Explore essential European Portuguese verbs, their conjugations, meanings, and practical usage in daily conversation.
These two Portuguese structures, Estar a fazer vs andar a fazer, don’t exactly mean the same thing. If you’re learning European Portuguese, you’ve probably seen both of these: They both look like “to be doing” in English. But they are not interchangeable. And if you use them randomly, you’ll sound slightly… off. Let’s fix that … Read more
One of the first verbs people meet in Portuguese is ser, and it can feel intimidating straight away. But at the beginner level, you really don’t need all the theory. Let’s keep it practical. At its core, ser is used to express three very basic things. 1️⃣ QUEM alguém é (WHO someone is) We use … Read more
After ser, the next verb learners usually meet is estar. And again: no need to overcomplicate it. At the beginner level, estar is mainly used to talk about two things: 👉 how someone is👉 where someone is👉 the weather That’s it. 1️⃣ COMO alguém está (HOW someone is) We use estar to talk about states, … Read more
Both “há” and “existe” can be translated as “there is” or “there are” in English, but they’re used slightly differently and carry different tones. Let’s find out more about the diffrences in this post. ✅“Há” This comes from the verb haver, which is used impersonally (it doesn’t change with singular or plural in this context). … Read more
As a learner, you’ve probably tried to say something like “I have done the shopping” only to be told that “tenho feito as compras” is wrong. Or perhaps you’re working yourself through a B1/B2 Portuguese course and come across sentences like: Tenho estudado muito ultimamente.Temos saído com os amigos aos fins de semana.Tens dormido bem? … Read more
As we saw in the present tense, some verbs don’t follow regular patterns. It’s the same for this tense too. Here are a few you’ll use frequently. 1. Ser / Ir (to be / to go) Yes, these two completely different verbs have the same conjugation in the Pretérito Perfeito! How you’ll know the difference … Read more
The Pretérito Perfeito is used to talk about actions that started and finished in the past. These actions are complete and often happened at a specific moment. Common time expressions include: Examples: Regular Verbs Endings in the Pretérito Perfeito Regular verbs in the Pretérito Perfeito follow predictable patterns based on their infinitive endings: -AR, -ER, … Read more
Welcome to the Present Tense in Portuguese – Part 2! When learning Portuguese, one of the trickiest things to grasp is irregular verbs. Unlike regular verbs that follow predictable patterns, irregular verbs change their stems or endings in unexpected ways. But don’t worry – you don’t need to memorise them all at once! In this … Read more
Infinitives in Portuguese (unconjugated forms of verbs) are used in two main ways: the impersonal infinitive and the personal infinitive. In this lesson, I’ll walk you through them in a bite-sized way. For more details in each tense, follow the appropriate links. Impersonal Infinitive The impersonal infinitive is the base form of the verb and … Read more
Ah yes, translations! The bane of learners (and teachers). Sometimes they hinder more than help. The nuances of estar com vs ter in Portuguese perplex language learners and I’m often asked what the difference is. Both expressions convey the sensation of feeling, yet their usage can subtly diverge. This offers a glimpse into the rich … Read more