How to Conjugate “-ir” Verbs in Portuguese

Introduction

Learning to conjugate -ir verbs is a fundamental milestone for anyone studying Portuguese. These verbs form one of the three main conjugation groups in the language, alongside -ar and -er verbs. While -ir verbs might seem challenging at first, understanding their patterns will unlock your ability to express countless actions and ideas. This comprehensive guide will walk you through every tense and mood, providing clear examples and practical insights to help you master these essential verb forms.

Understanding the Three Conjugation Groups

Portuguese verbs are divided into three conjugation families based on their infinitive endings. The -ar verbs like falar (to speak) represent the largest group, followed by -er verbs such as comer (to eat), and finally -ir verbs like partir (to leave). Each group follows distinct conjugation patterns, though they share some similarities across tenses.

The -ir verb family includes many common and useful verbs that you’ll use daily. Some essential examples include abrir (to open), decidir (to decide), dividir (to divide), existir (to exist), and assistir (to watch or attend). Understanding how these verbs change across different tenses and moods will dramatically expand your conversational abilities.

Present Tense: Expressing Current Actions

The present tense (presente do indicativo) describes actions happening now, habitual actions, or general truths. To conjugate regular -ir verbs in the present tense, remove the infinitive ending and add the appropriate personal endings.

Let’s use partir (to leave) as our model verb:
Eu parto (I leave)
Você/Ele/Ela parte (You/He/She leaves)
Nós partimos (We leave)
Vocês/Eles/Elas partem (You all/They leave)

Notice that the nós form keeps the infinitive ending intact: partimos. This makes it one of the easiest forms to remember. The third person singular and plural forms (parte and partem) share the same stem but differ in their endings.

Here are practical examples with other verbs:
Eu abro a janela todas as manhãs. (I open the window every morning.)
Ela decide rápido. (She decides quickly.)
Nós assistimos ao jogo todo sábado. (We watch the game every Saturday.)
Eles dividem o apartamento. (They share the apartment.)

Common Regular -ir Verbs in Daily Use

Beyond the verbs already mentioned, several other regular -ir verbs appear frequently in conversation. Discutir (to discuss) follows the same pattern: eu discuto, você discute, nós discutimos, eles discutem. Similarly, permitir (to allow or permit) conjugates as: eu permito, ela permite, nós permitimos, vocês permitem.

The verb existir (to exist) is particularly useful for describing what’s available or present: Existe uma padaria perto de casa (There’s a bakery near home). Other valuable verbs include insistir (to insist), persistir (to persist), and resistir (to resist), all following the standard pattern.

Past Tenses: Talking About Completed Actions

Portuguese has several past tenses, each serving different purposes. The two most commonly used are the preterite (pretérito perfeito) and the imperfect (pretérito imperfeito).

Preterite Tense: Completed Past Actions

The preterite tense describes actions that were completed at a specific moment in the past. For regular -ir verbs, the conjugation pattern is straightforward.

Using abrir (to open) as an example:
Eu abri (I opened)
Você/Ele/Ela abriu (You/He/She opened)
Nós abrimos (We opened)
Vocês/Eles/Elas abriram (You all/They opened)

Notice that the nós form looks identical to the present tense (abrimos). Context usually makes the meaning clear, but you can specify the time if needed: Nós abrimos a loja ontem (We opened the store yesterday).

Practical examples in context:
Ela decidiu mudar de trabalho. (She decided to change jobs.)
Eu assisti àquele filme na semana passada. (I watched that movie last week.)
Eles partiram cedo. (They left early.)
Você permitiu a entrada? (Did you allow entry?)

Imperfect Tense: Ongoing Past Actions

The imperfect tense describes actions that were ongoing, habitual, or incomplete in the past. It’s perfect for setting scenes, describing repeated actions, or talking about how things used to be.

Conjugating partir in the imperfect:
Eu partia (I used to leave / was leaving)
Você/Ele/Ela partia (You/He/She used to leave / was leaving)
Nós partíamos (We used to leave / were leaving)
Vocês/Eles/Elas partiam (You all/They used to leave / were leaving)

The imperfect is particularly useful for describing childhood memories, past routines, or background information in storytelling. Consider these examples:
Quando eu era criança, eu abria os presentes no Natal. (When I was a child, I would open presents at Christmas.)
Nós assistíamos televisão todas as noites. (We used to watch television every night.)
Eles dividiam tudo quando eram casados. (They used to share everything when they were married.)

