ir — Portuguese conjugation

to go

Frequency#6IrregularReflexiveir-se — to go 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
euvouI go
tuvaisyou go
vocêvaiyou go
ele/elavaihe/she/it goes
nósvamoswe go
vósidesyou (pl.) go
vocêsvãoyou (pl.) go
eles/elasvãothey go

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
eufuiI went
tufosteyou went
vocêfoiyou went
ele/elafoihe/she/it went
nósfomoswe went
vósfostesyou (pl.) went
vocêsforamyou (pl.) went
eles/elasforamthey went

Imperfect (Pretérito imperfeito) Irregular

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
euia
tuias
vocêia
ele/elaia
nósíamos
vósíeis
vocêsiam
eles/elasiam

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
euiriaI would go
tuiriasyou would go
vocêiriayou would go
ele/elairiahe/she/it would go
nósiríamoswe would go
vósiríeisyou (pl.) would go
vocêsiriamyou (pl.) would go
eles/elasiriamthey would go

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
euireiI will go
tuirásyou will go
vocêiráyou will go
ele/elairáhe/she/it will go
nósiremoswe will go
vósireisyou (pl.) will go
vocêsirãoyou (pl.) will go
eles/elasirãothey will go

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 idoI have gone
tutens idoyou have gone
vocêtem idoyou have gone
ele/elatem idohe/she/it has gone
nóstemos idowe have gone
vóstendes idoyou (pl.) have gone
vocêstêm idoyou (pl.) have gone
eles/elastêm idothey have gone

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 idoI had gone
tutinhas idoyou had gone
vocêtinha idoyou had gone
ele/elatinha idohe/she/it had gone
nóstínhamos idowe had gone
vóstínheis idoyou (pl.) had gone
vocêstinham idoyou (pl.) had gone
eles/elastinham idothey had gone

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

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 idoI will have gone
tuterás idoyou will have gone
vocêterá idoyou will have gone
ele/elaterá idohe/she/it will have gone
nósteremos idowe will have gone
vóstereis idoyou (pl.) will have gone
vocêsterão idoyou (pl.) will have gone
eles/elasterão idothey will have gone

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
eu
tuvás
você
ele/ela
nósvamos
vósvades
vocêsvão
eles/elasvão

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
eufosse
tufosses
vocêfosse
ele/elafosse
nósfôssemos
vósfôsseis
vocêsfossem
eles/elasfossem

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
tuvai
você
ele/ela
nósvamos
vóside
vocêsvão
eles/elasvão

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 vás
vocênão vá
ele/elanão vá
nósnão vamos
vósnão vades
vocêsnão vão
eles/elasnão vão