poder — Portuguese conjugation
to be able; can
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.
| Pronoun | Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| eu | posso | I am able |
| tu | podes | you are able |
| você | pode | you are able |
| ele/ela | pode | he/she/it is able |
| nós | podemos | we are able |
| vós | podeis | you (pl.) are able |
| vocês | podem | you (pl.) are able |
| eles/elas | podem | they are able |
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.
| Pronoun | Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| eu | pude | I was able |
| tu | pudeste | you were able |
| você | pôde | you were able |
| ele/ela | pôde | he/she/it was able |
| nós | pudemos | we were able |
| vós | pudestes | you (pl.) were able |
| vocês | puderam | you (pl.) were able |
| eles/elas | puderam | they were able |
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.
| Pronoun | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| eu | podia |
| tu | podias |
| você | podia |
| ele/ela | podia |
| nós | podíamos |
| vós | podíeis |
| vocês | podiam |
| eles/elas | podiam |
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?
| Pronoun | Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| eu | poderia | I would be able |
| tu | poderias | you would be able |
| você | poderia | you would be able |
| ele/ela | poderia | he/she/it would be able |
| nós | poderíamos | we would be able |
| vós | poderíeis | you (pl.) would be able |
| vocês | poderiam | you (pl.) would be able |
| eles/elas | poderiam | they would be able |
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.
| Pronoun | Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| eu | poderei | I will be able |
| tu | poderás | you will be able |
| você | poderá | you will be able |
| ele/ela | poderá | he/she/it will be able |
| nós | poderemos | we will be able |
| vós | podereis | you (pl.) will be able |
| vocês | poderão | you (pl.) will be able |
| eles/elas | poderão | they will be able |
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.
| Pronoun | Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| eu | tenho podido | I have been able |
| tu | tens podido | you have been able |
| você | tem podido | you have been able |
| ele/ela | tem podido | he/she/it has been able |
| nós | temos podido | we have been able |
| vós | tendes podido | you (pl.) have been able |
| vocês | têm podido | you (pl.) have been able |
| eles/elas | têm podido | they have been able |
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.
| Pronoun | Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| eu | tinha podido | I had been able |
| tu | tinhas podido | you had been able |
| você | tinha podido | you had been able |
| ele/ela | tinha podido | he/she/it had been able |
| nós | tínhamos podido | we had been able |
| vós | tínheis podido | you (pl.) had been able |
| vocês | tinham podido | you (pl.) had been able |
| eles/elas | tinham podido | they had been able |
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.
| Pronoun | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| eu | teria podido |
| tu | terias podido |
| você | teria podido |
| ele/ela | teria podido |
| nós | teríamos podido |
| vós | teríeis podido |
| vocês | teriam podido |
| eles/elas | teriam podido |
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.
| Pronoun | Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| eu | terei podido | I will have been able |
| tu | terás podido | you will have been able |
| você | terá podido | you will have been able |
| ele/ela | terá podido | he/she/it will have been able |
| nós | teremos podido | we will have been able |
| vós | tereis podido | you (pl.) will have been able |
| vocês | terão podido | you (pl.) will have been able |
| eles/elas | terão podido | they will have been able |
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.
| Pronoun | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| eu | possa |
| tu | possas |
| você | possa |
| ele/ela | possa |
| nós | possamos |
| vós | possais |
| vocês | possam |
| eles/elas | possam |
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.
| Pronoun | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| eu | pudesse |
| tu | pudesses |
| você | pudesse |
| ele/ela | pudesse |
| nós | pudéssemos |
| vós | pudésseis |
| vocês | pudessem |
| eles/elas | pudessem |
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.
| Pronoun | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| tu | pode |
| você | possa |
| ele/ela | possa |
| nós | possamos |
| vós | podei |
| vocês | possam |
| eles/elas | possam |
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.
| Pronoun | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| tu | não possas |
| você | não possa |
| ele/ela | não possa |
| nós | não possamos |
| vós | não possais |
| vocês | não possam |
| eles/elas | não possam |