levar — Portuguese conjugation

to take

Frequency#21RegularReflexivelevar-se — to take oneself

Indicative

Present (Presente) Regular

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
eulevoI take
tulevasyou take
vocêlevayou take
ele/elalevahe/she/it takes
nóslevamoswe take
vóslevaisyou (pl.) take
vocêslevamyou (pl.) take
eles/elaslevamthey take

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
euleveiI took
tulevasteyou took
vocêlevouyou took
ele/elalevouhe/she/it took
nóslevamoswe took
vóslevastesyou (pl.) took
vocêslevaramyou (pl.) took
eles/elaslevaramthey took

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
eulevava
tulevavas
vocêlevava
ele/elalevava
nóslevávamos
vósleváveis
vocêslevavam
eles/elaslevavam

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
eulevariaI would take
tulevariasyou would take
vocêlevariayou would take
ele/elalevariahe/she/it would take
nóslevaríamoswe would take
vóslevaríeisyou (pl.) would take
vocêslevariamyou (pl.) would take
eles/elaslevariamthey would take

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
eulevareiI will take
tulevarásyou will take
vocêlevaráyou will take
ele/elalevaráhe/she/it will take
nóslevaremoswe will take
vóslevareisyou (pl.) will take
vocêslevarãoyou (pl.) will take
eles/elaslevarãothey will take

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 levadoI have taken
tutens levadoyou have taken
vocêtem levadoyou have taken
ele/elatem levadohe/she/it has taken
nóstemos levadowe have taken
vóstendes levadoyou (pl.) have taken
vocêstêm levadoyou (pl.) have taken
eles/elastêm levadothey have taken

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 levadoI had taken
tutinhas levadoyou had taken
vocêtinha levadoyou had taken
ele/elatinha levadohe/she/it had taken
nóstínhamos levadowe had taken
vóstínheis levadoyou (pl.) had taken
vocêstinham levadoyou (pl.) had taken
eles/elastinham levadothey had taken

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

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 levadoI will have taken
tuterás levadoyou will have taken
vocêterá levadoyou will have taken
ele/elaterá levadohe/she/it will have taken
nósteremos levadowe will have taken
vóstereis levadoyou (pl.) will have taken
vocêsterão levadoyou (pl.) will have taken
eles/elasterão levadothey will have taken

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
euleve
tuleves
vocêleve
ele/elaleve
nóslevemos
vósleveis
vocêslevem
eles/elaslevem

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
eulevasse
tulevasses
vocêlevasse
ele/elalevasse
nóslevássemos
vóslevásseis
vocêslevassem
eles/elaslevassem

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
tuleva
vocêleve
ele/elaleve
nóslevemos
vóslevai
vocêslevem
eles/elaslevem

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 leves
vocênão leve
ele/elanão leve
nósnão levemos
vósnão leveis
vocêsnão levem
eles/elasnão levem