Kilo Lingo
Portuguese grammar Part of Chapter 1

CEFR A1-A2

4 min read

Test yourself (20 questions)

Portuguese Verb Conjugation: -ar, -er and -ir Charts

By Michael McGettrick and Jairo KasmierchckiUpdated 11 October 2026

Every Portuguese verb belongs to one of three families, named for the ending of its infinitive: -ar, -er or -ir. Learn three sets of endings once, and most verbs you meet can be conjugated on sight.

Quick check

Three quick questions on what you have just read. The full practice is further down.

Spot the mistake

0/3

Tap the wrong verb form.

The three families

ending (changes with the person)What do the colours mean?
FamilyExampleEnglishSize
-to speakthe largest, still growing
-erto eatfar smaller, closed
-to leavefar smaller, closed

New verbs join the -ar family: Brazil turned English delete into deletar, and deleto . is I delete the file.

To conjugate, drop the family ending and add the person ending:

falar: drop -ar, add -o: falo, I speak
  • . - I speak Portuguese.

The Portuguese conjugation chart: present tense

All three families side by side, in the forms Brazil uses:

Person-ar: -er: -ir:
/ /
/

Three things to notice in the colour:

  1. is -o in every family. . - I eat bread.
  2. -er and - share their endings except with . but : we eat, we leave.
  3. One form covers , and . . - You speak well.
Six panels following the same woman with long hair and a bow through her day: the alarm clock rings beside her bed while she is still asleep; she stretches as she gets up, the sun at the window; she has breakfast at a table with a bowl, toast and a cup; she talks on the phone; she shops, holding a full bag in front of the shelves; she comes home to her house in the evening.
  1. .
  2. .
  3. .
  4. .
  5. .

Her day in the present tense: the -ar verbs end in -a (acorda, liga, volta), the -er and -ir verbs in -e (come, dorme).

EP: also uses , with its own ending: ?, do you speak Portuguese? Most textbooks print six rows including and vós; Brazil needs four.

The simple past

The pretérito , the everyday past for a finished action, is just as tidy. The ending tells you the person and the tense at once:

Person-ar: -er: -ir:
/ /
/
  • . - Yesterday I spoke to her.
  • . - He left early.

The form is the same in the present and the past, and context decides: ., yesterday we talked a lot.

EP: usually writes the -ar past with an accent to tell them apart: , we spoke. The Portuguese preterite has the past in full.

The irregulars are the ones you need first

The irregular verbs are more or less the first verbs you will ever want: , , , and their friends. Frequency protects irregularity. A verb said a hundred times a day is learned whole by every child, so it never gets tidied up. English kept go / went for the same reason.

and have a page of their own. Here are the next eight, with the irregular part coloured:

Person
/ /
/
Person
/ /
/
Person
/ /
/

Most of the damage is in the form. Below it, several are almost regular:

  • . - I can go. (only is odd)
  • . - She wants coffee. (only drops its -e)
  • . - They have two children.

That last one is a trap on the page, not in the ear: is has and is they have, and the circumflex is the only difference.

Spelling changes that are not irregularities

Some verbs look irregular and are not. The sound follows the regular pattern exactly; the spelling shifts to protect it.

c becomes qu before e: fiquei, I stayed
c becomes ç before o: pareço, I seem
  • . - I stayed at home.
  • ? - Do I look tired?

File them as regular verbs with a spelling rule.

Mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
. ends in -o
.they have needs the circumflex
podo . is irregular with
sabo . is irregular with
partemos .-ir keeps its own vowel with
. takes the form

Where to start

  1. The - endings first: the biggest family, and the pattern for the other two.
  2. and , because you choose between them in every sentence.
  3. , , next. plus an infinitive gives you the future straight away:
  • . - I'm going to speak to him.
  • . - We'll see.

Every verb in those two sentences is taught early in the Portuguese course, which is where to drill them.

Practise: test yourself

Sort into groups

0/6

Sort each verb into its family.

Tap a word, then the group it belongs in.

Build the word

0/4

Build the present-tense form from its pieces.

  1. eu + falar

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  2. nós + comer

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  3. eles + partir

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  4. você + falar

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

Spot the mistake

0/3

Tap the wrong verb form.

Matching

0/4

Match each irregular eu form to its verb.

Translation drill

0/3

Watch the endings.

  1. Eu falo com ele.

  2. Você fala muito bem.

  3. Nós falamos todo dia.

Chapters 1 and 2 free

This article is one lesson in a whole course

Every grammar point has its own article and drill, and the course wraps them in graded stories, games and printable worksheets, in the order you need them.

Chapters 1 and 2 free, forever. Plus: 7 days free, then $5 a month for all eleven languages.

Start learning free

Portuguese · Free printables

Practice worksheets and infographics

Practice worksheets with answer keys built in, plus infographic and listicle formats. Open any one to view, print or save.

Infographics

  1. Key points infographic
  2. The three families
  3. The Portuguese conjugation chart: present tense
  4. The simple past
  5. The irregulars are the ones you need first
  6. The irregulars are the ones you need first
  7. The irregulars are the ones you need first
  8. Mistakes English speakers make

Other formats

  1. Listicle

More grammar on this course

Frequently asked questions

How many verb conjugations does Portuguese have?
Three, named for the infinitive ending: -ar (, to speak), -er (, to eat) and -ir (, to leave). The -ar family is by far the biggest, and new verbs join it. Knowing the family tells you the endings of every regular verb in it.
Which Portuguese verbs are irregular?
The ones you need first: , , , , , , , , and . Most of the damage is in the form: , , , , . A verb said a hundred times a day is learned whole and never gets tidied into the regular pattern.
Do I need the full conjugation table for Brazilian Portuguese?
Less of it than a textbook suggests. Brazil uses for the everyday you, and takes the same form as and : , . So four forms cover the present. also uses ( ), which a learner of Brazilian can leave until later.
What about verbs like that change their spelling?
Those are spelling changes, not irregularities. writes qu before an e to keep the hard c sound (, I stayed), and writes ç before an a or an o (, I seem). The sound stays regular; only the spelling shifts to protect it.
Which tense should I learn first?
The present. It carries a great deal of Portuguese, including much of what English puts in the future ( , I'll speak to him tomorrow). After that, the simple past, the pretérito , because conversation is full of it.