contra-atacar — Portuguese conjugation

to counterattack

Frequency#936IrregularReflexivecontra-atacar-se — to counterattack 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
eucontra-atacoI counterattack
tucontra-atacasyou counterattack
vocêcontra-atacayou counterattack
ele/elacontra-atacahe/she/it counterattacks
nóscontra-atacamoswe counterattack
vóscontra-atacaisyou (pl.) counterattack
vocêscontra-atacamyou (pl.) counterattack
eles/elascontra-atacamthey counterattack

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
eucontra-ataqueiI counterattacked
tucontra-atacasteyou counterattacked
vocêcontra-atacouyou counterattacked
ele/elacontra-atacouhe/she/it counterattacked
nóscontra-atacamoswe counterattacked
vóscontra-atacastesyou (pl.) counterattacked
vocêscontra-atacaramyou (pl.) counterattacked
eles/elascontra-atacaramthey counterattacked

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
eucontra-atacava
tucontra-atacavas
vocêcontra-atacava
ele/elacontra-atacava
nóscontra-atacávamos
vóscontra-atacáveis
vocêscontra-atacavam
eles/elascontra-atacavam

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
eucontra-atacariaI would counterattack
tucontra-atacariasyou would counterattack
vocêcontra-atacariayou would counterattack
ele/elacontra-atacariahe/she/it would counterattack
nóscontra-atacaríamoswe would counterattack
vóscontra-atacaríeisyou (pl.) would counterattack
vocêscontra-atacariamyou (pl.) would counterattack
eles/elascontra-atacariamthey would counterattack

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
eucontra-atacareiI will counterattack
tucontra-atacarásyou will counterattack
vocêcontra-atacaráyou will counterattack
ele/elacontra-atacaráhe/she/it will counterattack
nóscontra-atacaremoswe will counterattack
vóscontra-atacareisyou (pl.) will counterattack
vocêscontra-atacarãoyou (pl.) will counterattack
eles/elascontra-atacarãothey will counterattack

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 contra-atacadoI have counterattacked
tutens contra-atacadoyou have counterattacked
vocêtem contra-atacadoyou have counterattacked
ele/elatem contra-atacadohe/she/it has counterattacked
nóstemos contra-atacadowe have counterattacked
vóstendes contra-atacadoyou (pl.) have counterattacked
vocêstêm contra-atacadoyou (pl.) have counterattacked
eles/elastêm contra-atacadothey have counterattacked

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 contra-atacadoI had counterattacked
tutinhas contra-atacadoyou had counterattacked
vocêtinha contra-atacadoyou had counterattacked
ele/elatinha contra-atacadohe/she/it had counterattacked
nóstínhamos contra-atacadowe had counterattacked
vóstínheis contra-atacadoyou (pl.) had counterattacked
vocêstinham contra-atacadoyou (pl.) had counterattacked
eles/elastinham contra-atacadothey had counterattacked

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 contra-atacado
tuterias contra-atacado
vocêteria contra-atacado
ele/elateria contra-atacado
nósteríamos contra-atacado
vósteríeis contra-atacado
vocêsteriam contra-atacado
eles/elasteriam contra-atacado

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 contra-atacadoI will have counterattacked
tuterás contra-atacadoyou will have counterattacked
vocêterá contra-atacadoyou will have counterattacked
ele/elaterá contra-atacadohe/she/it will have counterattacked
nósteremos contra-atacadowe will have counterattacked
vóstereis contra-atacadoyou (pl.) will have counterattacked
vocêsterão contra-atacadoyou (pl.) will have counterattacked
eles/elasterão contra-atacadothey will have counterattacked

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
eucontra-ataque
tucontra-ataques
vocêcontra-ataque
ele/elacontra-ataque
nóscontra-ataquemos
vóscontra-ataqueis
vocêscontra-ataquem
eles/elascontra-ataquem

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
eucontra-atacasse
tucontra-atacasses
vocêcontra-atacasse
ele/elacontra-atacasse
nóscontra-atacássemos
vóscontra-atacásseis
vocêscontra-atacassem
eles/elascontra-atacassem

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
tucontra-ataca
vocêcontra-ataque
ele/elacontra-ataque
nóscontra-ataquemos
vóscontra-atacai
vocêscontra-ataquem
eles/elascontra-ataquem

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 contra-ataques
vocênão contra-ataque
ele/elanão contra-ataque
nósnão contra-ataquemos
vósnão contra-ataqueis
vocêsnão contra-ataquem
eles/elasnão contra-ataquem