perder — Portuguese conjugation

to lose

Frequency#41IrregularReflexiveperder-se — to lose oneself

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
eupercoI lose
tuperdesyou lose
vocêperdeyou lose
ele/elaperdehe/she/it loses
nósperdemoswe lose
vósperdeisyou (pl.) lose
vocêsperdemyou (pl.) lose
eles/elasperdemthey lose

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
euperdiI lost
tuperdesteyou lost
vocêperdeuyou lost
ele/elaperdeuhe/she/it lost
nósperdemoswe lost
vósperdestesyou (pl.) lost
vocêsperderamyou (pl.) lost
eles/elasperderamthey lost

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
euperdia
tuperdias
vocêperdia
ele/elaperdia
nósperdíamos
vósperdíeis
vocêsperdiam
eles/elasperdiam

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
euperderiaI would lose
tuperderiasyou would lose
vocêperderiayou would lose
ele/elaperderiahe/she/it would lose
nósperderíamoswe would lose
vósperderíeisyou (pl.) would lose
vocêsperderiamyou (pl.) would lose
eles/elasperderiamthey would lose

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
euperdereiI will lose
tuperderásyou will lose
vocêperderáyou will lose
ele/elaperderáhe/she/it will lose
nósperderemoswe will lose
vósperdereisyou (pl.) will lose
vocêsperderãoyou (pl.) will lose
eles/elasperderãothey will lose

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 perdidoI have lost
tutens perdidoyou have lost
vocêtem perdidoyou have lost
ele/elatem perdidohe/she/it has lost
nóstemos perdidowe have lost
vóstendes perdidoyou (pl.) have lost
vocêstêm perdidoyou (pl.) have lost
eles/elastêm perdidothey have lost

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 perdidoI had lost
tutinhas perdidoyou had lost
vocêtinha perdidoyou had lost
ele/elatinha perdidohe/she/it had lost
nóstínhamos perdidowe had lost
vóstínheis perdidoyou (pl.) had lost
vocêstinham perdidoyou (pl.) had lost
eles/elastinham perdidothey had lost

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

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 perdidoI will have lost
tuterás perdidoyou will have lost
vocêterá perdidoyou will have lost
ele/elaterá perdidohe/she/it will have lost
nósteremos perdidowe will have lost
vóstereis perdidoyou (pl.) will have lost
vocêsterão perdidoyou (pl.) will have lost
eles/elasterão perdidothey will have lost

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
euperca
tupercas
vocêperca
ele/elaperca
nóspercamos
vóspercais
vocêspercam
eles/elaspercam

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
euperdesse
tuperdesses
vocêperdesse
ele/elaperdesse
nósperdêssemos
vósperdêsseis
vocêsperdessem
eles/elasperdessem

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
tuperde
vocêperca
ele/elaperca
nóspercamos
vósperdei
vocêspercam
eles/elaspercam

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 percas
vocênão perca
ele/elanão perca
nósnão percamos
vósnão percais
vocêsnão percam
eles/elasnão percam