crescer — Portuguese conjugation

to grow

Frequency#141IrregularReflexivecrescer-se — to grow oneself

Indicative

Present (Presente) Irregular

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
eucresçoI grow
tucrescesyou grow
vocêcresceyou grow
ele/elacrescehe/she/it grows
nóscrescemoswe grow
vóscresceisyou (pl.) grow
vocêscrescemyou (pl.) grow
eles/elascrescemthey grow

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
eucresciI grew
tucrescesteyou grew
vocêcresceuyou grew
ele/elacresceuhe/she/it grew
nóscrescemoswe grew
vóscrescestesyou (pl.) grew
vocêscresceramyou (pl.) grew
eles/elascresceramthey grew

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
eucrescia
tucrescias
vocêcrescia
ele/elacrescia
nóscrescíamos
vóscrescíeis
vocêscresciam
eles/elascresciam

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
eucresceriaI would grow
tucresceriasyou would grow
vocêcresceriayou would grow
ele/elacresceriahe/she/it would grow
nóscresceríamoswe would grow
vóscresceríeisyou (pl.) would grow
vocêscresceriamyou (pl.) would grow
eles/elascresceriamthey would grow

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
eucrescereiI will grow
tucrescerásyou will grow
vocêcresceráyou will grow
ele/elacresceráhe/she/it will grow
nóscresceremoswe will grow
vóscrescereisyou (pl.) will grow
vocêscrescerãoyou (pl.) will grow
eles/elascrescerãothey will grow

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 crescidoI have grown
tutens crescidoyou have grown
vocêtem crescidoyou have grown
ele/elatem crescidohe/she/it has grown
nóstemos crescidowe have grown
vóstendes crescidoyou (pl.) have grown
vocêstêm crescidoyou (pl.) have grown
eles/elastêm crescidothey have grown

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 crescidoI had grown
tutinhas crescidoyou had grown
vocêtinha crescidoyou had grown
ele/elatinha crescidohe/she/it had grown
nóstínhamos crescidowe had grown
vóstínheis crescidoyou (pl.) had grown
vocêstinham crescidoyou (pl.) had grown
eles/elastinham crescidothey had grown

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

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 crescidoI will have grown
tuterás crescidoyou will have grown
vocêterá crescidoyou will have grown
ele/elaterá crescidohe/she/it will have grown
nósteremos crescidowe will have grown
vóstereis crescidoyou (pl.) will have grown
vocêsterão crescidoyou (pl.) will have grown
eles/elasterão crescidothey will have grown

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
eucresça
tucresças
vocêcresça
ele/elacresça
nóscresçamos
vóscresçais
vocêscresçam
eles/elascresçam

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
eucrescesse
tucrescesses
vocêcrescesse
ele/elacrescesse
nóscrescêssemos
vóscrescêsseis
vocêscrescessem
eles/elascrescessem

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
tucresce
vocêcresça
ele/elacresça
nóscresçamos
vóscrescei
vocêscresçam
eles/elascresçam

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 cresças
vocênão cresça
ele/elanão cresça
nósnão cresçamos
vósnão cresçais
vocêsnão cresçam
eles/elasnão cresçam