mexer — Portuguese conjugation

to move, to stir

Frequency#643RegularReflexivemexer-se — to move 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
eumexoI move
tumexesyou move
vocêmexeyou move
ele/elamexehe/she/it moves
nósmexemoswe move
vósmexeisyou (pl.) move
vocêsmexemyou (pl.) move
eles/elasmexemthey move

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
eumexiI moved
tumexesteyou moved
vocêmexeuyou moved
ele/elamexeuhe/she/it moved
nósmexemoswe moved
vósmexestesyou (pl.) moved
vocêsmexeramyou (pl.) moved
eles/elasmexeramthey moved

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
eumexia
tumexias
vocêmexia
ele/elamexia
nósmexíamos
vósmexíeis
vocêsmexiam
eles/elasmexiam

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
eumexeriaI would move
tumexeriasyou would move
vocêmexeriayou would move
ele/elamexeriahe/she/it would move
nósmexeríamoswe would move
vósmexeríeisyou (pl.) would move
vocêsmexeriamyou (pl.) would move
eles/elasmexeriamthey would move

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
eumexereiI will move
tumexerásyou will move
vocêmexeráyou will move
ele/elamexeráhe/she/it will move
nósmexeremoswe will move
vósmexereisyou (pl.) will move
vocêsmexerãoyou (pl.) will move
eles/elasmexerãothey will move

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 mexidoI have moved
tutens mexidoyou have moved
vocêtem mexidoyou have moved
ele/elatem mexidohe/she/it has moved
nóstemos mexidowe have moved
vóstendes mexidoyou (pl.) have moved
vocêstêm mexidoyou (pl.) have moved
eles/elastêm mexidothey have moved

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 mexidoI had moved
tutinhas mexidoyou had moved
vocêtinha mexidoyou had moved
ele/elatinha mexidohe/she/it had moved
nóstínhamos mexidowe had moved
vóstínheis mexidoyou (pl.) had moved
vocêstinham mexidoyou (pl.) had moved
eles/elastinham mexidothey had moved

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

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 mexidoI will have moved
tuterás mexidoyou will have moved
vocêterá mexidoyou will have moved
ele/elaterá mexidohe/she/it will have moved
nósteremos mexidowe will have moved
vóstereis mexidoyou (pl.) will have moved
vocêsterão mexidoyou (pl.) will have moved
eles/elasterão mexidothey will have moved

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
eumexa
tumexas
vocêmexa
ele/elamexa
nósmexamos
vósmexais
vocêsmexam
eles/elasmexam

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
eumexesse
tumexesses
vocêmexesse
ele/elamexesse
nósmexêssemos
vósmexêsseis
vocêsmexessem
eles/elasmexessem

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
tumexe
vocêmexa
ele/elamexa
nósmexamos
vósmexei
vocêsmexam
eles/elasmexam

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 mexas
vocênão mexa
ele/elanão mexa
nósnão mexamos
vósnão mexais
vocêsnão mexam
eles/elasnão mexam