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The difference between the verb “ser” (to be) and the verb “estar” (to be)

(A diferença entre os verbos ser e estar)

The verb ser is used for conditions or characteristics that are permanent and the
verb estar is used for transitory or not permanent conditions or characteristics.

Compare:
• Maria é bonita (Maria is beautiful) – Maria is really beautiful, maybe since she was
born.
• Maria está bonita (Maria is beautiful) – In that moment Maria is beautiful, but maybe
she doesn’t look beautiful all the time.

Conjugation of the verbs “ser” and “estar”

Usually, we Brazilians don’t use the person “tu” to refer to the person you. But in
some regions in Brazil, people use “tu” but in an “incorrect” way, along with the verb that
should be used for the person "você". It’s known that only in Santa Catarina (South) and
Maranhão (Northeast) people use “tu” correctly.

For example, if you read Portuguese Grammar books that are taught in schools here in
Brazil, you’ll see the following conjugation for the verb ser:

1 Eu sou
Singular 2 Tu és
3 Ele / Ela / Você é
1 Nós somos
Plural 2 Vós sois
3 Eles / Elas / Vocês são

Here in Brazil, “Vós” is rarely used and “Tu” is usually used with the verb conjugated
for the persons “Ele”,“Ela” and “Você”.

For a better comprehension of the verbs and persons, it is good to separate what is
singular from what is plural. Eu (I), você (you), ele (he), ela (she), isso (that), isto (this) a
gente (it means “we” – but it is a singular noun) and any other singular words are in the singular
section. Nós (we), eles (they), elas (they, but just for a group of women or feminine
nouns), vocês (you) and all plural words, are in the plural section.
Let’s study the chart for didactics purpose.

Verb “ser”

Eu sou
Singular
Ele / Ela / Você/ Isso / Isto / A gente /
é
Singular words

Nós somos
Plural
Eles / Elas / Vocês / Plural words são

Examples:
• Eu sou feliz. (I’m happy.)
• Ela é inglesa. (She is English.)
• Nós somos primos. (We are cousins.)

Verb “estar”

Eu estou
Singular
Ele / Ela / Você/ Isso / Isto / A gente / Singular
está
words

Nós estamos
Plural
Eles / Elas / Vocês / Plural words estão

Examples:
• Eu estou doente. (I’m sick.)
• Nós estamos com fome. (We are hungry.)
• Vocês estão cansados? (Are you tired?)

Note:

Both “a gente” and “nós” mean “we”, but “a gente” is more colloquial and informal than
“nós”. “A gente” is a singular word and “nós” is plural.
Compare:

A gente está com sede. (We’re thirsty.)


Nós estamos com sede. (We’re thirsty.)

Important Note:

When referring to a place that a person is located, the verb “estar” must be used, and when
referring to a place that a person is from, the verb “ser” is used.

Compare:

• Eu estou em São Paulo. (I’m in São Paulo.) - Observe that in this example the verb estar was
used.
• Eu sou de São Paulo. (I’m from São Paulo.) - Observe that in this example the verb ser was
used.

Important Note:

For nationalities and professions use also verb ser

Compare:

• Eu sou dentista. (I’m dentist.)


• Eu sou brasileira. (I’m brazilian.)

Present tense / Verbos – Presente do Indicativo

In Portuguese there are 3 different classes of verbs: verbs ending in “ar”, verbs
ending in “er”, verbs ending in “ir”. Each class of regular verbs has its own pattern of
termination when conjugated.

When conjugating regular verbs in Portuguese you just have to preserve the root of
the verb and substitute“ar”, “er” or “ir” for the following bold terminations:

Amar Comer Abrir


Person
(to love) (to eat) (to open)
Eu amo como abro

Singular

Ele / Ela / Você


ama come abre
A gente

Nós amamos comemos abrimos

Plural

Eles/ Elas/
amam comem abrem
Vocês

Examples:

• Eu amo. (I love.)
• Ela ama. (She loves)
• Ele ama. (He loves)
• Você ama. (You love)
• A gente ama. (We love)
• Nós amamos. (We love)
• Eles amam. (They love)
• Vocês amam. (You love)

