passar — Portuguese conjugation

to pass

Frequency#16IrregularReflexivepassar-se — to happen to 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
eupassoI pass
tupassasyou pass
vocêpassayou pass
ele/elapassahe/she/it passes
nóspassamoswe pass
vóspassaisyou (pl.) pass
vocêspassamyou (pl.) pass
eles/elaspassamthey pass

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
eupasseiI passed
tupassasteyou passed
vocêpassouyou passed
ele/elapassouhe/she/it passed
nóspassamoswe passed
vóspassastesyou (pl.) passed
vocêspassaramyou (pl.) passed
eles/elaspassaramthey passed

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
eupassava
tupassavas
vocêpassava
ele/elapassava
nóspassávamos
vóspassáveis
vocêspassavam
eles/elaspassavam

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
eupassariaI would pass
tupassariasyou would pass
vocêpassariayou would pass
ele/elapassariahe/she/it would pass
nóspassaríamoswe would pass
vóspassaríeisyou (pl.) would pass
vocêspassariamyou (pl.) would pass
eles/elaspassariamthey would pass

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
eupassareiI will pass
tupassarásyou will pass
vocêpassaráyou will pass
ele/elapassaráhe/she/it will pass
nóspassaremoswe will pass
vóspassareisyou (pl.) will pass
vocêspassarãoyou (pl.) will pass
eles/elaspassarãothey will pass

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 passadoI have passed
tutens passadoyou have passed
vocêtem passadoyou have passed
ele/elatem passadohe/she/it has passed
nóstemos passadowe have passed
vóstendes passadoyou (pl.) have passed
vocêstêm passadoyou (pl.) have passed
eles/elastêm passadothey have passed

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 passadoI had passed
tutinhas passadoyou had passed
vocêtinha passadoyou had passed
ele/elatinha passadohe/she/it had passed
nóstínhamos passadowe had passed
vóstínheis passadoyou (pl.) had passed
vocêstinham passadoyou (pl.) had passed
eles/elastinham passadothey had passed

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

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 passadoI will have passed
tuterás passadoyou will have passed
vocêterá passadoyou will have passed
ele/elaterá passadohe/she/it will have passed
nósteremos passadowe will have passed
vóstereis passadoyou (pl.) will have passed
vocêsterão passadoyou (pl.) will have passed
eles/elasterão passadothey will have passed

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
eupasse
tupasses
vocêpasse
ele/elapasse
nóspassemos
vóspasseis
vocêspassem
eles/elaspassem

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
eupassasse
tupassasses
vocêpassasse
ele/elapassasse
nóspassássemos
vóspassásseis
vocêspassassem
eles/elaspassassem

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
tupassa
vocêpasse
ele/elapasse
nóspassemos
vóspassai
vocêspassem
eles/elaspassem

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 passes
vocênão passe
ele/elanão passe
nósnão passemos
vósnão passeis
vocêsnão passem
eles/elasnão passem