saber — Portuguese conjugation
to know (facts, how to)
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 | sei | I know |
| tu | sabes | you know |
| você | sabe | you know |
| ele/ela | sabe | he/she/it knows |
| nós | sabemos | we know |
| vós | sabeis | you (pl.) know |
| vocês | sabem | you (pl.) know |
| eles/elas | sabem | they know |
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 | soube | I knew |
| tu | soubeste | you knew |
| você | soube | you knew |
| ele/ela | soube | he/she/it knew |
| nós | soubemos | we knew |
| vós | soubestes | you (pl.) knew |
| vocês | souberam | you (pl.) knew |
| eles/elas | souberam | they knew |
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 | sabia |
| tu | sabias |
| você | sabia |
| ele/ela | sabia |
| nós | sabíamos |
| vós | sabíeis |
| vocês | sabiam |
| eles/elas | sabiam |
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 | saberia | I would know |
| tu | saberias | you would know |
| você | saberia | you would know |
| ele/ela | saberia | he/she/it would know |
| nós | saberíamos | we would know |
| vós | saberíeis | you (pl.) would know |
| vocês | saberiam | you (pl.) would know |
| eles/elas | saberiam | they would know |
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 | saberei | I will know |
| tu | saberás | you will know |
| você | saberá | you will know |
| ele/ela | saberá | he/she/it will know |
| nós | saberemos | we will know |
| vós | sabereis | you (pl.) will know |
| vocês | saberão | you (pl.) will know |
| eles/elas | saberão | they will know |
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 sabido | I have known |
| tu | tens sabido | you have known |
| você | tem sabido | you have known |
| ele/ela | tem sabido | he/she/it has known |
| nós | temos sabido | we have known |
| vós | tendes sabido | you (pl.) have known |
| vocês | têm sabido | you (pl.) have known |
| eles/elas | têm sabido | they have known |
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 sabido | I had known |
| tu | tinhas sabido | you had known |
| você | tinha sabido | you had known |
| ele/ela | tinha sabido | he/she/it had known |
| nós | tínhamos sabido | we had known |
| vós | tínheis sabido | you (pl.) had known |
| vocês | tinham sabido | you (pl.) had known |
| eles/elas | tinham sabido | they had known |
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 sabido |
| tu | terias sabido |
| você | teria sabido |
| ele/ela | teria sabido |
| nós | teríamos sabido |
| vós | teríeis sabido |
| vocês | teriam sabido |
| eles/elas | teriam sabido |
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 sabido | I will have known |
| tu | terás sabido | you will have known |
| você | terá sabido | you will have known |
| ele/ela | terá sabido | he/she/it will have known |
| nós | teremos sabido | we will have known |
| vós | tereis sabido | you (pl.) will have known |
| vocês | terão sabido | you (pl.) will have known |
| eles/elas | terão sabido | they will have known |
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 | saiba |
| tu | saibas |
| você | saiba |
| ele/ela | saiba |
| nós | saibamos |
| vós | saibais |
| vocês | saibam |
| eles/elas | saibam |
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 | soubesse |
| tu | soubesses |
| você | soubesse |
| ele/ela | soubesse |
| nós | soubéssemos |
| vós | soubésseis |
| vocês | soubessem |
| eles/elas | soubessem |
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 | sabe |
| você | saiba |
| ele/ela | saiba |
| nós | saibamos |
| vós | sabei |
| vocês | saibam |
| eles/elas | saibam |
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 saibas |
| você | não saiba |
| ele/ela | não saiba |
| nós | não saibamos |
| vós | não saibais |
| vocês | não saibam |
| eles/elas | não saibam |