aproximar — Portuguese conjugation

to approach

Frequency#529Regular

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
euaproximoI approach
tuaproximasyou approach
vocêaproximayou approach
ele/elaaproximahe/she/it approaches
nósaproximamoswe approach
vósaproximaisyou (pl.) approach
vocêsaproximamyou (pl.) approach
eles/elasaproximamthey approach

Preterite (Pretérito perfeito simples) Regular

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
euaproximeiI approached
tuaproximasteyou approached
vocêaproximouyou approached
ele/elaaproximouhe/she/it approached
nósaproximamoswe approached
vósaproximastesyou (pl.) approached
vocêsaproximaramyou (pl.) approached
eles/elasaproximaramthey approached

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
euaproximava
tuaproximavas
vocêaproximava
ele/elaaproximava
nósaproximávamos
vósaproximáveis
vocêsaproximavam
eles/elasaproximavam

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
euaproximariaI would approach
tuaproximariasyou would approach
vocêaproximariayou would approach
ele/elaaproximariahe/she/it would approach
nósaproximaríamoswe would approach
vósaproximaríeisyou (pl.) would approach
vocêsaproximariamyou (pl.) would approach
eles/elasaproximariamthey would approach

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
euaproximareiI will approach
tuaproximarásyou will approach
vocêaproximaráyou will approach
ele/elaaproximaráhe/she/it will approach
nósaproximaremoswe will approach
vósaproximareisyou (pl.) will approach
vocêsaproximarãoyou (pl.) will approach
eles/elasaproximarãothey will approach

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 aproximadoI have approached
tutens aproximadoyou have approached
vocêtem aproximadoyou have approached
ele/elatem aproximadohe/she/it has approached
nóstemos aproximadowe have approached
vóstendes aproximadoyou (pl.) have approached
vocêstêm aproximadoyou (pl.) have approached
eles/elastêm aproximadothey have approached

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 aproximadoI had approached
tutinhas aproximadoyou had approached
vocêtinha aproximadoyou had approached
ele/elatinha aproximadohe/she/it had approached
nóstínhamos aproximadowe had approached
vóstínheis aproximadoyou (pl.) had approached
vocêstinham aproximadoyou (pl.) had approached
eles/elastinham aproximadothey had approached

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 aproximado
tuterias aproximado
vocêteria aproximado
ele/elateria aproximado
nósteríamos aproximado
vósteríeis aproximado
vocêsteriam aproximado
eles/elasteriam aproximado

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 aproximadoI will have approached
tuterás aproximadoyou will have approached
vocêterá aproximadoyou will have approached
ele/elaterá aproximadohe/she/it will have approached
nósteremos aproximadowe will have approached
vóstereis aproximadoyou (pl.) will have approached
vocêsterão aproximadoyou (pl.) will have approached
eles/elasterão aproximadothey will have approached

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
euaproxime
tuaproximes
vocêaproxime
ele/elaaproxime
nósaproximemos
vósaproximeis
vocêsaproximem
eles/elasaproximem

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
euaproximasse
tuaproximasses
vocêaproximasse
ele/elaaproximasse
nósaproximássemos
vósaproximásseis
vocêsaproximassem
eles/elasaproximassem

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
tuaproxima
vocêaproxime
ele/elaaproxime
nósaproximemos
vósaproximai
vocêsaproximem
eles/elasaproximem

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 aproximes
vocênão aproxime
ele/elanão aproxime
nósnão aproximemos
vósnão aproximeis
vocêsnão aproximem
eles/elasnão aproximem