Verb tables (reference)

Every form of all thirty core verbs, in one place. This chapter is for lookup, not for reading through.

Three forms per tense throughout, per chapter 03: eu / você·ele·a gente / vocês·eles.

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Grammar

1. The three families

A verb's family is the last two letters of its infinitive — the dictionary form.

-er and -ir verbs are identical in every form you will produce. They differ only in the nós form, which chapter 03 replaced with a gente. So you have two patterns to learn, not three.

2. All endings on one page

Drop the -ar / -er / -ir from the infinitive, add:

Two shortcuts hidden in that table:

• The eu present always ends in -o. falo, como, abro. Even most irregulars obey: faço, posso, tenho, vejo.
• The -ar and -er endings swap vowels in the subjunctive. -ar verbs take e, -er/-ir verbs take a. That single swap is the entire present subjunctive.

The future subjunctive (ch. 19) is not in the table because it has no endings to learn: for regular verbs it is identical to the infinitive. falar → falar. comer → comer.

3. The three model verbs, fully

falar — to speak (-ar)

comer — to eat (-er)

abrir — to open (-ir)

Compare comer and abrir: identical apart from the -eu/-iu in the past and the gerund vowel.

4. Spelling changes that are not irregularities

Four core verbs change a consonant before e to keep the sound the same. Nothing is really irregular — the pronunciation is exactly what you'd predict.

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Examples

The 18 regular verbs

These follow falar, comer, or abrir exactly. Shown here in the four forms you'll reach for most.

Their future subjunctive is the infinitive: precisar, gostar, falar, pagar, comer, abrir… no new form to learn.

Their present subjunctive is the eu present with the vowel swapped: precise, goste, fale, pague, coma, abra.

The 12 irregular verbs

These are the ones to actually memorise. They are also the twelve you will use most — which is why they stayed irregular.

ser — to be (identity)

estar — to be (state) · spoken forms in brackets

ter — to have; tem = there is

ir — to go

ser and ir share their entire past tense and future subjunctive. Eu fui = both I was and I went. Context always sorts it out.

fazer — to do, to make

poder — can, to be able

querer — to want

queria is the everyday polite request — Eu queria um café (ch. 15, 17).

dar — to give

vir — to come

ver — to see

Watch the collision: ver → vir in the future subjunctive is spelled exactly like the infinitive of vir (to come). Se eu vir = if I see. Context only.

saber — to know (facts)

ver vs saber: Eu soube = I found out (an event). Eu sabia = I knew (a state). See ch. 15.

doer — to hurt · defective: third person only

The body part is the subject: A cabeça dói, Os pés doem (ch. 13, 24).

custar — to cost · defective: third person only

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The minimum table

If you memorise nothing else, memorise these. They cover the overwhelming majority of what you will say.

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What to take from this chapter

1. Family = last two letters of the infinitive. -er and -ir behave identically for you.
2. The eu present always ends in -o.
3. Present subjunctive: -ar verbs take e, -er/-ir verbs take a. That's the whole rule.
4. Future subjunctive of a regular verb is the infinitive.
5. Twelve irregular verbs. Learn ser, estar, ter, ir, poder, querer first — they carry the modal patterns in chapter 10.
6. ser and ir share a past tense.