mostrar — Portuguese conjugation

to show

Frequency#100IrregularReflexivemostrar-se — to reveal 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
eumostroI show
tumostrasyou show
vocêmostrayou show
ele/elamostrahe/she/it shows
nósmostramoswe show
vósmostraisyou (pl.) show
vocêsmostramyou (pl.) show
eles/elasmostramthey show

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
eumostreiI showed
tumostrasteyou showed
vocêmostrouyou showed
ele/elamostrouhe/she/it showed
nósmostramoswe showed
vósmostrastesyou (pl.) showed
vocêsmostraramyou (pl.) showed
eles/elasmostraramthey showed

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
eumostrava
tumostravas
vocêmostrava
ele/elamostrava
nósmostrávamos
vósmostráveis
vocêsmostravam
eles/elasmostravam

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
eumostrariaI would show
tumostrariasyou would show
vocêmostrariayou would show
ele/elamostrariahe/she/it would show
nósmostraríamoswe would show
vósmostraríeisyou (pl.) would show
vocêsmostrariamyou (pl.) would show
eles/elasmostrariamthey would show

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
eumostrareiI will show
tumostrarásyou will show
vocêmostraráyou will show
ele/elamostraráhe/she/it will show
nósmostraremoswe will show
vósmostrareisyou (pl.) will show
vocêsmostrarãoyou (pl.) will show
eles/elasmostrarãothey will show

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 mostradoI have shown
tutens mostradoyou have shown
vocêtem mostradoyou have shown
ele/elatem mostradohe/she/it has shown
nóstemos mostradowe have shown
vóstendes mostradoyou (pl.) have shown
vocêstêm mostradoyou (pl.) have shown
eles/elastêm mostradothey have shown

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 mostradoI had shown
tutinhas mostradoyou had shown
vocêtinha mostradoyou had shown
ele/elatinha mostradohe/she/it had shown
nóstínhamos mostradowe had shown
vóstínheis mostradoyou (pl.) had shown
vocêstinham mostradoyou (pl.) had shown
eles/elastinham mostradothey had shown

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

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 mostradoI will have shown
tuterás mostradoyou will have shown
vocêterá mostradoyou will have shown
ele/elaterá mostradohe/she/it will have shown
nósteremos mostradowe will have shown
vóstereis mostradoyou (pl.) will have shown
vocêsterão mostradoyou (pl.) will have shown
eles/elasterão mostradothey will have shown

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
eumostre
tumostres
vocêmostre
ele/elamostre
nósmostremos
vósmostreis
vocêsmostrem
eles/elasmostrem

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
eumostrasse
tumostrasses
vocêmostrasse
ele/elamostrasse
nósmostrássemos
vósmostrásseis
vocêsmostrassem
eles/elasmostrassem

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
tumostra
vocêmostre
ele/elamostre
nósmostremos
vósmostrai
vocêsmostrem
eles/elasmostrem

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 mostres
vocênão mostre
ele/elanão mostre
nósnão mostremos
vósnão mostreis
vocêsnão mostrem
eles/elasnão mostrem