descobrir — Portuguese conjugation

to discover

Frequency#89IrregularReflexivedescobrir-se — to discover 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
eudescubroI discover
tudescobresyou discover
vocêdescobreyou discover
ele/eladescobrehe/she/it discovers
nósdescobrimoswe discover
vósdescobrisyou (pl.) discover
vocêsdescobremyou (pl.) discover
eles/elasdescobremthey discover

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
eudescobriI discovered
tudescobristeyou discovered
vocêdescobriuyou discovered
ele/eladescobriuhe/she/it discovered
nósdescobrimoswe discovered
vósdescobristesyou (pl.) discovered
vocêsdescobriramyou (pl.) discovered
eles/elasdescobriramthey discovered

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
eudescobria
tudescobrias
vocêdescobria
ele/eladescobria
nósdescobríamos
vósdescobríeis
vocêsdescobriam
eles/elasdescobriam

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
eudescobririaI would discover
tudescobririasyou would discover
vocêdescobririayou would discover
ele/eladescobririahe/she/it would discover
nósdescobriríamoswe would discover
vósdescobriríeisyou (pl.) would discover
vocêsdescobririamyou (pl.) would discover
eles/elasdescobririamthey would discover

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
eudescobrireiI will discover
tudescobrirásyou will discover
vocêdescobriráyou will discover
ele/eladescobriráhe/she/it will discover
nósdescobriremoswe will discover
vósdescobrireisyou (pl.) will discover
vocêsdescobrirãoyou (pl.) will discover
eles/elasdescobrirãothey will discover

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 descobertoI have discovered
tutens descobertoyou have discovered
vocêtem descobertoyou have discovered
ele/elatem descobertohe/she/it has discovered
nóstemos descobertowe have discovered
vóstendes descobertoyou (pl.) have discovered
vocêstêm descobertoyou (pl.) have discovered
eles/elastêm descobertothey have discovered

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 descobertoI had discovered
tutinhas descobertoyou had discovered
vocêtinha descobertoyou had discovered
ele/elatinha descobertohe/she/it had discovered
nóstínhamos descobertowe had discovered
vóstínheis descobertoyou (pl.) had discovered
vocêstinham descobertoyou (pl.) had discovered
eles/elastinham descobertothey had discovered

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

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 descobertoI will have discovered
tuterás descobertoyou will have discovered
vocêterá descobertoyou will have discovered
ele/elaterá descobertohe/she/it will have discovered
nósteremos descobertowe will have discovered
vóstereis descobertoyou (pl.) will have discovered
vocêsterão descobertoyou (pl.) will have discovered
eles/elasterão descobertothey will have discovered

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
eudescubra
tudescubras
vocêdescubra
ele/eladescubra
nósdescubramos
vósdescubrais
vocêsdescubram
eles/elasdescubram

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
eudescobrisse
tudescobrisses
vocêdescobrisse
ele/eladescobrisse
nósdescobríssemos
vósdescobrísseis
vocêsdescobrissem
eles/elasdescobrissem

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
tudescobre
vocêdescubra
ele/eladescubra
nósdescubramos
vósdescobri
vocêsdescubram
eles/elasdescubram

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 descubras
vocênão descubra
ele/elanão descubra
nósnão descubramos
vósnão descubrais
vocêsnão descubram
eles/elasnão descubram