afinar — Portuguese conjugation

to tune (to adjust for correct pitch)

Frequency#840IrregularReflexiveafinar-se — to tune oneself

Indicative

Present (Presente) Regular

The presente covers routines, states, and immediate future with adverbs like hoje or amanhã. One present form covers both English simple and progressive readings in most situations.

Ela estuda português todas as noites.

PronounPortugueseEnglish
euafinoI tune
tuafinasyou tune
vocêafinayou tune
ele/elaafinahe/she/it tunes
nósafinamoswe tune
vósafinaisyou (pl.) tune
vocêsafinamyou (pl.) tune
eles/elasafinamthey tune

Preterite (Pretérito perfeito simples) Irregular

The pretérito perfeito simples is a sharp, completed past. In European Portuguese it is the standard story-telling past; Brazilian usage often prefers the compound form in speech while keeping the simple for narrative and writing.

Ontem escreveu a carta inteira de uma vez.

PronounPortugueseEnglish
euafineiI tuned
tuafinasteyou tuned
vocêafinouyou tuned
ele/elaafinouhe/she/it tuned
nósafinamoswe tuned
vósafinastesyou (pl.) tuned
vocêsafinaramyou (pl.) tuned
eles/elasafinaramthey tuned

Imperfect (Pretérito imperfeito) Regular

The imperfeito describes past background, repeated actions, and how things used to be. Contrast it with the simple preterite for the “main event” line of a story.

Quando era criança, brincava na praia.

PronounPortuguese
euafinava
tuafinavas
vocêafinava
ele/elaafinava
nósafinávamos
vósafináveis
vocêsafinavam
eles/elasafinavam

Conditional (Condicional) Regular

The condicional is for polite offers, soft questions, and hypothetical “would” outcomes, and it often closes a se + imperfeito do subjuntivo chain in formal style.

Você poderia me explicar outra vez?

PronounPortugueseEnglish
euafinariaI would tune
tuafinariasyou would tune
vocêafinariayou would tune
ele/elaafinariahe/she/it would tune
nósafinaríamoswe would tune
vósafinaríeisyou (pl.) would tune
vocêsafinariamyou (pl.) would tune
eles/elasafinariamthey would tune

Future (Futuro do presente) Regular

The futuro do presente states future facts; in everyday conversation you will often hear ir + infinitive or even the present with a time adverb instead of the synthetic future.

Amanhã faremos a reunião mais cedo.

PronounPortugueseEnglish
euafinareiI will tune
tuafinarásyou will tune
vocêafinaráyou will tune
ele/elaafinaráhe/she/it will tune
nósafinaremoswe will tune
vósafinareisyou (pl.) will tune
vocêsafinarãoyou (pl.) will tune
eles/elasafinarãothey will tune

Present perfect (Pretérito perfeito composto) Regular

The pretérito perfeito composto uses ter or haver plus the participle for a past that still touches the present or happens repeatedly up to now — a “have done” perfect with strong links to European norms.

Tenho pensado nisso há semanas.

PronounPortugueseEnglish
eutenho afinadoI have tuned
tutens afinadoyou have tuned
vocêtem afinadoyou have tuned
ele/elatem afinadohe/she/it has tuned
nóstemos afinadowe have tuned
vóstendes afinadoyou (pl.) have tuned
vocêstêm afinadoyou (pl.) have tuned
eles/elastêm afinadothey have tuned

Pluperfect (Mais-que-perfeito composto) Regular

The mais-que-perfeito composto is the pluperfect: an action was already finished before another past reference. It mirrors the English “had already”.

Já tinham saído quando chegámos.

PronounPortugueseEnglish
eutinha afinadoI had tuned
tutinhas afinadoyou had tuned
vocêtinha afinadoyou had tuned
ele/elatinha afinadohe/she/it had tuned
nóstínhamos afinadowe had tuned
vóstínheis afinadoyou (pl.) had tuned
vocêstinham afinadoyou (pl.) had tuned
eles/elastinham afinadothey had tuned

Conditional perfect (Condicional composto) Regular

The condicional composto expresses a counterfactual “would have” and appears with the right kind of if-clause in the subjunctive past for unreal conditions.

Teria aceite se tiveses avisado com antecedência.

PronounPortuguese
euteria afinado
tuterias afinado
vocêteria afinado
ele/elateria afinado
nósteríamos afinado
vósteríeis afinado
vocêsteriam afinado
eles/elasteriam afinado

Future perfect (Futuro composto) Regular

The futuro composto is the future-in-the-future: something will be finished before a later time. It is less frequent than the simple future but still useful for deadlines.

Até sexta, teremos lido tudo o relatório.

PronounPortugueseEnglish
euterei afinadoI will have tuned
tuterás afinadoyou will have tuned
vocêterá afinadoyou will have tuned
ele/elaterá afinadohe/she/it will have tuned
nósteremos afinadowe will have tuned
vóstereis afinadoyou (pl.) will have tuned
vocêsterão afinadoyou (pl.) will have tuned
eles/elasterão afinadothey will have tuned

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Conjuntivo presente) Regular

The present subjunctive appears after want, hope, fear, and impersonal triggers, and typically requires a new subject in the subordinate clause, just as in the other main Romance languages.

Espero que encontres o caminho fácil.

PronounPortuguese
euafine
tuafines
vocêafine
ele/elaafine
nósafinemos
vósafineis
vocêsafinem
eles/elasafinem

Imperfect subjunctive (Conjuntivo pretérito imperf.) Regular

The imperfect subjunctive in se + subjunctive → condicional is the classic “if I were a rich man” line in European Portuguese, parallel to the Spanish -ra form.

Se tivesse mais tempo, aprenderia outro idioma.

PronounPortuguese
euafinasse
tuafinasses
vocêafinasse
ele/elaafinasse
nósafinássemos
vósafinásseis
vocêsafinassem
eles/elasafinassem

Other forms

Imperative (affirmative) (Imperativo afirmativo) Regular

The affirmative imperative in Portuguese is built with tu, você, nós, vós, and vocês forms; Brazilian norms favour você/vocês with third-person present verb shapes.

Diga a verdade, por favor.

PronounPortuguese
tuafina
vocêafine
ele/elaafine
nósafinemos
vósafinai
vocêsafinem
eles/elasafinem

Imperative (negative) (Imperativo negativo) Regular

Negative commands require não plus the present subjunctive for each person, which is a distinctive feature compared to other Romance systems that reuse present indicative in some slots.

Não falemos com pressa, está tudo calmo.

PronounPortuguese
tunão afines
vocênão afine
ele/elanão afine
nósnão afinemos
vósnão afineis
vocêsnão afinem
eles/elasnão afinem