Learn the 3 Main Verb Tenses in Portuguese
Hello, dear students!
In today’s lesson, you’re going to learn and practice the three main verb tenses in Portuguese: present, past, and future.
If you’d like to test your knowledge, I recommend watching the video first and taking the test before reading this blog post.
If you’re not yet familiar with how to conjugate verbs in Portuguese, check out the main conjugations below.
This lesson includes a free PDF with exercises and a verb chart for the present, past, and future. Click here to download your worksheet.
How to Conjugate Verbs in Portuguese
1. Presente (Present tense)
Estudar (regular)
Eu estudo (I study)
Você/ele/ela/a gente estuda (You/he/she/we study)
Nós estudamos (we study)
Vocês/eles/elas estudam (You all/they study)
Escrever (regular)
Eu escrevo (I write)
Você/ele/ela/a gente escreve (You/he/she/we write)
Nós escrevemos (we write)
Vocês/eles/elas escrevem (You all/they write)
Assistir (regular)
Eu assisto (I watch)
Você/ele/ela/a gente assiste (You/he/she/we watch)
Nós assistimos (we watch)
Vocês/eles/elas assistem (You all/they watch)
Ter (irregular)
Eu tenho (I have)
Você/ele/ela/a gente tem (You/he/she/we have)
Nós temos (we have)
Vocês/eles/elas têm (You all/they have)
Ir (irregular)
Eu vou (I go)
Você/ele/ela/a gente vai (You/he/she/we go)
Nós vamos (we go)
Vocês/eles/elas vão (You all/they go)
2. Pretérito Perfeito (Past tense)
Estudar (regular)
Eu estudei (I studied)
Você/ele/ela/a gente estudou (You/he/she/we studied)
Nós estudamos (we studied)
Vocês/eles/elas estudaram (You all/they studied)
Escrever (regular)
Eu escrevi (I wrote)
Você/ele/ela/a gente escreveu (You/he/she/we wrote)
Nós escrevemos (we wrote)
Vocês/eles/elas escreveram (You all/they wrote)
Assistir (regular)
Eu assisti (I watched)
Você/ele/ela/a gente assistiu (You/he/she/we watched)
Nós assistimos (we watched)
Vocês/eles/elas assistiram (You all/they watched)
Ter (irregular)
Eu tive (I had)
Você/ele/ela/a gente teve (You/he/she/we had)
Nós tivemos (we had)
Vocês/eles/elas tiveram (You all/they had)
Ir (irregular)
Eu fui (I went)
Você/ele/ela/a gente foi (You/he/she/we went)
Nós fomos (we went)
Vocês/eles/elas foram (You all/they went)
3. Futuro Imediato (Future tense)
IR + verbo principal (going to + main verb)
This simple construction can be used for both regular and irregular verbs.
Estudar
Eu vou estudar (I’m going to study, write, watch)
Você/ele/ela/a gente vai estudar (You/he/she/we are going to study)
Nós vamos estudar (We are going to study)
Vocês/eles/elas vão estudar (You all/they are going to study)
How to use these verb tenses in a real-life context
To help learn how to use these verb tenses in a real-life context, we’re going to look at how to talk about a weekly routine, which is a very common conversation topic.
Let’s see how to talk about the same routine using the three main verb tenses: present, past and future.
A Rotina de Joana (Presente)
Joana estuda muito todos os dias. De segunda a sexta, ela acorda às seis da manhã. Ela toma café da manhã com pão, café e frutas. Depois, ela vai para a universidade de metrô. Ela tem aulas das oito da manhã ao meio-dia.
Depois das aulas, Joana almoça na cafeteria da universidade. À tarde, ela estuda na biblioteca. Em torno das 5 da tarde, ela volta para casa. À noite, ela janta com sua irmã e assiste a séries na televisão. Ela se deita para dormir em torno de dez horas da noite.
Aos sábados, Joana se levanta mais tarde. Ela vai ao mercado, limpa o apartamento e lava roupa. À tarde, ela estuda um pouco e fala com os pais pelo telefone. À noite, ela sai com amigos.
Aos domingos, Joana descansa. Ela acorda tarde e almoça com a família. À tarde, ela caminha no parque com seu cachorro. À noite, ela se prepara para a semana e vai para a cama cedo. Joana tem uma rotina cheia, mas ela adora sua vida de estudante.
Joana’s Routine (Present tense)
Joana studies a lot every day. From Monday to Friday, she wakes up at six in the morning. She has breakfast with bread, coffee, and fruit. Then, she goes to the university by subway. She has classes from eight in the morning to noon.
