protestar — Portuguese conjugation

to protest (to make a strong objection)

Frequency#818IrregularReflexiveprotestar-se — to protest 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
euprotestoI protest
tuprotestasyou protest
vocêprotestayou protest
ele/elaprotestahe/she/it protests
nósprotestamoswe protest
vósprotestaisyou (pl.) protest
vocêsprotestamyou (pl.) protest
eles/elasprotestamthey protest

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
euprotesteiI protested
tuprotestasteyou protested
vocêprotestouyou protested
ele/elaprotestouhe/she/it protested
nósprotestamoswe protested
vósprotestastesyou (pl.) protested
vocêsprotestaramyou (pl.) protested
eles/elasprotestaramthey protested

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
euprotestava
tuprotestavas
vocêprotestava
ele/elaprotestava
nósprotestávamos
vósprotestáveis
vocêsprotestavam
eles/elasprotestavam

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
euprotestariaI would protest
tuprotestariasyou would protest
vocêprotestariayou would protest
ele/elaprotestariahe/she/it would protest
nósprotestaríamoswe would protest
vósprotestaríeisyou (pl.) would protest
vocêsprotestariamyou (pl.) would protest
eles/elasprotestariamthey would protest

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
euprotestareiI will protest
tuprotestarásyou will protest
vocêprotestaráyou will protest
ele/elaprotestaráhe/she/it will protest
nósprotestaremoswe will protest
vósprotestareisyou (pl.) will protest
vocêsprotestarãoyou (pl.) will protest
eles/elasprotestarãothey will protest

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 protestadoI have protested
tutens protestadoyou have protested
vocêtem protestadoyou have protested
ele/elatem protestadohe/she/it has protested
nóstemos protestadowe have protested
vóstendes protestadoyou (pl.) have protested
vocêstêm protestadoyou (pl.) have protested
eles/elastêm protestadothey have protested

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 protestadoI had protested
tutinhas protestadoyou had protested
vocêtinha protestadoyou had protested
ele/elatinha protestadohe/she/it had protested
nóstínhamos protestadowe had protested
vóstínheis protestadoyou (pl.) had protested
vocêstinham protestadoyou (pl.) had protested
eles/elastinham protestadothey had protested

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

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 protestadoI will have protested
tuterás protestadoyou will have protested
vocêterá protestadoyou will have protested
ele/elaterá protestadohe/she/it will have protested
nósteremos protestadowe will have protested
vóstereis protestadoyou (pl.) will have protested
vocêsterão protestadoyou (pl.) will have protested
eles/elasterão protestadothey will have protested

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
euproteste
tuprotestes
vocêproteste
ele/elaproteste
nósprotestemos
vósprotesteis
vocêsprotestem
eles/elasprotestem

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
euprotestasse
tuprotestasses
vocêprotestasse
ele/elaprotestasse
nósprotestássemos
vósprotestásseis
vocêsprotestassem
eles/elasprotestassem

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
tuprotesta
vocêproteste
ele/elaproteste
nósprotestemos
vósprotestai
vocêsprotestem
eles/elasprotestem

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 protestes
vocênão proteste
ele/elanão proteste
nósnão protestemos
vósnão protesteis
vocêsnão protestem
eles/elasnão protestem