A1 · Can, want, must
poder and querer
These conjugate all the way through; « can » cannot even manage a participle.
Posso, podes, pode, podemos, podem — and then the bare infinitive: posso ajudar.
Notice what that sentence already has that English cannot build. « Can » has no infinitive, so you cannot say « to can »; no participle, so no « I have canned »; no future, so « I will can » is impossible. English fills every one of those holes with « be able to ». Poder has all of them: poder, podido, poderei, and there is nothing to patch.
Quero, queres, quer, queremos, querem. The third person ends in -r and not in -e: ele quer, not ele quere.
Poder covers both « can » and « may ». Posso entrar? is « can I come in » and « may I come in », and the situation decides. For a polite wish the softer queria or gostaria de replaces quero: queria um café.
Die Form
| I can, you can, he can | posso, podes, pode |
| we can, they can | podemos, podem |
| I want, you want, he wants | quero, queres, quer |
| we want, they want | queremos, querem |
| I would like a coffee | queria um café |
| may I come in? | posso entrar? |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
The infinitive follows with no preposition.
Posso ajudar-te com isso.I can help you with that.
poder means both « can » and « may ».
Posso fazer uma pergunta?May I ask a question?
The third person of querer ends in -r.
Ele quer ir à praia.He wants to go to the beach.
queria is the polite way to order.
Queria a conta, por favor.I would like the bill, please.
Woran man es erkennt
- posso
- pode
- quero
- quer
- queria
Beispielsätze
Não posso ir hoje.I cannot go today.
Queres vir connosco?Do you want to come with us?
Podemos falar um momento?Can we talk for a moment?
Ela não quer dizer nada.She does not want to say anything.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
The a between a modal and the infinitive comes from Spanish and from English. Posso a ajudar and quero de comer are both wrong — nothing stands between them in Portuguese. English speakers reach for it because « want » demands « to »: « I want to eat » has a word there, and the ear expects one.
Modal, infinitive, nothing in between.
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