dizer — Portuguese conjugation
to say
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.
| Pronoun | Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| eu | digo | I say |
| tu | dizes | you say |
| você | diz | you say |
| ele/ela | diz | he/she/it says |
| nós | dizemos | we say |
| vós | dizeis | you (pl.) say |
| vocês | dizem | you (pl.) say |
| eles/elas | dizem | they say |
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.
| Pronoun | Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| eu | disse | I said |
| tu | disseste | you said |
| você | disse | you said |
| ele/ela | disse | he/she/it said |
| nós | dissemos | we said |
| vós | dissestes | you (pl.) said |
| vocês | disseram | you (pl.) said |
| eles/elas | disseram | they said |
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.
| Pronoun | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| eu | dizia |
| tu | dizias |
| você | dizia |
| ele/ela | dizia |
| nós | dizíamos |
| vós | dizíeis |
| vocês | diziam |
| eles/elas | diziam |
Conditional (Condicional) Irregular
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?
| Pronoun | Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| eu | diria | I would say |
| tu | dirias | you would say |
| você | diria | you would say |
| ele/ela | diria | he/she/it would say |
| nós | diríamos | we would say |
| vós | diríeis | you (pl.) would say |
| vocês | diriam | you (pl.) would say |
| eles/elas | diriam | they would say |
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.
| Pronoun | Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| eu | direi | I will say |
| tu | dirás | you will say |
| você | dirá | you will say |
| ele/ela | dirá | he/she/it will say |
| nós | diremos | we will say |
| vós | direis | you (pl.) will say |
| vocês | dirão | you (pl.) will say |
| eles/elas | dirão | they will say |
Present perfect (Pretérito perfeito composto) Irregular
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.
| Pronoun | Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| eu | tenho dito | I have said |
| tu | tens dito | you have said |
| você | tem dito | you have said |
| ele/ela | tem dito | he/she/it has said |
| nós | temos dito | we have said |
| vós | tendes dito | you (pl.) have said |
| vocês | têm dito | you (pl.) have said |
| eles/elas | têm dito | they have said |
Pluperfect (Mais-que-perfeito composto) Irregular
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.
| Pronoun | Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| eu | tinha dito | I had said |
| tu | tinhas dito | you had said |
| você | tinha dito | you had said |
| ele/ela | tinha dito | he/she/it had said |
| nós | tínhamos dito | we had said |
| vós | tínheis dito | you (pl.) had said |
| vocês | tinham dito | you (pl.) had said |
| eles/elas | tinham dito | they had said |
Conditional perfect (Condicional composto) Irregular
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.
| Pronoun | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| eu | teria dito |
| tu | terias dito |
| você | teria dito |
| ele/ela | teria dito |
| nós | teríamos dito |
| vós | teríeis dito |
| vocês | teriam dito |
| eles/elas | teriam dito |
Future perfect (Futuro composto) Irregular
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.
| Pronoun | Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| eu | terei dito | I will have said |
| tu | terás dito | you will have said |
| você | terá dito | you will have said |
| ele/ela | terá dito | he/she/it will have said |
| nós | teremos dito | we will have said |
| vós | tereis dito | you (pl.) will have said |
| vocês | terão dito | you (pl.) will have said |
| eles/elas | terão dito | they will have said |
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.
| Pronoun | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| eu | diga |
| tu | digas |
| você | diga |
| ele/ela | diga |
| nós | digamos |
| vós | digais |
| vocês | digam |
| eles/elas | digam |
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.
| Pronoun | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| eu | dissesse |
| tu | dissesses |
| você | dissesse |
| ele/ela | dissesse |
| nós | disséssemos |
| vós | dissésseis |
| vocês | dissessem |
| eles/elas | dissessem |
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.
| Pronoun | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| tu | dize |
| você | diga |
| ele/ela | diga |
| nós | digamos |
| vós | dizei |
| vocês | digam |
| eles/elas | digam |
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.
| Pronoun | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| tu | não digas |
| você | não diga |
| ele/ela | não diga |
| nós | não digamos |
| vós | não digais |
| vocês | não digam |
| eles/elas | não digam |