falar in everyday conversation.
Why this matters
The subjunctive is used for things that are uncertain, desired, hypothetical, or emotional. It's woven deeply into how Brazilians express doubt, wishes, and possibility — and avoiding it permanently caps your Portuguese at intermediate.
The key: it's triggered by certain expressions. You don't decide to use it out of nowhere — specific words summon it. Learn the triggers, and the subjunctive starts to feel automatic.
Present subjunctive
Form: take the eu form of the present, drop the -o, add the "opposite" vowel endings (-ar verbs take -e endings; -er/-ir verbs take -a endings):
| falar | comer | partir | |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | fale | coma | parta |
| você / ele / ela | fale | coma | parta |
| nós | falemos | comamos | partamos |
| vocês / eles / elas | falem | comam | partam |
Common triggers — memorize these phrases
Espero que você fale com ele.
Quero que ela coma.
É importante que nós partamos cedo.
Talvez ele fale.
Tomara que dê certo.
Imperfect subjunctive — "if" and hypotheticals
For hypothetical or contrary-to-fact situations. Form: take the eles form of the simple past, drop -ram, add -sse endings:
| falar | comer | partir | |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | falasse | comesse | partisse |
| você / ele / ela | falasse | comesse | partisse |
| nós | falássemos | comêssemos | partíssemos |
| vocês / eles / elas | falassem | comessem | partissem |
The classic "if / would" structure
Se + imperfect subjunctive → conditional
Se eu falasse português melhor, eu moraria no Brasil.
If I spoke Portuguese better, I would live in Brazil.
Se ela comesse menos açúcar, se sentiria melhor.
If she ate less sugar, she'd feel better.
Learn this as a template and pour different verbs into it — it's one of the most useful sentence patterns in the language.
Future subjunctive — uniquely important in Portuguese
A tense that barely exists in other Romance languages but is everywhere in Portuguese. Used for future conditions after quando, se, and assim que. For regular verbs, often looks identical to the infinitive:
| falar | comer | partir | |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | falar | comer | partir |
| você / ele / ela | falar | comer | partir |
| nós | falarmos | comermos | partirmos |
| vocês / eles / elas | falarem | comerem | partirem |
Quando eu falar com ele, eu te aviso.
When I talk to him, I'll let you know.
Se você comer tudo, ganha sobremesa.
If you eat everything, you get dessert.
Assim que eles partirem, a gente sai.
As soon as they leave, we'll go.
Using it marks your level
After quando and se pointing at the future, reach for the future subjunctive. English speakers consistently forget it exists — using it correctly is a strong marker of advancing Portuguese.
Compound tenses with ter
Past participles: falado · comido · partido
Past perfect (tinha + participle) — "had done"
Quando ela chegou, eu já tinha comido.
When she arrived, I had already eaten.
Brazilian caution about 'tenho falado'
Tenho falado means a repeated or ongoing action up to now — not a single past event. "I've been speaking with him a lot lately." For a single finished past action, Brazilians use the simple past (falei), not tenho falado. Don't map the English present perfect directly onto ter + participle.
Imperative
Giving commands
Casual (very common in Brazil)
Fala! (Speak / Talk!)
Come! (Eat!)
Espera! (Wait!)
Formal / written (subjunctive form)
Fale com ele. (Speak with him.)
Não fale. (Don't speak.)
Não coma isso. (Don't eat that.)
What to actually focus on — a realistic priority order
Learn these first
With just these five, you can talk about the present, near future, and the past — the vast majority of everyday conversation.
Then add toward fluency
The subjunctive is the intermediate-to-advanced gateway. Get the first five solid through use, then layer these in.
Learn to recognize
The most important thing about verb tenses
You will not learn these by memorizing the tables. You'll learn them by using them — by speaking, making mistakes, getting corrected, and trying again. The tables are a reference to come back to, not a thing to swallow whole.
Tenses are muscles, not facts. Build them through use.
Where to go from here
If you want to know which tenses you've actually mastered and which are holding you back, take the free diagnostic quiz. And if the subjunctive is where you keep getting stuck — which is true for almost every English speaker — a real teacher is far faster than another grammar table.
Free · 5 minutes
Find your level
Precise CEFR placement, your specific grammar gaps identified. No email required.
Free first class
Work through it with Carla
A real teacher who hears your specific errors and drills the exact triggers you're missing is far faster than another grammar table.
Dra. Carla Regiane Dias
Founder of HappyPortuguese · PhD in Portuguese Philology, University of São Paulo (USP)
Carla has spent over twelve years teaching Brazilian Portuguese to adults, executives, children, and certification candidates worldwide. Found this useful? Bookmark it — it's the kind of reference you'll want to come back to.