pesquisar — Portuguese conjugation

to research

Frequency#696Irregular

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
eupesquisoI research
tupesquisasyou research
vocêpesquisayou research
ele/elapesquisahe/she/it researches
nóspesquisamoswe research
vóspesquisaisyou (pl.) research
vocêspesquisamyou (pl.) research
eles/elaspesquisamthey research

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
eupesquiseiI researched
tupesquisasteyou researched
vocêpesquisouyou researched
ele/elapesquisouhe/she/it researched
nóspesquisamoswe researched
vóspesquisastesyou (pl.) researched
vocêspesquisaramyou (pl.) researched
eles/elaspesquisaramthey researched

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
eupesquisava
tupesquisavas
vocêpesquisava
ele/elapesquisava
nóspesquisávamos
vóspesquisáveis
vocêspesquisavam
eles/elaspesquisavam

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
eupesquisariaI would research
tupesquisariasyou would research
vocêpesquisariayou would research
ele/elapesquisariahe/she/it would research
nóspesquisaríamoswe would research
vóspesquisaríeisyou (pl.) would research
vocêspesquisariamyou (pl.) would research
eles/elaspesquisariamthey would research

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
eupesquisareiI will research
tupesquisarásyou will research
vocêpesquisaráyou will research
ele/elapesquisaráhe/she/it will research
nóspesquisaremoswe will research
vóspesquisareisyou (pl.) will research
vocêspesquisarãoyou (pl.) will research
eles/elaspesquisarãothey will research

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 pesquisadoI have researched
tutens pesquisadoyou have researched
vocêtem pesquisadoyou have researched
ele/elatem pesquisadohe/she/it has researched
nóstemos pesquisadowe have researched
vóstendes pesquisadoyou (pl.) have researched
vocêstêm pesquisadoyou (pl.) have researched
eles/elastêm pesquisadothey have researched

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 pesquisadoI had researched
tutinhas pesquisadoyou had researched
vocêtinha pesquisadoyou had researched
ele/elatinha pesquisadohe/she/it had researched
nóstínhamos pesquisadowe had researched
vóstínheis pesquisadoyou (pl.) had researched
vocêstinham pesquisadoyou (pl.) had researched
eles/elastinham pesquisadothey had researched

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

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 pesquisadoI will have researched
tuterás pesquisadoyou will have researched
vocêterá pesquisadoyou will have researched
ele/elaterá pesquisadohe/she/it will have researched
nósteremos pesquisadowe will have researched
vóstereis pesquisadoyou (pl.) will have researched
vocêsterão pesquisadoyou (pl.) will have researched
eles/elasterão pesquisadothey will have researched

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
eupesquise
tupesquises
vocêpesquise
ele/elapesquise
nóspesquisemos
vóspesquiseis
vocêspesquisem
eles/elaspesquisem

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
eupesquisasse
tupesquisasses
vocêpesquisasse
ele/elapesquisasse
nóspesquisássemos
vóspesquisásseis
vocêspesquisassem
eles/elaspesquisassem

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
tupesquisa
vocêpesquise
ele/elapesquise
nóspesquisemos
vóspesquisai
vocêspesquisem
eles/elaspesquisem

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 pesquises
vocênão pesquise
ele/elanão pesquise
nósnão pesquisemos
vósnão pesquiseis
vocêsnão pesquisem
eles/elasnão pesquisem