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 to stay in the present tense (presente do indicativo).
Indicativo
Elas odeiam chegar atrasadasThey fem. hate to arrive late
- eu odeioI hateindicativo > presente tu odeiasyou sing.,inf. hateindicativo > presente ele / ela odeiahe / she hatesindicativo > presente você odeiayou hateindicativo > presente nós odiamoswe hateindicativo > presente eles / elas odeiamthey hateindicativo > presente vocês odeiamyou hateindicativo > presente
Indicativo
Ele lê as legendasHe reads the subtitles
Indicativo
Ele perde a apostaHe loses the bet
- eu percoI loseindicativo > presente tu perdesyou sing.,inf. loseindicativo > presente ele / ela perdehe / she losesindicativo > presente você perdeyou loseindicativo > presente nós perdemoswe loseindicativo > presente eles / elas perdemthey loseindicativo > presente vocês perdemyou loseindicativo > presente
Indicativo
Eles sabem nadarThey know how to swim
- eu seiI knowindicativo > presente tu sabesyou sing.,inf. knowindicativo > presente ele / ela sabehe / she knowsindicativo > presente você sabeyou knowindicativo > presente nós sabemoswe knowindicativo > presente eles / elas sabemthey knowindicativo > presente vocês sabemyou knowindicativo > presente
Indicativo
Ele sai à noiteHe goes out at night
- eu saioI leaveindicativo > presente tu saisyou sing.,inf. leaveindicativo > presente ele / ela saihe / she leavesindicativo > presente você saiyou leaveindicativo > presente nós saímoswe leaveindicativo > presente eles / elas saemthey leaveindicativo > presente vocês saemyou leaveindicativo > presente
Indicativo
Tu constróis um castelo na areiaYousing.,inf. build a castle in the sand
- eu construoI buildindicativo > presente tu constróisyou sing.,inf. buildindicativo > presente ele / ela constróihe / she buildsindicativo > presente você constróiyou buildindicativo > presente nós construímoswe buildindicativo > presente eles / elas constroemthey buildindicativo > presente vocês constroemyou buildindicativo > presente
Indicativo
Nós rimos juntosWe laugh together
Indicativo
Eles sobem as escadasThey go up the stairs.
- eu suboI ascendindicativo > presente tu sobesyou sing.,inf. ascendindicativo > presente ele / ela sobehe / she ascendsindicativo > presente você sobeyou ascendindicativo > presente nós subimoswe ascendindicativo > presente eles / elas sobemthey ascendindicativo > presente vocês sobemyou ascendindicativo > presente
Indicativo
Ele sorri para mim constantementeHe smiles at me constantly.
- eu sorrioI smileindicativo > presente tu sorrisyou sing.,inf. smileindicativo > presente ele / ela sorrihe / she smilesindicativo > presente você sorriyou smileindicativo > presente nós sorrimoswe smileindicativo > presente eles / elas sorriemthey smileindicativo > presente vocês sorriemyou smileindicativo > presente
Indicativo
Eu conduzo malI drive poorly
- eu conduzoI leadindicativo > presente tu conduzesyou sing.,inf. leadindicativo > presente ele / ela conduzhe / she leadsindicativo > presente você conduzyou leadindicativo > presente nós conduzimoswe leadindicativo > presente eles / elas conduzemthey leadindicativo > presente vocês conduzemyou leadindicativo > presente
Indicativo
Indicativo
Ela não inclui o namorado nos seus planosShe doesn't include her boyfriend in her plans.
- eu incluoI includeindicativo > presente tu incluisyou sing.,inf. includeindicativo > presente ele / ela incluihe / she includesindicativo > presente você incluiyou includeindicativo > presente nós incluímoswe includeindicativo > presente eles / elas incluemthey includeindicativo > presente vocês incluemyou includeindicativo > presente
Here are a few Portuguese verbs that are only irregular in the first person (the eu form):
- ouvir → eu ouçoI hearindicativo > presente
- pedir → eu peçoI askindicativo > presente
- medir → eu meçoI measureindicativo > presente
- seguir → eu sigoI followindicativo > presente
- conseguir → eu consigoI canindicativo > presente
- preferir → eu prefiroI preferindicativo > presente
- dormir → eu durmoI sleepindicativo > presente
Comments
Does conseguir actually mean to get or achieve?
