tomar — Portuguese conjugation

to take

Frequency#28RegularReflexivetomar-se — to take for 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
eutomoI take
tutomasyou take
vocêtomayou take
ele/elatomahe/she/it takes
nóstomamoswe take
vóstomaisyou (pl.) take
vocêstomamyou (pl.) take
eles/elastomamthey take

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
eutomeiI took
tutomasteyou took
vocêtomouyou took
ele/elatomouhe/she/it took
nóstomamoswe took
vóstomastesyou (pl.) took
vocêstomaramyou (pl.) took
eles/elastomaramthey took

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
eutomava
tutomavas
vocêtomava
ele/elatomava
nóstomávamos
vóstomáveis
vocêstomavam
eles/elastomavam

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
eutomariaI would take
tutomariasyou would take
vocêtomariayou would take
ele/elatomariahe/she/it would take
nóstomaríamoswe would take
vóstomaríeisyou (pl.) would take
vocêstomariamyou (pl.) would take
eles/elastomariamthey would take

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
eutomareiI will take
tutomarásyou will take
vocêtomaráyou will take
ele/elatomaráhe/she/it will take
nóstomaremoswe will take
vóstomareisyou (pl.) will take
vocêstomarãoyou (pl.) will take
eles/elastomarãothey will take

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 tomadoI have taken
tutens tomadoyou have taken
vocêtem tomadoyou have taken
ele/elatem tomadohe/she/it has taken
nóstemos tomadowe have taken
vóstendes tomadoyou (pl.) have taken
vocêstêm tomadoyou (pl.) have taken
eles/elastêm tomadothey have taken

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 tomadoI had taken
tutinhas tomadoyou had taken
vocêtinha tomadoyou had taken
ele/elatinha tomadohe/she/it had taken
nóstínhamos tomadowe had taken
vóstínheis tomadoyou (pl.) had taken
vocêstinham tomadoyou (pl.) had taken
eles/elastinham tomadothey had taken

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

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 tomadoI will have taken
tuterás tomadoyou will have taken
vocêterá tomadoyou will have taken
ele/elaterá tomadohe/she/it will have taken
nósteremos tomadowe will have taken
vóstereis tomadoyou (pl.) will have taken
vocêsterão tomadoyou (pl.) will have taken
eles/elasterão tomadothey will have taken

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
eutome
tutomes
vocêtome
ele/elatome
nóstomemos
vóstomeis
vocêstomem
eles/elastomem

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
eutomasse
tutomasses
vocêtomasse
ele/elatomasse
nóstomássemos
vóstomásseis
vocêstomassem
eles/elastomassem

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
tutoma
vocêtome
ele/elatome
nóstomemos
vóstomai
vocêstomem
eles/elastomem

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 tomes
vocênão tome
ele/elanão tome
nósnão tomemos
vósnão tomeis
vocêsnão tomem
eles/elasnão tomem