Verbs ending in “ir” having the vowel “e” at the second-to-the-last syllable have the root
changed when they are conjugated in the Present tense. The vowel “e” is changed for “i” just
for the first person“eu”. The other conjugations follow the same pattern that is presented
above:

Vestir Mentir
Person
(to wear) (to lie)

Eu visto minto

Singular

Ele / Ela / Você / A


veste mente
gente
Nós vestimos mentimos

Plural

Eles/ Elas/ Vocês vestem mentem

Examples:

• Eu minto. (I lie)
• Ela mente. (She lies)
• Ele mente. (He lies)
• Você mente. (You lie)
• A gente mente. (We lie)
• Nós mentimos. (We lie)
• Eles mentem. (They lie)
• Vocês mentem. (You lie)

Verbs ending in “ir” having the vowel “o” at the second-to-the-last syllable have the root
changed when they are conjugated in the Present tense. The vowel “o” is changed for “u” just
for the first person “eu”.

Dormir Descobrir
Person
(to sleep) (to discover)

Eu durmo descubro

Singular

Ele / Ela / Você / A


dorme descobre
gente

Nós dormimos descobrimos

Plural

Eles/ Elas/ Vocês dormem descobrem

Examples:
• Eu durmo cedo. (I sleep early)
• Ela dorme cedo. (She sleeps early)
• Ele dorme cedo.. (He sleeps early)
• Você dorme cedo.. (You sleep early)
• A gente dorme cedo.. (We sleep early)
• Nós dormimos cedo.. (We sleep early)
• Eles dormem cedo.. (They sleep early)
• Vocês dormem cedo.. (You sleep early)

Present Continuous / Verbos – Presente Contínuo

Present Progressive (Present Continuous) – refers to an action that is happening or “going on”
right now.

Example:

• I am studying now - Eu estou estudando agora.

Observe that in English to compose that structure, was used the person I, verb to
be conjugated according to the person - “I am” and the action that is happening with the
suffix “ing” added to the verb.

Forming this kind of structure in Portuguese is easy and very similar to English. You just
need the person, conjugate in the present tense verb estar according to the person that you
want to refer, and finally use theaction that is going on right now.

There are 3 equivalents for “ing” in Portuguese. Each equivalent depends on the
termination of the verb in its infinitive form.

Type of verbs Equivalent to “ing” in Portuguese

Verbs ending in ar ANDO

Verbs ending in er ENDO

Verbs ending in ir INDO


In the chart below, observe how to add the suffix to the verb. You must drop the
termination of the verb and add the suffixes “ando”, “endo” and “indo”

Infinitive for Adding the right suffix

Falar (to speak) falANDO (speaking)

Comer (to eat) comENDO (eating)

Dormir (to sleep) dormINDO (sleeping)

Now observe how to form the Present Progressive in Portuguese:

Action that is happening right now with


Structure Person Verb estar (to be) conjugated
the appropriate suffix

English She is eating

Portuguese Ela está comendo

Examples:

Eu estou comendo. – I’m eating.


Ela está comendo. – She is eating.
Ele está comendo. – He is eating.
Você está comendo. – You are eating
A gente está comendo. – We are eating.
Nós estamos comendo. – We are eating.
Elas estão comendo. – They are eating.
Vocês estão comendo. – You are eating.

Irregular Verbs - Verbos – Verbos Irregulares

When studying irregular verbs in the present tense, we strongly suggest you to
memorize each conjugation. Observe that the persons “nós” are always regular which means
that the principle about the simple present conjugation can be applied.

Person FAZER OUVIR IR DAR


(to do / to(to hear) (to go) (to give)
make)

Eu faço ouço vou dou

Singular

Ele / Ela /
faz ouve vai dá
Você / A gente

Nós fazemos ouvimos vamos damos

Plural

Eles/ Elas/
fazem ouvem vão dão
Vocês

Examples:

(Eu) vou ao cinema toda semana. – I go to the movie every week.