Depending on context, CONSEGUIR may be TO GET or TO BE CAPABLE OF/ABLE TO. 🙂
For irregular verbs it is important to practice infinitive form as well.
For example “eu não quero odiar te “
This one is getting me. Why the reflexive in this case, but not for the others in the lesson?
Eu rio-me das tuas piadas
Olá! The verb ‘rir’ is a pseudo-reflexive verb that is generally used with an intrinsic pronoun in European Portuguese. So, we say ‘eu rio-me’, ‘tu ris-te’, ‘ele ri-se’, etc. That’s what makes it different from other verbs you see here.
Thank you for the reply! I don’t think I asked my question properly — I was actually wondering why “rio-me” was used, but in the rest of the lesson there are no pronouns with the other conjugations of “rir” …. “O menino ri bastante” and “Nós rimos juntos.”
Ah, now I understand, sorry. The verb works both ways, but typically in slightly different contexts. In European Portuguese, it’s very idiomatic to include the pronoun when we’re specifically saying that we’re laughing at something (as is the case in “Eu rio-me das tuas piadas”), while in more general sentences (such as “O menino ri bastante”), the pronoun might not be included as often. That’s more or less our pattern of use 🙂
That was great and i’ve loved it completely and i have been doing Portuguese for 42 days in a row.
This unit introduced too many verbs at one time. It is impossible to master them all at once.
In general, I would try to think of it as an introduction to these verbs, rather than a way to master them all at once. They will come up again in other contexts as you continue learning, so it’s more of an opportunity to find out about more that are irregular and start practicing with them. The Lessons are not a test, they are for making mistakes and exploring the language.
That said, you can also get some extra practice with verb conjugations in the Verbs section, especially if you feel like it’s holding you back from progressing. Feel free to narrow your focus more by just choosing 1 or 2 to quiz yourself on in that section at a time. For example, if you don’t know any irregular verbs, maybe you could start with ser, ir, ter, querer, or poder. Then later on, you could work on a few more. And throughout the Units, Shorties, etc., you’ll be exposed to many different verbs, so you may even start to naturally pick up some of the common ones.
I completely understand the overwhelm, and we’ll definitely keep your feedback in mind and try to find a good balance in the future. It’s just that if we introduced only 1 or 2 at a time, the series of Units would need to be about 1000 times as long. 🙃 So I just wanted to make sure you’re not stressing yourself out thinking you are supposed to fully master everything in each Unit right away. It is a much more gradual process in which you’ll fill in more gaps as you move forward and as you revise what you’ve learned.
Respectfully, it looks to me like perder and saber are both first-person only. What am I missing? O que perco?
Olá, Peter! You’re talking about the fact that, in the Presente, the verbs saber and perder are only irregular in the first-person, correct? That is true, but they’re also irregular in the Presente do Conjuntivo and other tenses. Even though they do have regular conjugations, they also have some that are irregular, and that’s enough to consider them irregular overall.
I bought “Essential Portuguese Grammar” by Alexander Prista which seemed to have good reviews generally. It has irregular verbs in one of the appendices – a total of just 16. I was considerably heartened when I thought back to my school days learning french, when I had to learn a verb a day through my summer holidays to get through all the irregular ones. So 16 didn’t seem too bad.
But it’s a lie!
Of the 12 verbs listed in this unit only one, Saber, is in the grammar book.
So I’m not a happy bunny at the moment.
Olá! Maybe the book only focused on verbs that are profoundly irregular all the way through, and not just in a few of their conjugations. This would be reasonably aligned with the intention of focusing only on the ‘essential’/basics, as long as there was no claim that only 16 verbs in all of Portuguese grammar are irregular 🙂