Future Tenses: Expressing What Will Happen

Portuguese offers multiple ways to express future actions, from the simple future tense to more casual constructions used in everyday speech.

Simple Future Tense

The simple future (futuro do presente) is formed by adding specific endings directly to the infinitive form. This tense appears more often in formal writing and speech.

Using decidir (to decide):
Eu decidirei (I will decide)
Você/Ele/Ela decidirá (You/He/She will decide)
Nós decidiremos (We will decide)
Vocês/Eles/Elas decidirão (You all/They will decide)

Examples in context:
Eu abrirei a conta amanhã. (I will open the account tomorrow.)
Eles partirão na próxima semana. (They will leave next week.)
Nós assistiremos ao show. (We will watch the show.)

Informal Future: Ir + Infinitive

In conversational Portuguese, speakers typically use the verb ir (to go) plus an infinitive to express future actions. This construction is much more common in daily speech than the simple future tense.

The pattern is simple: conjugate ir in the present tense and add the infinitive:
Eu vou partir (I’m going to leave)
Você vai abrir (You’re going to open)
Nós vamos decidir (We’re going to decide)
Eles vão assistir (They’re going to watch)

This informal future feels more natural in conversation:
Eu vou abrir minha própria empresa. (I’m going to open my own business.)
Ela vai decidir hoje. (She’s going to decide today.)
Nós vamos assistir juntos. (We’re going to watch together.)

Conditional Mood: Expressing Possibilities

The conditional mood (condicional) expresses actions that would happen under certain conditions or polite requests. Like the simple future, it’s formed by adding endings to the infinitive.

Conjugating partir in the conditional:
Eu partiria (I would leave)
Você/Ele/Ela partiria (You/He/She would leave)
Nós partiríamos (We would leave)
Vocês/Eles/Elas partiriam (You all/They would leave)

The conditional is essential for polite expressions and hypothetical situations:
Eu abriria a janela, mas está muito frio. (I would open the window, but it’s too cold.)
Você permitiria isso? (Would you allow that?)
Nós decidiríamos diferente. (We would decide differently.)
Eles dividiriam o custo. (They would split the cost.)

Subjunctive Mood: Expressing Doubts and Wishes

The subjunctive mood is crucial in Portuguese for expressing uncertainty, wishes, emotions, and hypothetical situations. While it may seem complex, understanding its basic patterns will significantly improve your fluency.

Present Subjunctive

The present subjunctive (presente do subjuntivo) often appears after certain conjunctions and expressions of doubt, desire, or emotion.

To form the present subjunctive of regular -ir verbs, start with the first person singular present indicative, drop the final -o, and add subjunctive endings.

For partir: Start with parto, remove -o to get part-, then add:
Que eu parta (That I leave)
Que você/ele/ela parta (That you/he/she leave)
Que nós partamos (That we leave)
Que vocês/eles/elas partam (That you all/they leave)

Common uses include:
Espero que você decida logo. (I hope you decide soon.)
É importante que nós abramos o diálogo. (It’s important that we open the dialogue.)
Talvez eles partam amanhã. (Maybe they’ll leave tomorrow.)
Duvido que ela permita isso. (I doubt she’ll allow that.)

Imperfect Subjunctive

The imperfect subjunctive (pretérito imperfeito do subjuntivo) corresponds to the conditional in hypothetical situations or follows the imperfect or preterite in the main clause.

Form it by taking the third person plural preterite, removing -ram, and adding the imperfect subjunctive endings.

For abrir: Start with abriram, remove -ram to get abri-:
Se eu abrisse (If I opened)
Se você/ele/ela abrisse (If you/he/she opened)
Se nós abríssemos (If we opened)
Se vocês/eles/elas abrissem (If you all/they opened)

Typical usage patterns:
Se eu decidisse, seria diferente. (If I decided, it would be different.)
Ela gostaria que nós assistíssemos. (She would like us to watch.)
Se eles permitissem, eu iria. (If they allowed, I would go.)

Imperative Mood: Giving Commands

The imperative mood (imperativo) is used for giving commands, instructions, or making requests. Portuguese has both affirmative and negative imperatives with slightly different forms.