Ele vai ao cinema toda semana. – He goes to the movie every week.
Ela vai ao cinema toda semana. – She goes to the movie every week.
Você vai ao cinema toda semana. – You go to the movie every week. (singular)
A gente vai ao cinema toda semana. – We go to the movie every week.
(Nós) vamos ao cinema toda semana. – We go to the movie every week.
Eles vão ao cinema toda semana. – They go to the movie every week.
Elas vão ao cinema toda semana. – They go to the movie every week. (just feminine)
Vocês vão ao cinema toda semana. – You go to the movie every week. (plural)
TER DIZER SABER PÔR
Person
(to have) (to say) (to know) (to put)

Eu tenho digo sei ponho

Singular
Ele / Ela /
Você / A tem diz sabe põe
gente

Nós temos dizemos sabemos pomos

Plural

Eles/ Elas/
têm dizem sabem põem
Vocês

Examples:

(Eu) tenho um carro. – I have a car.


Você tem un carro. – You have a car. (singular)
Ela tem um carro. – She has a car.
Ele tem um carro. – He has a car.
A gente tem um carro. – We have a car.
(Nós) temos um carro. – We have a car.
Eles têm um carro. – They have a car.
Elas têm um carro. – They have a car – (just feminie).
Vocês têm un carro. – You have a car. (plural)

Derived forms of verbs – Formas derivadas dos verbos

Derived forms of the verbs have the same changes that the simple verbs do. Therefore
the verbs in the list below must be conjugated as the simple verb in the charts above.

Fazer
Desfazer (to undo, unpack)
Refazer (to redo)
Ter
Obter (obtain)
Manter (keep, maintain)
Pôr
Compôr (to compose)
Supôr (to suppose)

Examples:

(Eu) obtenho a informacão. – I obtain the information.


Você obtem a informacão. – You obtain the information. (singular)
Ela obtem a informacão. – She obtains the information.
Ele obtem a informacão. – He obtains the information.
A gente obtem a informacão. – We obtain the information.
(Nós) obtemos a informacão. – We obtain the information.
Eles obtêm a informacão. – They obtain the information.
Elas obtêm a informacão. – You obtain the information. – (just feminine)
Vocês obtêm a informacão. – You obtain the information. (plural)

Simple past / Passado Perfeito Simples

The Simple Past – Passado Perfeito – is used to refer to actions that happened or were
completed in a recent past. The Simple Past refers to completed actions that had a definite
beginning and a definite end.

In Portuguese there are 3 different classes of verbs: verbs ending in “ar”, verbs
ending in “er”, verbs ending in “ir”. Each class of regular verbs has its own pattern of
termination when conjugated in the past.

When conjugating regular verbs in the simple past form, you just have to preserve the
root of the verb and substitute “ar”, “er” or “ir” for the following bold terminations:

Amar Comer Abrir


Person
(to love) (to eat) (to open)

Eu amei comi abri

Singular

Ele / Ela / Você A


amou comeu abriu
gente
Nós amamos comemos abrimos

Plural

Eles/ Elas/ Vocês amaram comeram abriram

Example:

• Eu amei. (I loved)
• Ela amou. (She loved)
• Ele amou. (He loved)
• A gente amou. (We loved)
• Nós amamos. (We loved)
• Eles amaram. (They loved)
• Vocês amaram. (You loved)

For verbs ending in “gar” and “car, the first person “eu” is conjugated using the
termination “guei” and“quei”, as you can observe in the chart below.

Chegar Marcar
Person
(to arrive) (to mark)

Eu cheguei marquei

Singular

Ele / Ela / Você / A gente chegou marcou

Nós chegamos marcamos

Plural

Eles/ Elas/ Vocês chegaram marcaram

Examples:
• Eu cheguei tarde.(I arrived late.)
• Ela chegou tarde.(She arrived late.)
• Ele chegou tarde. (He arrived late.)
• Você chegou tarde. (You arrived late.)
• A gente chegou tarde. (We arrived late.)
• Nós chegamos tarde. (We arrived late.)
• Eles chegaram tarde. (They arrived late.)
• Vocês chegaram tarde. (You arrived late)

Some irregular verbs in the Simple Past:

Fazer
Querer Ir Ter
Person (to make / to
(to want) (to go) (to have)
do)

Eu fiz quis fui tive

Singular
Ele / Ela /
Você / A fez quis foi teve
gente

Nós fizemos quisemos fomos tivemos

Plural

Eles/ Elas/
fizeram quiseram foram tiveram
Vocês

Examples:

• Eu fui ao Brasil.(I went to Brazil)


• Ela foi ao Brasil. (She went to Brazil.)
• Ele foi ao Brasil. (He went to Brazil.)
• Você foi ao Brasil. (You went to Brazil.)
• A gente foi ao Brasil. (We went to Brazil.)
• Nós fomos ao Brasil. (We went to Brazil.)
• Eles foram ao Brasil. (They went to Brazil.)
• Vocês foram ao Brasil. (You went to Brazil.)

