pedir — Portuguese conjugation

to ask for

Frequency#43Irregular

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
eupeçoI ask for
tupedesyou ask for
vocêpedeyou ask for
ele/elapedehe/she/it asks for
nóspedimoswe ask for
vóspedisyou (pl.) ask for
vocêspedemyou (pl.) ask for
eles/elaspedemthey ask for

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
eupediI asked for
tupedisteyou asked for
vocêpediuyou asked for
ele/elapediuhe/she/it asked for
nóspedimoswe asked for
vóspedistesyou (pl.) asked for
vocêspediramyou (pl.) asked for
eles/elaspediramthey asked for

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
eupedia
tupedias
vocêpedia
ele/elapedia
nóspedíamos
vóspedíeis
vocêspediam
eles/elaspediam

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
eupediriaI would ask for
tupediriasyou would ask for
vocêpediriayou would ask for
ele/elapediriahe/she/it would ask for
nóspediríamoswe would ask for
vóspediríeisyou (pl.) would ask for
vocêspediriamyou (pl.) would ask for
eles/elaspediriamthey would ask for

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
eupedireiI will ask for
tupedirásyou will ask for
vocêpediráyou will ask for
ele/elapediráhe/she/it will ask for
nóspediremoswe will ask for
vóspedireisyou (pl.) will ask for
vocêspedirãoyou (pl.) will ask for
eles/elaspedirãothey will ask for

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 pedidoI have asked for
tutens pedidoyou have asked for
vocêtem pedidoyou have asked for
ele/elatem pedidohe/she/it has asked for
nóstemos pedidowe have asked for
vóstendes pedidoyou (pl.) have asked for
vocêstêm pedidoyou (pl.) have asked for
eles/elastêm pedidothey have asked for

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 pedidoI had asked for
tutinhas pedidoyou had asked for
vocêtinha pedidoyou had asked for
ele/elatinha pedidohe/she/it had asked for
nóstínhamos pedidowe had asked for
vóstínheis pedidoyou (pl.) had asked for
vocêstinham pedidoyou (pl.) had asked for
eles/elastinham pedidothey had asked for

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

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 pedidoI will have asked for
tuterás pedidoyou will have asked for
vocêterá pedidoyou will have asked for
ele/elaterá pedidohe/she/it will have asked for
nósteremos pedidowe will have asked for
vóstereis pedidoyou (pl.) will have asked for
vocêsterão pedidoyou (pl.) will have asked for
eles/elasterão pedidothey will have asked for

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
eupeça
tupeças
vocêpeça
ele/elapeça
nóspeçamos
vóspeçais
vocêspeçam
eles/elaspeçam

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
eupedisse
tupedisses
vocêpedisse
ele/elapedisse
nóspedíssemos
vóspedísseis
vocêspedissem
eles/elaspedissem

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
tupede
vocêpeça
ele/elapeça
nóspeçamos
vóspedi
vocêspeçam
eles/elaspeçam

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 peças
vocênão peça
ele/elanão peça
nósnão peçamos
vósnão peçais
vocêsnão peçam
eles/elasnão peçam