Affirmative Imperative

For the affirmative imperative, most forms come from the present subjunctive, except for the você form which uses the present indicative.

Using partir:
Parta! (Leave! – formal you)
Partamos! (Let’s leave!)
Partam! (Leave! – you all)

Practical examples:
Abra a porta, por favor! (Open the door, please!)
Decidamos juntos! (Let’s decide together!)
Assistam ao vídeo! (Watch the video!)

Negative Imperative

The negative imperative uses the present subjunctive for all forms. Simply add não before the verb.

Examples:
Não parta ainda! (Don’t leave yet!)
Não abra essa porta! (Don’t open that door!)
Não decidam sem pensar! (Don’t decide without thinking!)
Não partamos tão cedo! (Let’s not leave so early!)

Progressive Forms: Ongoing Actions

To emphasize that an action is in progress, Portuguese uses the verb estar (to be) plus a gerund (the equivalent of the English -ing form).

The gerund for -ir verbs is formed by replacing -ir with -indo:
partir → partindo (leaving)
abrir → abrindo (opening)
decidir → decidindo (deciding)

Progressive constructions:
Eu estou partindo agora. (I’m leaving now.)
Ela está abrindo a loja. (She’s opening the store.)
Nós estamos decidindo. (We’re deciding.)
Eles estão assistindo ao filme. (They’re watching the movie.)

This form can be used in any tense:
Eu estava partindo quando você chegou. (I was leaving when you arrived.)
Nós estaremos assistindo o jogo. (We’ll be watching the game.)

Perfect Tenses: Completed Actions with Relevance

The present perfect (pretérito perfeito composto) describes actions that started in the past and continue to the present or have present relevance. It’s formed with the present tense of ter (to have) plus the past participle.

For regular -ir verbs, the past participle is formed by replacing -ir with -ido:
partir → partido (left)
abrir → aberto (opened – irregular)
decidir → decidido (decided)

Note that abrir has an irregular past participle: aberto.

Examples of the present perfect:
Eu tenho decidido melhor ultimamente. (I have been deciding better lately.)
Ela tem partido cedo todos os dias. (She has been leaving early every day.)
Nós temos assistido muitos filmes. (We have been watching many movies.)

Irregular -ir Verbs: Important Exceptions

While many -ir verbs follow regular patterns, several common verbs have irregular conjugations that you’ll need to memorize. These irregularities often occur in the present tense and carry through to the subjunctive.

Ir (To Go)

The verb ir is highly irregular and essential for daily communication. Its present tense is:
Eu vou (I go)
Você/Ele/Ela vai (You/He/She goes)
Nós vamos (We go)
Vocês/Eles/Elas vão (You all/They go)

As mentioned earlier, ir is also used to form the informal future tense.

Vir (To Come)

The verb vir (to come) has its own irregular pattern:
Eu venho (I come)
Você/Ele/Ela vem (You/He/She comes)
Nós vimos (We come)
Vocês/Eles/Elas vêm (You all/They come)

Example: Ela vem aqui toda semana (She comes here every week).

Other Important Irregular -ir Verbs

Several other -ir verbs have stem changes or other irregularities. Dormir (to sleep) changes to durmo in the first person singular present, while sentir (to feel) becomes sinto. The verb pedir (to ask for) changes to peço. These stem changes often extend to the present subjunctive as well.

Tips for Mastering -ir Verb Conjugations

Learning verb conjugations requires consistent practice and exposure. Here are effective strategies to help you internalize these patterns.

Practice with Common Verbs First

Focus initially on high-frequency verbs that you’ll use most often in conversation. Master verbs like abrir, decidir, partir, and assistir before moving to less common ones. Once you understand the regular patterns with these verbs, you can apply them to new -ir verbs you encounter.

Create Sentences, Not Just Lists

Rather than simply memorizing conjugation charts, create meaningful sentences using different tenses. For example, write a short paragraph about your daily routine using present tense, then rewrite it in the past, then in the future. This contextual practice helps cement the patterns in your memory.

Use Flashcards and Spaced Repetition

Digital flashcard apps that use spaced repetition algorithms can be particularly effective for learning conjugations. Create cards with English prompts on one side and Portuguese conjugations on the other, or vice versa. Review regularly, focusing extra attention on forms you find most challenging.

