Quick review of regular -ER verb endings
Let’s start out with a regular verb:
Indicativo
Tu escreves poemas lindosYou write beautiful poems.
- eu escrevoI writeindicativo > presente tu escrevesYou sing.,inf. writeindicativo > presente ele / ela escreveHe / She writesindicativo > presente você escreveyou formal writeindicativo > presente nós escrevemoswe writeindicativo > presente eles / elas escrevemthey writeindicativo > presente vocês escrevemyou pl. writeindicativo > presente
The verb stem escrev- is combined with the regular -ER present tense endings (-o, –es, –e, –emos, –em).
Irregular -ER Verbs
For an irregular example, let’s have a look at serto be (permanent) , which you’ve likely seen by now. This verb is a mess! Not only does it have non-standard endings, but it doesn’t even have a fixed verb stem (that is, the beginning part of the conjugation is different).
Indicativo
Vocês são os piores amigos!You're the worst friends!
The next irregular example is a bit less drastic. At least here the conjugations all start with “te-“, just like the infinitive verb:
Indicativo
Vocês têm água e sumo?Do you pl. have water and juice?
- eu tenhoI haveindicativo > presente tu tensYou sing.,inf. haveindicativo > presente ele / ela temHe / She hasindicativo > presente você temyou formal haveindicativo > presente nós temosWe haveindicativo > presente eles / elas têmthey haveindicativo > presente vocês têmyou pl. haveindicativo > presente
Now let’s compare terto have with the regular -ER endings:
| Regular -ER Endings | Actual Conjugation of “Ter” |
|---|---|
| -o | Eu tenhoI haveindicativo > presente |
| -es | Tu tensYou(sing.inf.) haveindicativo > presente |
| -e | Ele, Ela, Você temHe, she, you(sing.form.) have |
| -emos | Nós temosWe haveindicativo > presente |
| -em | Eles, Elas, Vocês têmThey, you(plur.) have |
Other Common Irregular -ER Verbs
Indicativo
Ele diz que está felizHe says that he is happy.
- eu digoI sayindicativo > presente tu dizesYou sing.,inf. sayindicativo > presente ele / ela dizHe / She saysindicativo > presente você dizyou formal sayindicativo > presente nós dizemosWe sayindicativo > presente eles / elas dizemthey sayindicativo > presente vocês dizemyou pl. sayindicativo > presente
Indicativo
Eu faço a camaI make the bed
Indicativo
Tu queres demasiadas coisasYousing.,inf. want too many things
- eu queroI wantindicativo > presente tu queresYou sing.,inf. wantindicativo > presente ele / ela querHe / She wantsindicativo > presente você queryou formal wantindicativo > presente nós queremosWe wantindicativo > presente eles / elas queremthey wantindicativo > presente vocês queremyou pl. wantindicativo > presente
Indicativo
Ela sabe conduzirShe knows how to drive
- eu seiI knowindicativo > presente tu sabesYou sing.,inf. knowindicativo > presente ele / ela sabeHe / She knowsindicativo > presente você sabeyou formal knowindicativo > presente nós sabemosWe knowindicativo > presente eles / elas sabemthey knowindicativo > presente vocês sabemyou pl. knowindicativo > presente
Indicativo
Eu trago sempre tudo comigoI always bring everything with me.
- eu tragoI bringindicativo > presente tu trazesYou sing.,inf. bringindicativo > presente ele / ela trazHe / She bringsindicativo > presente você trazyou formal bringindicativo > presente nós trazemoswe bringindicativo > presente eles / elas trazemthey bringindicativo > presente vocês trazemyou pl. bringindicativo > presente
Indicativo
Com esse dinheiro tu podes comprar um carro.With that money, you can buy a car.
- eu possoI canindicativo > presente tu podesYou sing.,inf. canindicativo > presente ele / ela podeHe / She canindicativo > presente você podeyou formal canindicativo > presente nós podemoswe canindicativo > presente eles / elas podemthey canindicativo > presente vocês podemyou pl. canindicativo > presente
Indicativo
Vocês veem televisãoYoupl. watch television
The conjugations for ver and vir are very confusing for me. I suspect they are for others as well. Perhaps some exercises that flip back and forth between the conjugations for the two verbs?
Same here! I get them confused all the time. This is for the simple past tense, but check out Lesson 13 in this unit: Simple Past 2. Maybe we can add something similar for some of the other tenses.
Good . Good revision for me.
Thanks
Can you remind me of the rule for ‘Que’ this section lists it a couple of times as:
Nos dizemos sempre que nao
Eu digo que sim
Thanks.
Olá, Tommy. “Que” is a very versatile word and difficult to explore in full without going deep into grammar. In those two examples, it’s acting as a conjunction, but it’s not essential in either. It would also be fine to say, for example, “Nós dizemos sempre não”.
Why is the first vowel of trazem low but that of trazemos mid?
Olá! Both words are stressed on the second-to-last syllable. In “trazem”, this corresponds to the syllable “tra-“, which is then pronounced more openly. In “trazemos”, this corresponds to “-ze-“, so the first syllable (tra-) is more muted in this case.
P.S.: Depending on the word, open vowel sounds may or may not coincide with stressed syllables.
I wish there was an exercise where you had to fill in the tense conjugations for each verb like is shown in this lesson
We do have it! On the main page: under Learn, select Verbs. There you can search for the verb you’d like to work on, select a tense and there you find a “Start quiz!” button. We cover many of the most common Portuguese verbs! 🙂
Wow, cool, I also haven’t noticed before. Thanks!
In the exercises on irregular -er verbs, it often sounds as if there is an an invisible syllable, e.g. between “têm” and “gémeos” in “Vocês têm gémeos” (to me it sounds like ‘Vocês têm um gémeos’). Is there a pronunciation rule explaining this?
Olá. The verb form ‘têm’ is pronounced with the repetition of the vowel sound, sometimes linked by a ghost I vowel (sounds like the English ee). It’s something like ‘teiem’. That’s how we clearly distinguish it from the singular ‘tem’. ‘Vêm’ is pronounced similarly, to distinguish it from the singular ‘vem’. I think this is what you’re hearing 🙂
It would be really helpful to download this page for offline revision. Can I do this somehow?
Hi Anne! I’m afraid we don’t have a built-in way to do it. I tried to save it as a PDF using a few different methods, but with all the interactive audio clips etc., I couldn’t find a great way to do it. I’ll note this for future reference, since we can definitely work towards improving the save/print-ability of the Learning Notes. Thanks for your support!