obter — Portuguese conjugation

to obtain

Frequency#109Irregular

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
euobtenhoI obtain
tuobténsyou obtain
vocêobtémyou obtain
ele/elaobtémhe/she/it obtains
nósobtemoswe obtain
vósobtendesyou (pl.) obtain
vocêsobtêmyou (pl.) obtain
eles/elasobtêmthey obtain

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
euobtiveI obtained
tuobtivesteyou obtained
vocêobteveyou obtained
ele/elaobtevehe/she/it obtained
nósobtivemoswe obtained
vósobtivestesyou (pl.) obtained
vocêsobtiveramyou (pl.) obtained
eles/elasobtiveramthey obtained

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
euobtinha
tuobtinhas
vocêobtinha
ele/elaobtinha
nósobtínhamos
vósobtínheis
vocêsobtinham
eles/elasobtinham

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
euobteriaI would obtain
tuobteriasyou would obtain
vocêobteriayou would obtain
ele/elaobteriahe/she/it would obtain
nósobteríamoswe would obtain
vósobteríeisyou (pl.) would obtain
vocêsobteriamyou (pl.) would obtain
eles/elasobteriamthey would obtain

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
euobtereiI will obtain
tuobterásyou will obtain
vocêobteráyou will obtain
ele/elaobteráhe/she/it will obtain
nósobteremoswe will obtain
vósobtereisyou (pl.) will obtain
vocêsobterãoyou (pl.) will obtain
eles/elasobterãothey will obtain

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 obtidoI have obtained
tutens obtidoyou have obtained
vocêtem obtidoyou have obtained
ele/elatem obtidohe/she/it has obtained
nóstemos obtidowe have obtained
vóstendes obtidoyou (pl.) have obtained
vocêstêm obtidoyou (pl.) have obtained
eles/elastêm obtidothey have obtained

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 obtidoI had obtained
tutinhas obtidoyou had obtained
vocêtinha obtidoyou had obtained
ele/elatinha obtidohe/she/it had obtained
nóstínhamos obtidowe had obtained
vóstínheis obtidoyou (pl.) had obtained
vocêstinham obtidoyou (pl.) had obtained
eles/elastinham obtidothey had obtained

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

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 obtidoI will have obtained
tuterás obtidoyou will have obtained
vocêterá obtidoyou will have obtained
ele/elaterá obtidohe/she/it will have obtained
nósteremos obtidowe will have obtained
vóstereis obtidoyou (pl.) will have obtained
vocêsterão obtidoyou (pl.) will have obtained
eles/elasterão obtidothey will have obtained

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
euobtenha
tuobtenhas
vocêobtenha
ele/elaobtenha
nósobtenhamos
vósobtenhais
vocêsobtenham
eles/elasobtenham

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
euobtivesse
tuobtivesses
vocêobtivesse
ele/elaobtivesse
nósobtivéssemos
vósobtivésseis
vocêsobtivessem
eles/elasobtivessem

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
tuobtém
vocêobtenha
ele/elaobtenha
nósobtenhamos
vósobtende
vocêsobtenham
eles/elasobtenham

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 obtenhas
vocênão obtenha
ele/elanão obtenha
nósnão obtenhamos
vósnão obtenhais
vocêsnão obtenham
eles/elasnão obtenham