Dizer Poder Saber Trazer


Person
(to say) (can) (to know) (to bring)
Eu disse pude soube trouxe

Singular
Ele / Ela /
Você / A disse pôde soube trouxe
gente

Nós dissémos pudemos soubemos trouxemos

Plural

Eles/ Elas/
disseram puderam souberam trouxeram
Vocês

Examples:

• Eu trouxe o livro.(I brought the book.)


• Ela trouxe o livro. (She brought the book.)
• Ele trouxe o livro. (He brought the book.)
• Você trouxe o livro. (You brought the book.)
• A gente trouxe o livro. (We brought the book.)
• Nós trouxemos o livro. (We brought the book.)
• Eles trouxeram o livro. (They brought the book.)
• Vocês trouxeram o livro. (You brought the book.)

Future Simple and Compound – Futuro Simples e Composto

To conjugate the future you can use either a simple tense or a compound tense. To
form a simple tense you just use one verb - the main verb - and to form a compound tense you
must use two verbs - an auxiliary verb and the main verb.

Usually in Brazil people express future using compound tenses. Compound sentences
are formed conjugating the auxiliary verb “ir” (to go) in the present followed by the main verb
in its infinitive form.
Before seeing and studying compound sentences in the future, let’s see the
terminations used for the simple tense. You have already learned that when conjugating regular
verbs, you need to preserve the root of the verb in the infinitive form and
substitute “ar”, “er” or “ir” for specific terminations, according to the tense you want to get
the verb conjugated.

For the future tense, you have to replace ar,er, and ir for the following bold terminations:
Future – Simple tense

Amar Comer Abrir


Person
(to love) (to eat) (to open)

Eu amarei comerei abrirei

Singular

Ele / Ela /
amará comerá abrirá
Você A gente

Nós amaremos comeremos abriremos

Plural

Eles/ Elas/
amarão comerão abrirão
Vocês

Examples:

Eu comerei – I’ll eat.


Ele comerá – He’ll eat.
Ela comerá – She’ll eat.
Você comerá – You’ll eat.
A gente comerá – We’ll eat.
Nós comeremos – We’ll eat.
Eles comerão– They’ll eat.
Vocês comerão – You’ll eat.

Future – Compound Tense


Ir conjugated +Ir conjugated +
Ir conjugated + Abrir
Person Amar Comer
(to open)
to love) (to eat)

Eu vou amar vou comer vou abrir

Singular
Ele / Ela /
Você / A vai amar vai comer vai abrir
gente

Nós vamos amar vamos comer vamos abrir

Plural

Eles/ Elas/
vão amar vão comer vão abrir
Vocês

Examples:

Eu vou comer – I’m going to eat.


Ela vai comer – She is going to eat.
Ele vai comer – He is going to eat.
Você vai comer – You are going to eat
A gente vai comer – We are going to eat.
Nós vamos comer – We are going eat.
Elas vão comer – They are going to eat.
Vocês vão comer – You are going to eat.

To Have - Verbo ter

Verb To have - Present Tense:

Study the conjugation of verb tener (to have) in the present tense:

Tener (to have) Tener (to have) Translation


Eu tenho I have

Singular
He has / She has / You have
Ele / Ela / Você / a gente tem
/ We have

Nós temos We have

Plural

Eles / Elas / Vocês tem They have / You have

How to use verb “ter”?

Verb “ter” can be used in two different ways:

1. To express that someone possesses something

Examples:

(Eu) Tenho um cachorro. (I have a dog)


Ele tem um cachorro. (He has a dog)
Ela tem um cachorro (She has a dog)
Você tem um cachorro (You have a dog)
A gente tem um cachorro (She have a dog)
(Nós) Temos um cachorro. (We have a dog)
Eles têm um cahorro. (They have a dog)
Vocês têm um cachorro. (You have a dog)

2. To express that someone has to do something. In this case it is necessary to use the following
formula: (person) + ter (conjugated according to the person) + que + verb in the infinitive
form.

