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Dever Conjugation

dever means "to must" in Portuguese. Present: eu devo, ele / ela / você deve, nós devemos, eles / elas / vocês devem. Below: all 18 tenses we teach, with examples.

Present Presente do indicativo

Used for habits, general truths, and things happening right now in everyday speech (Brazilians often use the plain present, not the continuous, for actions in progress: "trabalho" can mean "I work" or "I'm working"). Regular verbs take -o, -a, -amos, -am (-ar) / -o, -e, -emos, -em (-er) / -o, -e, -imos, -em (-ir).

Present continuous Presente contínuo

Estar in the present plus the gerund (-ando/-endo/-indo); used for something happening right at this moment. European Portuguese uses estar a + infinitive instead (estou a falar, not estou falando).

Simple past Pretérito perfeito

A completed action at a specific point in the past, Portuguese's main "I did / I spoke" past tense. Regular verbs take -ei, -ou, -amos, -aram (-ar) / -i, -eu, -emos, -eram (-er) / -i, -iu, -imos, -iram (-ir).

Imperfect Pretérito imperfeito

An ongoing or habitual action in the past, without a fixed endpoint ("I used to speak", "I was speaking"); also used for background description and polite requests ("eu queria...", "I'd like...").

Present perfect Pretérito perfeito composto

Ter in the present plus the past participle. Unlike English "I have spoken", this tense means an action that started in the past and has been repeating or continuing up to now ("I've been speaking"), not a single completed event — for that, use the simple past instead.

Pluperfect Pretérito mais-que-perfeito

An action completed before another past action ("I had spoken"). In everyday Brazilian speech this compound form (tinha + participle) is what's used; the one-word simple pluperfect (falara) exists but is literary and rarely spoken.

Near future Futuro próximo

Ir in the present plus the infinitive; this is the normal, everyday way to talk about the future in spoken Brazilian Portuguese, much more common than the simple future.

Simple future Futuro do presente

Formed by adding -ei, -á, -emos, -ão to the whole infinitive (all three classes share these endings). Common in writing and formal speech, and for promises or predictions; in casual talk Brazilians usually reach for the near future instead.

Future perfect Futuro do presente composto

Ter in the simple future plus the past participle: an action that will be completed before some point in the future ("I will have spoken"). Mostly used in formal or written Portuguese.

Conditional Futuro do pretérito

Same stem as the simple future, with -ia, -ia, -íamos, -iam. Used for hypotheticals ("I would speak"), polite requests, and for a future seen from a point in the past ("she said she would speak").

Conditional perfect Futuro do pretérito composto

Ter in the conditional plus the past participle: what would have happened under different circumstances ("I would have spoken"), often paired with an "if" clause in the pluperfect subjunctive.

Present Presente do subjuntivo

Built by taking the "I" form of the present indicative, dropping the -o, and adding the "opposite" vowel set: -e, -e, -emos, -em for -ar verbs; -a, -a, -amos, -am for -er and -ir verbs. Used for present or future doubt, wish or emotion after que.

Present perfect Pretérito perfeito do subjuntivo

Ter in the present subjunctive plus the past participle: doubt or emotion about something that (may) have already happened ("I hope you've spoken...").

Imperfect Pretérito imperfeito do subjuntivo

Built from the "they" form of the simple past: drop -ram and add -sse, -sse, -ssemos, -ssem. Used for past doubt or wish ("I wished you spoke...") and, very commonly, after se ("if") in hypothetical if-clauses about the present or future.

Pluperfect Pretérito mais-que-perfeito do subjuntivo

Tivesse (imperfect subjunctive of ter) plus the past participle: a hypothetical about the past that didn't happen ("if I had spoken..."), typically paired with the conditional perfect in the other clause.

Future Futuro do subjuntivo

For regular verbs this looks just like the infinitive, with endings added for "we" and "they": -, -, -mos, -em. Used after quando, se, assim que, enquanto and similar words whenever they point to the future ("when I speak to her", "if you finish") — extremely common in daily Brazilian speech, even though English has no equivalent tense.

Affirmative Imperativo afirmativo

Same forms as the present subjunctive. Used for direct commands and requests: "Speak!", "Let's speak!".

Negative Imperativo negativo

Não plus the present subjunctive — the same form the affirmative uses, just negated. Used for telling someone not to do something.

Examples

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