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 a spelling variation. These are considered regular verbs with discordâncias gráficas (graphical discrepancies), which is just a fancy way of saying that the word is written differently.
For example, let’s say you wanted to say “I stayed” in Portuguese:

• The rules for regular -ar verbs in the simple past tense (pretérito perfeito) tell you to add the -ei ending for a 1st person singular (eu) verb conjugation.
• However, if you take the verb ficar (“to stay”), drop the -ar, and add -ei, you would get ❌ficei. This is not a valid word in Portuguese.
• Instead, to match the phonetics of the language, it would have to be spelled like this: fiqueiI stayed ✅

Luckily, spelling variations like this follow clear patterns. These are easier to get the hang of once you are more comfortable with the way the sounds of Portuguese correspond to its written form.
We’ll list the rules below, followed by an example. The rules are based on the last 3 or 4 letters of the infinitive verb and they all involve the letters c, ç, or g.

Spelling Rules For Verbs Ending In…

-car

Rule: c becomes qu before the vowel e

• I stayed
  • ficarto stay Slow audio Play audio Verb
  • stem = fic-
  • regular pretérito perfeito do indicativo ending = -ei
  • ficei → fiqueiI stayed ✅

-çar

Rule: ç becomes c before the vowel e

• I hope that he dances
  • dançarto dance Slow audio Play audio Verb
  • stem = danç-
  • regular presente do conjuntivo ending = -e
  • dançe → Espero que ele danceI hope that he dances ✅

-gar

Rule: g becomes gu before the vowel e

• I arrived
  • chegarto arrive Slow audio Play audio Verb
  • stem = cheg-
  • regular pretérito perfeito do indicativo ending = -ei
  • chegei → chegueiI arrived Slow audio Play audio Conjugated Verbs ✅

-cer

Rule: c becomes ç before the vowels a or o

• I know
  • conhecerto know (be acquainted with) Slow audio Play audio Verb
  • stem = conhec-
  • regular presente do indicativo ending = -o
  • conheco → conheçoI know ✅

-ger or -gir

Rule: g becomes j before the vowels a or o

• I hope that you(sing.,formal) protect me
  • protegerto protect Slow audio Play audio Verb
  • stem = proteg-
  • regular presente do conjuntivo ending= -a
  • protega → Espero que me protejaI hope that you(sing.,formal) protect me ✅

-guer

Rule: gu becomes g before the vowels a or o

• I hope that they erect statues
  • erguerto erect, raise
  • stem = ergu-
  • regular presente do conjuntivo ending = -am
  • erguam → Espero que ergam estátuasI hope that they erect statues ✅

How Can I Practice These Verbs?

Members can go to our verbs section and filter by “irregular” verbs. This will show you both irregular verbs and regular verbs with spelling variations. As mentioned, the spelling variations do not technically make these verbs irregular, but we decided to put them under the irregular category to make it easier for you to find them.