estabelecer — Portuguese conjugation

to establish

Frequency#164Irregular

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
euestabeleçoI establish
tuestabelecesyou establish
vocêestabeleceyou establish
ele/elaestabelecehe/she/it establishes
nósestabelecemoswe establish
vósestabeleceisyou (pl.) establish
vocêsestabelecemyou (pl.) establish
eles/elasestabelecemthey establish

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
euestabeleciI established
tuestabelecesteyou established
vocêestabeleceuyou established
ele/elaestabeleceuhe/she/it established
nósestabelecemoswe established
vósestabelecestesyou (pl.) established
vocêsestabeleceramyou (pl.) established
eles/elasestabeleceramthey established

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
euestabelecia
tuestabelecias
vocêestabelecia
ele/elaestabelecia
nósestabelecíamos
vósestabelecíeis
vocêsestabeleciam
eles/elasestabeleciam

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
euestabeleceriaI would establish
tuestabeleceriasyou would establish
vocêestabeleceriayou would establish
ele/elaestabeleceriahe/she/it would establish
nósestabeleceríamoswe would establish
vósestabeleceríeisyou (pl.) would establish
vocêsestabeleceriamyou (pl.) would establish
eles/elasestabeleceriamthey would establish

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
euestabelecereiI will establish
tuestabelecerásyou will establish
vocêestabeleceráyou will establish
ele/elaestabeleceráhe/she/it will establish
nósestabeleceremoswe will establish
vósestabelecereisyou (pl.) will establish
vocêsestabelecerãoyou (pl.) will establish
eles/elasestabelecerãothey will establish

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 estabelecidoI have established
tutens estabelecidoyou have established
vocêtem estabelecidoyou have established
ele/elatem estabelecidohe/she/it has established
nóstemos estabelecidowe have established
vóstendes estabelecidoyou (pl.) have established
vocêstêm estabelecidoyou (pl.) have established
eles/elastêm estabelecidothey have established

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 estabelecidoI had established
tutinhas estabelecidoyou had established
vocêtinha estabelecidoyou had established
ele/elatinha estabelecidohe/she/it had established
nóstínhamos estabelecidowe had established
vóstínheis estabelecidoyou (pl.) had established
vocêstinham estabelecidoyou (pl.) had established
eles/elastinham estabelecidothey had established

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

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 estabelecidoI will have established
tuterás estabelecidoyou will have established
vocêterá estabelecidoyou will have established
ele/elaterá estabelecidohe/she/it will have established
nósteremos estabelecidowe will have established
vóstereis estabelecidoyou (pl.) will have established
vocêsterão estabelecidoyou (pl.) will have established
eles/elasterão estabelecidothey will have established

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
euestabeleça
tuestabeleças
vocêestabeleça
ele/elaestabeleça
nósestabeleçamos
vósestabeleçais
vocêsestabeleçam
eles/elasestabeleçam

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
euestabelecesse
tuestabelecesses
vocêestabelecesse
ele/elaestabelecesse
nósestabelecêssemos
vósestabelecêsseis
vocêsestabelecessem
eles/elasestabelecessem

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
tuestabelece
vocêestabeleça
ele/elaestabeleça
nósestabeleçamos
vósestabelecei
vocêsestabeleçam
eles/elasestabeleçam

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 estabeleças
vocênão estabeleça
ele/elanão estabeleça
nósnão estabeleçamos
vósnão estabeleçais
vocêsnão estabeleçam
eles/elasnão estabeleçam