I have to – (Eu) Tenho que

Examples:

(Eu) Tenho que limpar a casa. (I have to clean the house)


Você tem que limpar a casa. (You have to clean the house)
Ele tem que limpar a casa. (He has to clean the house)
Ela tem que limpar a casa. (She has to clean the house)
A gente tem que limpar a casa. (We have to clean the house)
(Nós) Temos que limpar a casa. (We have to clean the house)
Eles têm que limpar a casa. (They have to clean the house)
Vocês têm que limpar a casa. (You have to clean the house – formal)

Imperfect - Pretérito Imperfeito

Verb - Imperfect

Two different kinds of tenses are used to express or indicate actions that happened in
the past. In the lesson about Simple Past – Passado Perfeito, you can see that it is used to refer
to actions that were completed in a recent past. Basically, the Simple Past refers to completed
actions that have a definite beginning and a definite end.

The Imperfect tense – Passado Imperfeito – is used to refer to past actions that are not
seen as completed, actions that were in progress without a definite beginning or end, or actions
that were in progress when another event occurred. A good translation for this kind of
sentences is the progressive form (I was, she was, he was, it was, we were, they were….doing
something) . Observe that you can use a compound tense, using the verb “to be” (estar)
conjugated in the Imperfect tense along with the main verb in the gerund form or a simple
tense. Compare the examples below:

(Verbs in the gerund forms are those that have the terminations ando, endo or indo added to
their roots)

Example:

(compound tense) Eu estava cozinhando quando meu irmão me chamou. I was cooking when my
brother called.

(simple tense) Eu cozinhava quando meu irmão me chamou. I was cooking when my brother
called.

The imperfect indicates a habit that a person used to do. A habit is a group of actions that were
repeated many times, habitually.

Example:

Meu pai fumava muito. My father used to smoke a lot.


Finally, the Imperfect is also used to describe people, places, things, conditions of the past.

Examples:

A cidade tinha muitos museus. The city had many museums.


Eu tinha 15 anos quando fui a Europa. I was 15 when I went to Europe.

When conjugating regular verbs in the Imperfect tense, you just have to preserve the root of
the verb and substitute the terminations “ar”, “er” or “ir” for the following bold terminations:

Amar Comer Abrir


Person
(to love) (to eat) (to open)

Eu amava comia abria

Singular
Ele / Ela / Você /
amava comia abria
A gente

Nós amávamos comíamos abríamos

Plural

Eles/ Elas/ Vocês amavam comiam abriam

Examples:

Eu comia em casa quando Keyleigh chegou – I was eating at home when Keyleigh arrived.
Ele comia em casa quando Keyleigh chegou – He was eating at home when Keyleigh arrived.
Você comia em casa quando Keyleigh chegou – You were eating at home when Keyleigh arrived.
A gente comia em casa quando Keyleigh chegou – We were eating at home when Keyleigh
arrived.
(nós) Comíamos em casa quando Keyleigh chegou – We were eating at home when Keyleigh
arrived.
Eles comiam em casa quando Keyleigh chegou – They were eating at home when Keyleigh
arrived.
Vocês comiam em casa quando Keyleigh chegou – You were eating at home when Keyleigh
arrived.

Some Important Irregular Verbs

Ser Ir Ter
Person
(to be) (to go) (to have)

Eu era ia tinha
Singular
Ele / Ela / Você / A
era ia tinha
gente
Nós éramos íamos tínhamos
Plural
Eles/ Elas/ Vocês eram iam tinham

Examples:

Eu era uma criança quando (eu) visitei o Brasil.– I was a kid when I visited Brazil.
Ele era uma criança quando (eu) visitei o Brasil.– He was a kid when I visited Brazil.
Você era uma criança quando (eu) visitei o Brasil.– You were a kid when I visited Brazil.
A gente era criança quando (eu) visitei o Brasil.– We were kids when I visited Brazil.
(Nós) éramos crianças quando (eu) visitei o Brasil.– We were kids when I visited Brazil.
Eles eram crianças quando (eu) visitei o Brasil.– They were kids when I visited Brazil.
Vocês eram crianças quando (eu) visitei o Brasil.– You were kids when I visited Brazil.

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