Listen and Repeat

Exposure to native Portuguese speakers is invaluable. Watch Brazilian shows, listen to podcasts, or follow Portuguese content creators online. Pay attention to how they use different tenses and moods, and try repeating sentences out loud to develop muscle memory for the conjugations.

Connect Tenses to Time Expressions

Learn common time expressions that signal which tense to use. Words like ontem (yesterday), na semana passada (last week), and há dois dias (two days ago) indicate the preterite, while sempre (always), geralmente (usually), and quando era criança (when I was a child) often go with the imperfect.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Understanding typical errors can help you avoid them as you practice. Here are some pitfalls that learners often encounter with -ir verbs.

Confusing -er and -ir Endings

Because -er and -ir verbs share many similar endings, learners sometimes mix them up. Remember that in the present tense, the nós form is distinctive: -ir verbs maintain the full infinitive ending (partimos), while -er verbs use -emos (comemos).

Forgetting Accent Marks

Accent marks in Portuguese aren’t decorative—they change pronunciation and meaning. Pay careful attention to accents in forms like partíamos (imperfect) versus partiamos (which isn’t correct). The accent mark indicates where the stress falls.

Overusing the Simple Future

Many learners study the simple future tense (partirei, partirá) and then use it constantly. Remember that native speakers typically prefer the informal future with ir plus infinitive (vou partir) in everyday conversation. Save the simple future for more formal contexts.

Neglecting the Subjunctive

Some learners try to avoid the subjunctive because it seems complex, but it’s essential for natural Portuguese. Expressions of doubt, emotion, desire, and uncertainty require the subjunctive. Phrases like espero que (I hope that) and é importante que (it’s important that) should trigger your awareness of the subjunctive.

Cultural Context and Usage Notes

Understanding how -ir verbs function in real Portuguese communication involves more than just memorizing conjugations. Cultural context matters.

Formality Levels

Brazilian Portuguese typically uses você (you) as the standard second person form, which takes third person conjugations. In more formal situations or some regions, people might use other forms of address. The imperative mood, in particular, varies in formality, with the você form being standard in most everyday interactions.

Regional Variations

While this guide focuses on Brazilian Portuguese, it’s worth noting that European Portuguese and other variants have some differences in verb usage and even conjugation patterns, particularly in the use of subject pronouns and the preference for certain tenses over others.

Register and Context

The choice between using the simple future (partirei) versus the informal future (vou partir) often depends on register. Written Portuguese, news broadcasts, and formal speeches tend to use the simple future, while casual conversation favors the informal construction. Similarly, the personal infinitive (a unique Portuguese feature) adds another layer of possibility for expressing future actions and intentions.

Building Confidence with -ir Verbs

As you continue your Portuguese learning journey, remember that mastering -ir verbs is a gradual process. Each tense and mood you learn opens up new possibilities for expression.

Start with the present tense and preterite, as these will serve you well in most basic conversations. Gradually incorporate the imperfect for storytelling and descriptions, then move to the future tenses and conditional for discussing plans and possibilities. The subjunctive may take longer to feel natural, but with consistent exposure and practice, it will become more intuitive.

Don’t let the fear of making mistakes prevent you from practicing. Native speakers appreciate your efforts to learn their language and will usually understand you even if your conjugations aren’t perfect. Each conversation is an opportunity to reinforce what you’ve learned and discover new patterns.

Consider keeping a language journal where you write short entries using different tenses. Start with simple sentences like Eu abro a porta (I open the door), then gradually increase complexity. Try writing the same story in different tenses to see how the perspective changes.

Engage with authentic Portuguese materials as much as possible. Brazilian music, television series, YouTube channels, and social media content all provide natural examples of -ir verbs in context. Notice how native speakers transition between tenses, when they choose formal versus informal constructions, and which verbs appear most frequently.

Conclusion

Mastering -ir verb conjugations is an essential step toward Portuguese fluency. While the variety of tenses and moods may seem overwhelming initially, each pattern follows logical rules that become more natural with practice. By focusing on high-frequency verbs, creating meaningful sentences, and immersing yourself in authentic Portuguese content, you’ll gradually internalize these conjugations. Remember that language learning is a journey, not a destination. Celebrate your progress, stay curious, and keep practicing. Your dedication to understanding these verb patterns will reward you with greater confidence and expressiveness in Portuguese.