Pedro is shocked when he returns home to find the aftermath of Sofia’s wild house party. Notice how the verb ficar is used in different ways throughout the dialogue.
Uma Festa de Arromba
A Wild Party
Jantar em Casa do José
Dinner At José's House
José and Diogo watch the game together. Keep an eye (or ear) out for irregular verbs in the present tense, such as ter, poder, querer, and ir, plus many common conversational phrases.
Compound Tenses – Subjunctive Mood and Nominal Verb Forms
Earlier in this unit, we focused on in the indicative and conditional moods. Now we’ll cover the compound tenses in the , as well as . Don’t worry, the basic formula is still the same 😉: auxiliary verb ter + past participle of the main verb.
Compound Tenses – Indicative and Conditional Moods
A Portuguese verb form can appear in a simple tense (only the main verb) or in a compound tense, which is a combination of an auxiliary verb and the past participle of the main verb. The most common used in is the verb ter. For example:
As Recomendações Da Sara
Sara's Recommendations
Sara gives Ana recommendations for new TV series to watch.
The Verb Saber
The Portuguese verb has two different meanings. Most of the time, it means 🧠 to know, but did you know in certain contexts it can also mean 👅 to taste? Saber is conjugated in the 3rd person singular in both sentences, so it’s written exactly the same, but with an entirely different meaning. In the […]
Saber vs. Conhecer
The verbs and cause a lot of confusion for Portuguese learners. If you translate them into English, both mean to know, but in Portuguese you also have to pay attention to the context in order to know 😉 which one to use. Saber: Talking About Information You Know We use saber to talk about facts […]
A Few More Common Irregular Verbs
If you remember the Common Irregular Verbs unit, this is part 2! As you may remember, Portuguese verbs can be irregular in the root, the ending, or both, and they are often irregular only in certain tenses. Here’s an overview of most of the verbs we’ll cover in the following Lessons. For now, we’re continuing […]
English Expressions in Portuguese
One challenge of learning Portuguese, or any language, is that you can’t simply translate literally. Each language has its own conventions for how to word different concepts. This is known as idiomatic language. In this Learning Note, we’re focusing mostly on how to translate English “phrasal verbs” into Portuguese. (If you’re looking for other types […]
Rita E Raquel Vão Ao Cinema
Rita And Raquel Go To The Movie Theater
Rita and Raquel talk about their plans as they get ready to go out for the evening. Listen for regular -ar verbs conjugated in the present tense.
O Miguel Faz A Vontade À Gisela
Miguel Humors Gisela
Gisela tells Miguel about her new favourite TV show. Take note of the irregular verbs used throughout the dialogue.
Spelling Variations in Regular Verbs
After learning the rules for conjugating verbs, you may have noticed that certain Portuguese verbs are not spelled the way you would expect… If a verb is spelled and spoken completely differently, this is because it’s an irregular verb. But if it’s still spoken as expected, it probably just means it’s a regular verb with […]
Liliana Precisa De Tempo
Liliana Needs Time
Liliana and Bruno discuss some problems in their relationship. Notice how the verb ficar is used in a variety of different ways throughout their conversation.
Basic Portuguese Grammar
This Learning Note was designed to serve as a very condensed overview of basic Portuguese grammar. We hope this will help give you a “big picture” view of the language before you dive into the details. You’ll notice there are many links throughout, in case you want to explore a particular topic, or bookmark it […]
A Sopa da Diana
Diana's Soup
A group of friends are about to go see a movie. Before they leave, Diana decides to make dinner for everyone, despite not being a very good cook… Take note of how regular -ar verbs (such as chegar, começar, cozinhar, ajudar, cortar, etc.) are conjugated in the present tense (presente do indicativo) throughout the dialogue. […]
Carapaus de Corrida
Racing Mackerels (i.e. Getting Cocky)
Rodrigo reminisces about his favourite tavern: Tasquinha do Zé Pipo. Notice how the imperfeito do indicativo (past continuous) is used throughout the dialogue.
Auxiliary Verbs
Let’s talk about an important topic: Portuguese auxiliary verbs! In a verb phrase (locução verbal), an auxiliary verb comes before the main verb. Essentially, its job is to “help” the main verb. Most Common Portuguese Auxiliary Verbs Here are a few of the most common , which you will probably recognize: Here are just a […]
The Verb “Dar” And Its Many Meanings
Did you know the verb “dar” has at least 60 different meanings in Portuguese? 😱 The simplest translation is “to give”, but it also has many idiomatic meanings, which depend on the context. Today, Joel and Rui take a deep dive into “dar”, with some help from one of our Shorty episodes: Dar Uma Mãozinha. […]
Encontro No Ginásio
Encounter At The Gym
Ricardo recognizes an old classmate at the gym. Explore the variety of uses of the verb andar throughout their conversation.
3 Portuguese Verbs that Mean “To Understand” – Entender, Compreender, Perceber
In today’s video we’re going to introduce 3 Portuguese verbs that mean “to understand” in Portuguese: ENTENDER, COMPREENDER, and PERCEBER. You can use these verbs to check whether someone has understood you. We’ll teach you the informal and formal ways to ask this question with each verb, plus how to respond naturally “the Portuguese way”. […]
Nova Entrada No Blogue
New Blog Post
A blogger narrates a new entry about her favourite activity: watching television shows. Notice how she uses the verbs vir (to come) and ver (to watch) throughout the post. The conjugations of these verbs are similar, so they are easy to mix up. 🙂 Conjugation of vir Conjugation of ver
As Recordações Da Rita
Rita's Memories
The arrival of spring reminds Rita of the weekends spent at her grandparents’ farm. As you hear about her favourite memories, you can practice your “R” pronunciation and the pretérito imperfeito do indicativo tense.
Um Típico Sábado
A Typical Saturday
Need more practice conjugating regular -er verbs? Listen for these verbs: comer, beber, crescer, parecer, escrever, correr, aprender, entender, conhecer, and responder. They are all conjugated following the same patterns! Follow along as Cassandra shares her typical Saturday routine. She eats breakfast with her son, writes an email to her mother, and then meets up with […]
Passa-se Cá um Briol
It's Very Cold in Here
Rodrigo complains to Adelaide about how cold their home is. Familiarize yourself with a number of reflexive verbs throughout the dialogue.