tratar — Portuguese conjugation

to treat

Frequency#32IrregularReflexivetratar-se — to treat 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
eutratoI treat
tutratasyou treat
vocêtratayou treat
ele/elatratahe/she/it treats
nóstratamoswe treat
vóstrataisyou (pl.) treat
vocêstratamyou (pl.) treat
eles/elastratamthey treat

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
eutrateiI treated
tutratasteyou treated
vocêtratouyou treated
ele/elatratouhe/she/it treated
nóstratamoswe treated
vóstratastesyou (pl.) treated
vocêstrataramyou (pl.) treated
eles/elastrataramthey treated

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
eutratava
tutratavas
vocêtratava
ele/elatratava
nóstratávamos
vóstratáveis
vocêstratavam
eles/elastratavam

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
eutratariaI would treat
tutratariasyou would treat
vocêtratariayou would treat
ele/elatratariahe/she/it would treat
nóstrataríamoswe would treat
vóstrataríeisyou (pl.) would treat
vocêstratariamyou (pl.) would treat
eles/elastratariamthey would treat

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
eutratareiI will treat
tutratarásyou will treat
vocêtrataráyou will treat
ele/elatrataráhe/she/it will treat
nóstrataremoswe will treat
vóstratareisyou (pl.) will treat
vocêstratarãoyou (pl.) will treat
eles/elastratarãothey will treat

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 tratadoI have treated
tutens tratadoyou have treated
vocêtem tratadoyou have treated
ele/elatem tratadohe/she/it has treated
nóstemos tratadowe have treated
vóstendes tratadoyou (pl.) have treated
vocêstêm tratadoyou (pl.) have treated
eles/elastêm tratadothey have treated

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 tratadoI had treated
tutinhas tratadoyou had treated
vocêtinha tratadoyou had treated
ele/elatinha tratadohe/she/it had treated
nóstínhamos tratadowe had treated
vóstínheis tratadoyou (pl.) had treated
vocêstinham tratadoyou (pl.) had treated
eles/elastinham tratadothey had treated

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

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 tratadoI will have treated
tuterás tratadoyou will have treated
vocêterá tratadoyou will have treated
ele/elaterá tratadohe/she/it will have treated
nósteremos tratadowe will have treated
vóstereis tratadoyou (pl.) will have treated
vocêsterão tratadoyou (pl.) will have treated
eles/elasterão tratadothey will have treated

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
eutrate
tutrates
vocêtrate
ele/elatrate
nóstratemos
vóstrateis
vocêstratem
eles/elastratem

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
eutratasse
tutratasses
vocêtratasse
ele/elatratasse
nóstratássemos
vóstratásseis
vocêstratassem
eles/elastratassem

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
tutrata
vocêtrate
ele/elatrate
nóstratemos
vóstratai
vocêstratem
eles/elastratem

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 trates
vocênão trate
ele/elanão trate
nósnão tratemos
vósnão trateis
vocêsnão tratem
eles/elasnão tratem