Portuguese verbs
The verb carries most of what a sentence does: who, when, whether it is done or still going on. Here you will find the grammar around it, the verbs that do not follow the rules, and practice.
Where to go from here
How a verb changes its form is covered by the grammar topics below. When to use which form is the question of the tenses, and that has a page of its own. The verbs you simply have to know one by one have one too.
The 30 grammar topics around the verb
Each with an explanation, a form table, example sentences and exercises of its own.
A1ir plus the infinitiveGoing to, minus the to.B1The futuro simplesThe future you would only ever write.B1The condicional« Would » does four jobs in English; this form takes two of them.B2The future that is not one« Onde estarão as chaves? » is a question English cannot ask this way.C1The pronoun in the middleA pronoun wedged into the middle of the verb — English has nothing remotely like it.A2The Presente for the futureEnglish splits this between two presents; Portuguese has one.B1Which future fitsThe form nearest your grammar book is the one you will use least.B1The future after quando and seEnglish forbids a future after « when »; Portuguese demands a tense of its own.B2The Futuro compostoTwo jobs: what will be done by Friday, and what probably happened yesterday.A1poder and quererThese conjugate all the way through; « can » cannot even manage a participle.A2The three ways of saying « must »« Have to », « must » and « need » — the same three, cut along a different line.A2saber and conhecerAnd in the past they stop meaning know and start meaning found out and met.B2Modals in the past« Wouldn't » means refused in English too — and here it is a tense.B1Not having to and not being allowed toThe two halves differ by a preposition: não tens de against não podes.B1dever for a guessDuty or guess is decided by the word after it, not by the verb.A2Asking politelyWhere English reaches for « would », this reaches for a past tense.B1Advising and recommendingThree weights of advice, and the heaviest is already a reproach.C1Rules and signs« No smoking » is a gerund; here the sign takes an infinitive.B1The passive with serThe participle agrees like an adjective, which English participles never do.B1The passive with seThis is the one you will actually hear — and it cannot name who did it.B1State rather than eventAfter estar it is simply an adjective — you can put « very » in front of it.B2The third way: they with no who« I was told » cannot be built here; « they told me » stands in its place.A2The bare infinitive« Can » is three different verbs here.B1When the verb carries the adverb« Again » and « these days » are not words here — they are verbs.B1The infinitive with a« Going to » is here just going, with nothing in between.B1The infinitive with de« I have just arrived » is a verb here, not an adverb.B2Having it done and letting it happen« Let » and « leave » are one verb here.B1Verbs that take a, de and emOne verb, three continuations — and « to finish » is none of them.B1Adjective and noun before the infinitive« Something to drink » picks its own preposition, and « to » does not say which.B1estar a and the gerúndioYou already make this difference; here it is built two different ways.
Practise 1080 verbs
The verbs from the core vocabulary, across all the topic lists.