A1 · Can, want, must
poder and querer: can, want
These conjugate all the way through; « can » cannot even manage a participle.
At a glance
- Remember
- Modal, infinitive, nothing in between.
- Form
- (eu) possoI can
- Signal words
- posso
- pode
- quero
- quer
- queria
- Trap
- Wrong:Posso a ajudar-te?Right:Posso ajudar-te?
Your turn
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The form
How the forms are built
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in Portuguese. The colours show what changes from one form to the next.
stem (regular) stem (irregular) person ending
| I can | (eu) posso |
| you can | (tu) podes |
| he / she can, you can | (ele / ela / você) pode |
| we can | (nós) podemos |
| you can, plural and formal | (vós) podeis |
| they can, you can (plural) | (eles / elas / vocês) podem |
| I want | (eu) quero |
| you want | (tu) queres |
| he / she wants, you want | (ele / ela / você) quer |
| we want | (nós) queremos |
| you want, plural and formal | (vós) quereis |
| they want, you want (plural) | (eles / elas / vocês) querem |
| I would like a coffee | queria um café |
| may I come in? | posso entrar? |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
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.
Example sentences
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.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The a between a modal and the infinitive comes from the English « to », or from constructions like começar a. 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.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
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.
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The verbs on this page, in every form: ir · querer · poder · dizer · falar · ajudar