Regular verbs in Portuguese follow a set pattern or formular, this is what makes them regular. Once you have learned these three formulas, you have learned all the regular verbs!

When I was learning I couldn’t believe how great that was!

Portuguese Verb Conjugations

There are 3 conjugation groups in Portuguese. Each one with a different ending:-ar (e.g. falar), verbs that end in -er (e.g. comer) and verbs that end in – ir (e.g. abrir). Each verb has it’s own conjugation.
Let’s take a look at the verb ‘to be’ in English:

I am

you are

he is

We don’t say:

I is

you am

he are

Do you get the idea?

The verb to be in English as actually an irregular verb, but it is a great example to use.

How to conjugate the verbs

Forming regular Portuguese verbs is fairly easy, just follow this simple rule.
We take the last two letters from the verb stem highlighted in bold, and replace them with the ones indicated below, also highlighted in bold.

Notice how for ‘eu’ the verb always ends in an ‘o’.

We will start with these: Falar – to talk; comer – to eat; abrir – to open

Let’s see them in use.

Eu falo Português – I speak Portuguese

Eles comem a sopa – they eat the soup

Ela abre a prenda – she opens the present.

Notice how the -ir verb changes in almost the same way as the -er verb, except for the ‘nós’ form. That makes it easier 🙂

Asking a question

To ask a question just raise the tone slightly at the end of the phrase (phrase construction stays the same)

Falam Português? – do you all speak Portuguese (plural, ‘vocês’ form)

Fala português? = do you speak Portuguese? (você form)

The Negative

To make a negative phrase, We use the word ‘não’. This word can mean both no and not.

To make the phrase negative it is placed before the verb.

Ela não abre a porta – she doesn’t open the door.

Desculpe, eu não falo Português. – Sorry, I don’t speak Portuguese

A menina não come a sopa – the little girl doesn’t eat the soup

🙂