After class, Joana has lunch at the university cafeteria. In the afternoon, she studies in the library. Around 5 in the afternoon, she goes back home. At night, she has dinner with her sister and watches series on TV. She goes to bed around ten o’clock at night.
On Saturdays, Joana gets up later. She goes to the market, cleans the apartment, and does laundry. In the afternoon, she studies a bit and talks to her parents on the phone. At night, she goes out with friends.
On Sundays, Joana rests. She wakes up late and has lunch with her family. In the afternoon, she walks in the park with her dog. At night, she gets ready for the week and goes to bed early. Joana has a busy routine, but she loves her student life.
A Rotina de Joana (Passado)
Semana passada, Joana estudou muito todos os dias. De segunda a sexta, ela acordou às seis da manhã. Ela tomou café da manhã com pão, café e frutas. Depois, ela foi para a universidade de metrô. Ela teve aulas das oito da manhã ao meio-dia.
Depois das aulas, Joana almoçou na cafeteria da universidade. À tarde, ela estudou na biblioteca. Em torno das 5 da tarde, ela voltou para casa. À noite, ela jantou com sua irmã e assistiu a séries na televisão. Ela se deitou para dormir em torno de dez horas da noite.
No sábado, Joana se levantou mais tarde. Ela foi ao mercado, limpou o apartamento e lavou a roupa. À tarde, ela estudou um pouco e falou com os pais pelo telefone. À noite, ela saiu com amigos.
No domingo, Joana descansou. Ela acordou tarde e almoçou com a família. À tarde, ela caminhou no parque com seu cachorro. À noite, ela se preparou para a semana e foi para a cama cedo. Joana teve uma semana cheia.
Joana’s Routine (Past tense)
Last week, Joana studied a lot every day. From Monday to Friday, she woke up at six in the morning. She had breakfast with bread, coffee, and fruit. Then, she went to the university by subway. She had classes from eight in the morning to noon.
After class, Joana had lunch at the university cafeteria. In the afternoon, she studied in the library. Around 5 in the afternoon, she went back home.
At night, she had dinner with her sister and watched series on TV. She went to bed around ten o’clock at night.
On Saturday, Joana got up later. She went to the market, cleaned the apartment, and did the laundry. In the afternoon, she studied a bit and talked to her parents on the phone. At night, she went out with friends.
On Sunday, Joana rested. She woke up late and had lunch with her family. In the afternoon, she walked in the park with her dog. At night, she got ready for the week and went to bed early. Joana had a busy week.
A Rotina de Joana (Futuro)
Na próxima semana, Joana vai estudar muito todos os dias. De segunda a sexta, ela vai acordar às seis da manhã. Ela vai tomar café da manhã com pão, café e frutas. Depois, ela vai para a universidade de metrô. Ela vai ter aulas das oito da manhã ao meio-dia.
Depois das aulas, Joana vai almoçar na cafeteria da universidade. À tarde, ela vai estudar na biblioteca. Em torno das 5 da tarde, ela vai voltar para casa. À noite, ela vai jantar com sua irmã e assistir a séries na televisão. Ela vai se deitar para dormir em torno de dez horas da noite.
No sábado, Joana vai se levantar mais tarde. Ela vai ao mercado, limpar o apartamento e lavar a roupa. À tarde, ela vai estudar um pouco e falar com os pais pelo telefone. À noite, ela vai sair com amigos.
No domingo, Joana vai descansar. Ela vai acordar tarde e almoçar com a família. À tarde, ela vai caminhar no parque com seu cachorro. À noite, ela vai se preparar para a semana e vai para a cama cedo. Joana vai ter uma semana cheia.
Joana’s Routine (Future tense)
Next week, Joana is going to study a lot every day. From Monday to Friday, she is going to wake up at six in the morning. She is going to have breakfast with bread, coffee, and fruit. Then, she is going to go to the university by subway. She is going to have classes from eight in the morning to noon.
After class, Joana is going to have lunch at the university cafeteria. In the afternoon, she is going to study in the library. Around 5 in the afternoon, she is going to go back home. At night, she is going to have dinner with her sister and watch series on TV. She is going to go to bed around ten o’clock at night.
On Saturday, Joana is going to get up later. She is going to go to the market, clean the apartment, and do the laundry. In the afternoon, she is going to study a bit and talk to her parents on the phone. At night, she is going to go out with friends.
On Sunday, Joana is going to rest. She is going to wake up late and have lunch with her family. In the afternoon, she is going to walk in the park with her dog. At night, she is going to get ready for the week and go to bed early. Joana is going to have a busy week.
Free PDF!
Remember that this lesson includes a free PDF with the full text in the present, past, and future, exercises, and a chart with all the verbs used in the text and their conjugations.
Click here to download your worksheet.
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