consultar — Portuguese conjugation

to consult

Frequency#234Irregular

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
euconsultoI consult
tuconsultasyou consult
vocêconsultayou consult
ele/elaconsultahe/she/it consults
nósconsultamoswe consult
vósconsultaisyou (pl.) consult
vocêsconsultamyou (pl.) consult
eles/elasconsultamthey consult

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
euconsulteiI consulted
tuconsultasteyou consulted
vocêconsultouyou consulted
ele/elaconsultouhe/she/it consulted
nósconsultamoswe consulted
vósconsultastesyou (pl.) consulted
vocêsconsultaramyou (pl.) consulted
eles/elasconsultaramthey consulted

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
euconsultava
tuconsultavas
vocêconsultava
ele/elaconsultava
nósconsultávamos
vósconsultáveis
vocêsconsultavam
eles/elasconsultavam

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
euconsultariaI would consult
tuconsultariasyou would consult
vocêconsultariayou would consult
ele/elaconsultariahe/she/it would consult
nósconsultaríamoswe would consult
vósconsultaríeisyou (pl.) would consult
vocêsconsultariamyou (pl.) would consult
eles/elasconsultariamthey would consult

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
euconsultareiI will consult
tuconsultarásyou will consult
vocêconsultaráyou will consult
ele/elaconsultaráhe/she/it will consult
nósconsultaremoswe will consult
vósconsultareisyou (pl.) will consult
vocêsconsultarãoyou (pl.) will consult
eles/elasconsultarãothey will consult

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 consultadoI have consulted
tutens consultadoyou have consulted
vocêtem consultadoyou have consulted
ele/elatem consultadohe/she/it has consulted
nóstemos consultadowe have consulted
vóstendes consultadoyou (pl.) have consulted
vocêstêm consultadoyou (pl.) have consulted
eles/elastêm consultadothey have consulted

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 consultadoI had consulted
tutinhas consultadoyou had consulted
vocêtinha consultadoyou had consulted
ele/elatinha consultadohe/she/it had consulted
nóstínhamos consultadowe had consulted
vóstínheis consultadoyou (pl.) had consulted
vocêstinham consultadoyou (pl.) had consulted
eles/elastinham consultadothey had consulted

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

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 consultadoI will have consulted
tuterás consultadoyou will have consulted
vocêterá consultadoyou will have consulted
ele/elaterá consultadohe/she/it will have consulted
nósteremos consultadowe will have consulted
vóstereis consultadoyou (pl.) will have consulted
vocêsterão consultadoyou (pl.) will have consulted
eles/elasterão consultadothey will have consulted

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
euconsulte
tuconsultes
vocêconsulte
ele/elaconsulte
nósconsultemos
vósconsulteis
vocêsconsultem
eles/elasconsultem

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
euconsultasse
tuconsultasses
vocêconsultasse
ele/elaconsultasse
nósconsultássemos
vósconsultásseis
vocêsconsultassem
eles/elasconsultassem

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
tuconsulta
vocêconsulte
ele/elaconsulte
nósconsultemos
vósconsultai
vocêsconsultem
eles/elasconsultem

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 consultes
vocênão consulte
ele/elanão consulte
nósnão consultemos
vósnão consulteis
vocêsnão consultem
eles/elasnão consultem