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Portuguese Present Tense — Regular Verbs
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Three verb families, one pattern each: -ar, -er and -ir endings, negation with não, and questions by intonation.
Three families: -ar, -er, -ir
Portuguese verbs fall into three families by infinitive ending. The -ar family is by far the biggest and the pattern for all new verbs: falar (to speak) gives eu falo, tu falas, ele/você fala, nós falamos, eles/vocês falam. The -er family (comer, to eat): como, comes, come, comemos, comem. The -ir family (abrir, to open): abro, abres, abre, abrimos, abrem. Same endings as -er except in nós.
Você simplifies everything
Because você conjugates like ele/ela (he/she), Brazilian conversation effectively uses four distinct forms: eu falo, você/ele fala, nós falamos, vocês/eles falam. And since spoken Brazilian nós is usually replaced by a gente (also conjugated like ele/ela), daily speech often needs just three: falo, fala, falam. The full table still matters for writing and Portugal — but speaking is easier than it looks.
Negation and questions
Negation is one word before the verb: não. Eu não falo português (I don't speak Portuguese), Ela não come carne (she doesn't eat meat). Questions need no helper verb and no inversion — the statement becomes a question by intonation (and a question mark in writing): Você fala inglês? (do you speak English?). Add question words freely: Onde você mora? (where do you live?).
The verbs you need first
Priority regular verbs: falar (speak), morar (live), gostar de (like — always with de: Eu gosto de café), trabalhar (work), estudar (study), comer (eat), beber (drink), abrir (open). Note gostar's trap: English "I like coffee" is Eu gosto DE café — the de is mandatory and its absence marks every beginner.
| Person | falar (to speak) |
|---|---|
| eu | falo |
| tu | falas |
| ele / você | fala |
| nós | falamos |
| eles / vocês | falam |