variar — Portuguese conjugation

to vary

Frequency#295Regular

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
euvarioI vary
tuvariasyou vary
vocêvariayou vary
ele/elavariahe/she/it varies
nósvariamoswe vary
vósvariaisyou (pl.) vary
vocêsvariamyou (pl.) vary
eles/elasvariamthey vary

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
euvarieiI varied
tuvariasteyou varied
vocêvariouyou varied
ele/elavariouhe/she/it varied
nósvariamoswe varied
vósvariastesyou (pl.) varied
vocêsvariaramyou (pl.) varied
eles/elasvariaramthey varied

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
euvariava
tuvariavas
vocêvariava
ele/elavariava
nósvariávamos
vósvariáveis
vocêsvariavam
eles/elasvariavam

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
euvariariaI would vary
tuvariariasyou would vary
vocêvariariayou would vary
ele/elavariariahe/she/it would vary
nósvariaríamoswe would vary
vósvariaríeisyou (pl.) would vary
vocêsvariariamyou (pl.) would vary
eles/elasvariariamthey would vary

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
euvariareiI will vary
tuvariarásyou will vary
vocêvariaráyou will vary
ele/elavariaráhe/she/it will vary
nósvariaremoswe will vary
vósvariareisyou (pl.) will vary
vocêsvariarãoyou (pl.) will vary
eles/elasvariarãothey will vary

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 variadoI have varied
tutens variadoyou have varied
vocêtem variadoyou have varied
ele/elatem variadohe/she/it has varied
nóstemos variadowe have varied
vóstendes variadoyou (pl.) have varied
vocêstêm variadoyou (pl.) have varied
eles/elastêm variadothey have varied

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 variadoI had varied
tutinhas variadoyou had varied
vocêtinha variadoyou had varied
ele/elatinha variadohe/she/it had varied
nóstínhamos variadowe had varied
vóstínheis variadoyou (pl.) had varied
vocêstinham variadoyou (pl.) had varied
eles/elastinham variadothey had varied

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

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 variadoI will have varied
tuterás variadoyou will have varied
vocêterá variadoyou will have varied
ele/elaterá variadohe/she/it will have varied
nósteremos variadowe will have varied
vóstereis variadoyou (pl.) will have varied
vocêsterão variadoyou (pl.) will have varied
eles/elasterão variadothey will have varied

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
euvarie
tuvaries
vocêvarie
ele/elavarie
nósvariemos
vósvarieis
vocêsvariem
eles/elasvariem

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
euvariasse
tuvariasses
vocêvariasse
ele/elavariasse
nósvariássemos
vósvariásseis
vocêsvariassem
eles/elasvariassem

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
tuvaria
vocêvarie
ele/elavarie
nósvariemos
vósvariai
vocêsvariem
eles/elasvariem

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 varies
vocênão varie
ele/elanão varie
nósnão variemos
vósnão varieis
vocêsnão variem
eles/elasnão variem