Portuguese 2.2. Present Indicative Tense II: Irregular Verbs

In Portuguese, some verbs deviate from the general conjugation rules in the present indicative tense outlined in Level I, Lesson 6. Some of these deviations are simple and easy to apply, while others may require some practice.

Use your Anki cards to practice more examples until you master this lesson.

In addition, you can use the summary in this cheat sheet as a quick reference.

Let us examine the irregular verbs in the present indicative tense in the three verb groups: “-ar,” “-er,” and “-ir.”

#1: “-ar” Verbs

The verbs “estar” (to be) and “dar” (to give) are the most common irregular “-ar” verbs that do not follow a particular pattern of conjugation. They are important verbs that should be practiced and memorized.

	estar (to be)	dar (to give)
eu	estou	dou
ele/ela/você	está	dá
nós	estamos	damos
eles/elas/vocês	estão	dão

In addition to the above two verbs, the following “-ar” verbs ending in “-iar” change the “i” to “ei” in all forms except “nós”:

	eu	ele/ela/você	nós	eles/elas/vocês
odiar to hate	odeio	odeia	odiamos	odeiam
ansiar to long for	anseio	anseia	ansiamos	anseiam
incendiar to set alight	incendeio	incendeia	incendiamos	incendeiam
mediar to mediate	medeio	medeia	mediamos	medeiam
remediar to remedy	remedeio	remedeia	remediamos	remedeiam

#2: “-er” Verbs

The most common irregular “-er” verbs are:

	eu	ele/ela/você	nós	eles/elas/vocês
ser to be	sou	é	somos	são
ter to have	tenho	tem	temos	têm
ver to see	vejo	vê	vemos	vêem
poder can	posso	pode	podemos	podem
dizer to say	digo	diz	dizemos	dizem
trazer to bring	trago	traz	trazemos	trazem
fazer to do or make	faço	faz	fazemos	fazem
caber to fit	caibo	cabe	cabemos	cabem
saber to know	sei	sabe	sabemos	sabem
querer to want	quero	quer	queremos	querem
haver to have	hei	há	hemos	hão
ler to read	leio	lê	lemos	leem
crer to believe	creio	crê	cremos	crêem
perder to lose	perco	perde	perdemos	perdem
valer to be worth	valho	vale	valemos	valem

In addition to the above verbs, there are some “-er” verbs that undergo minor spelling changes, such as:

a) Verbs that change “c” to “ç”

If the stem ends in “c,” the final stem “c” is changed into “ç” in the first-person singular to maintain the soft sound of the letter “c.” For example:

	eu	ele/ela/você	nós	eles/elas/vocês
vencer to win	venço	vence	vencemos	vencem
parecer to seem	pareço	parece	parecemos	parecem

b) Verbs that change “g” to “j”

If the stem ends in “g,” the final stem “g” is changed into “j” in the first-person singular to maintain the proper pronunciation sound. For example:

	eu	ele/ela/você	nós	eles/elas/vocês
eleger to elect	elejo	elege	elegemos	elegem
proteger to protect	protejo	protege	protegemos	protegem

c) Verbs that change “gu” to “g”

If the stem ends in “gu,” the final stem “gu” is changed into “g” in the first-person singular to maintain the hard sound of the letter “g.”  For example:

	eu	ele/ela/você	nós	eles/elas/vocês
erguer to raise	ergo	ergue	erguemos	erguem

#3: “-ir” Verbs

The most common irregular “-ir” verbs are:

	eu	ele/ela/você	nós	eles/elas/vocês
ir to go	vou	vai	vamos	vão
vir to come	venho	vem	vimos	vêm
rir to laugh	rio	ri	rimos	riem
sorrir to smile	sorrio	sorri	sorrimos	sorriem
sair to leave	saio	sai	saímos	saem
cair to fall	caio	cai	caímos	caem
ouvir to hear	ouço	ouve	ouvimos	ouvem

In addition to the above verbs, there are a few verbs that undergo minor spelling and stem changes. Most of these verbs follow some pattern and fall under one of these five categories:

1. Verbs that undergo stem changes

a) Verbs that change “e” to “i”

Many “-ir” verbs change the stem vowel from “e” to “i” in the first-person singular. For example:

	eu	ele/ela/você	nós	eles/elas/vocês
mentir to lie	minto	mente	mentimos	mentem
repetir to repeat	repito	repete	repetimos	repetem
servir to serve	sirvo	serve	servimos	servem

Other examples include: “aderir” (to adhere), “advertir” (to warn), “convergir” (to converge), “diferir” (to differ), “digerir” (to digest), “divergir” (to diverge), “divertir” (to amuse), “ferir” (to injure), “preferir” (to prefer), “refletir” (to reflect), “referir” (to refer), “repelir” (to repel), “seguir” (to follow), “sentir” (to feel), “sugerir” (to suggest), and “vestir” (to dress).

In addition to the above verbs, there are a few verbs that change the stem vowel from “e” to “i” in all conjugation forms except the “nós” form. For example:

	eu	ele/ela/você	nós	eles/elas/vocês
prevenir to prevent	previno	previne	prevenimos	previnem
agredir to attack	agrido	agride	agredimos	agridem
progredir to progress	progrido	progride	progredimos	progridem
regredir to regress	regrido	regride	regredimos	regridem

b) Verbs that change “o” to “u”

Many “-ir” verbs change the stem vowel from “o” to “u” in the first-person singular. For example:

	eu	ele/ela/você	nós	eles/elas/vocês
dormir to sleep	durmo	dorme	dormimos	dormem
cobrir to cover	cubro	cobre	cobrimos	cobrem
descobrir to discover	descubro	descobre	descobrimos	descobrem
encobrir to cover up	encubro	encobre	encobrimos	encobrem
tossir to cough	tusso	tosse	tossimos	tossem

Exceptionally, the verb “polir” (to polish) changes the stem vowel from “o” to “u” in all conjugation forms except the “nós” form:

	eu	ele/ela/você	nós	eles/elas/vocês
polir to polish	pulo	pule	polimos	pulem

c) Verbs that change “u” to “o”

Some “-ir” verbs change the stem vowel from “u” to “o” in the third-person singular and plural forms. For example:

	eu	ele/ela/você	nós	eles/elas/vocês
subir to go up	subo	sobe	subimos	sobem
fugir to escape	fujo	foge	fugimos	fogem
cuspir to spit	cuspo	cospe	cuspimos	cospem
sacudir to shake	sacudo	sacode	sacudimos	sacodem

2. Verbs that undergo minor spelling changes

Similar to the orthographic changes we encountered in some “-er” verbs, if the stem of an “-ir” verb ends in “c,” “g,” or “gu,” the final stem letter is changed into “ç,” “j,” or “g,” respectively, in the first-person singular to maintain the proper sound. For example:

	eu	ele/ela/você	nós	eles/elas/vocês
ressarcir to compensate	ressarço	ressarce	ressarcimos	ressarcem
dirigir to drive	dirijo	dirige	dirigimos	dirigem
seguir to follow	sigo	segue	seguimos	seguem

3. Verbs ending in “-dir”

There are a few verbs ending in “-dir” that change the “d” into “ç” in the first-person singular only. For example:

	eu	ele/ela/você	nós	eles/elas/vocês
pedir to ask for	peço	pede	pedimos	pedem
medir to measure	meço	mede	medimos	medem
despedir to dismiss	despeço	despede	despedimos	despedem

4. Verbs ending in “-zir”

Verbs that end in “-zir” normally have no ending in the third-person singular form. For example:

	eu	ele/ela/você	nós	eles/elas/vocês
conduzir to drive	conduzo	conduz	conduzimos	conduzem
deduzir to deduce	deduzo	deduz	deduzimos	denduzem
introduzir to introduce	introduzo	introduz	introduzimos	introduzem
produzir to produce	produzo	produz	produzimos	produzem
traduzir to translate	traduzo	traduz	traduzimos	traduzem

5. Verbs ending in “-uir”

a) Verbs like “seguir”

Many verbs like “seguir” change the “egu” to “ig” in the first-person singular only. For example:

	eu	ele/ela/você	nós	eles/elas/vocês
seguir to follow	sigo	segue	seguimos	seguem
conseguir to get	consigo	consegue	conseguimos	conseguem
perseguir to chase	persigo	persegue	perseguimos	perseguem

b) Verbs that end in “-buir”

Verbs that end in “-buir” are normally irregular in the third-person singular and the first-person plural, and have the following pattern:

	eu	ele/ela/você	nós	eles/elas/vocês
distribuir to distribute	distribuo	distribui	distribuímos	distribuem
contribuir to contribute	contribuo	contribui	contribuímos	contribuem
atribuir to attribute	atribuo	atribui	atribuímos	atribuem

c) Verbs that end in “-truir”

Some verbs that end in “-truir” are irregular in all forms except the first-person singular, and have the following pattern:

	eu	ele/ela/você	nós	eles/elas/vocês
construir to construct	construo	constrói	construímos	constroem
destruir to destroy	destruo	destrói	destruímos	destroem

Next: The Verb “to Be”: “Ser” vs. “Estar”

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