Introduction
The verb a acordar is essential for talking about waking up and waking someone in Brazilian Portuguese. This article explains the two main uses of a acordar, its conjugation patterns, reflexive versus transitive forms, common expressions, and subtle differences in meaning. Examples and cultural notes help beginners and intermediate learners use the verb naturally.
- Overview: two main uses of acordar
- Conjugation basics
- Reflexive pronouns and placement
- Common expressions and collocations
- Differences between acordar and levantar
- Practical usage: polite and casual commands
- Passive and passive-like constructions
- Nuances: acordar vs. despertar
- Cultural notes and everyday tips
- Examples in context — short dialogues
- Common mistakes and how to avoid them
- Quick reference: useful phrases
- Conclusion
Overview: two main uses of acordar
In Brazilian Portuguese, a acordar can be used in two related but distinct ways: to describe the action of waking up yourself, and to describe the action of waking someone else. Understanding when to use the reflexive form versus the transitive form is the first step.
Reflexive use: waking up (to wake oneself)
When you mean that someone wakes up (stops sleeping), the verb is typically used with the reflexive pronoun se. The structure is verb + se: acordar-se, usually contracted in spoken and written Portuguese to acordar. Common pronouns are me, te, se, nos, and se.
Examples of the reflexive form:
Eu me acordo às 7h.
Ela se acordou cedo hoje.
Nós nos acordamos com o barulho.
Transitive use: waking someone (to wake another person)
When someone wakes someone else, a acordar works as a transitive verb and is used without the reflexive pronoun for the subject. The person being woken can be expressed as a direct object or with the preposition para depending on the nuance.
Examples of the transitive form:
Eu acordei meu irmão às 6h.
O vizinho acordou as crianças com um apito.
Conjugation basics
Acordar is a regular verb of the first conjugation ending in -ar. Conjugation follows predictable patterns in present, past, future, and compound tenses. Below are key forms to learn for everyday use.
Present tense (Presente do Indicativo)
eu acordo
tu acordas
ele/ela acorda
nós acordamos
vós acordais (rarely used in Brazil)
eles/elas acordam
Use the present tense for habitual actions and states. For example: Eu acordo cedo todos os dias.
Past tenses: Pretérito Perfeito and Imperfeito
Pretérito Perfeito (completed actions): acordar → eu acordei, tu acordaste, ele/ela acordou, nós acordamos, eles/elas acordaram.
Example: Ontem eu acordei às 8h.
Pretérito Imperfeito (ongoing or habitual past): eu acordava, tu acordavas, ele/ela acordava, nós acordávamos, eles/elas acordavam.
Example: Quando eu era criança, eu acordava cedo todos os dias.
Future and conditional
Futuro do Presente: eu acordarei, tu acordarás, ele/ela acordará, nós acordaremos, eles/elas acordarão. Commonly, Brazilians also use ir + infinitive to express the near future: eu vou acordar.
Conditional (Futuro do Pretérito): eu acordaria expresses hypothetical situations: Eu acordaria mais cedo se tivesse sono.
Reflexive pronouns and placement
In Portuguese, reflexive pronouns show who performs and receives the action. For a acordar as waking oneself, use me, te, se, nos, vos. Pronoun placement depends on sentence type and formality.
Position rules
In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, the pronoun usually comes before the verb with conjugated forms: eu me acordo, você se lembra? However, after an infinitive, gerund, or affirmative command, it attaches to the end: acordar-se is the infinitive form, acordando-se for gerund, and acorde-se in a formal positive command.
Examples:
Eu me acordo às 6h.
Vou me acordar cedo amanhã. (or Vou acordar-me — less common in Brazil)
Informal spoken Portuguese
In casual speech, people often drop the reflexive pronoun and rely on context or use reflexive forms less strictly, especially with the verb a acordar. For example, Você acordou? can imply both Did you wake up and Did someone wake you? Context clarifies meaning.
Common expressions and collocations
Learning typical collocations helps you use a acordar naturally. Here are frequent patterns and idioms.
Acordar cedo / tarde
These are the most common collocations to say wake up early or wake up late: acordar cedo, acordar tarde.
Examples: Eu não consigo acordar cedo sem café.
Ela sempre acorda tarde nos finais de semana.
Acordar bem / mal
Use these to describe how you feel upon waking: acordar bem (feel rested), acordar mal (feel unwell or grumpy).
Example: Hoje eu acordei mal — não dormi bem.
Acordar alguém
To say to wake someone up, use acordar alguém: acordei minha mãe, acordei os vizinhos. You can add com + instrument: acordei meu filho com um beijo, acordei meu irmão com um alarme.
Acordar com
Acordar com can mean to wake up because of a sound or to wake up with something: acordei com o barulho, acordei com dores nas costas.
Differences between acordar and levantar
Portuguese distinguishes between waking up and getting out of bed. Acordar means to stop sleeping; levantar means to get up from bed. Native speakers often use both in sequence.
Examples:
Eu acordei às 7h, mas só me levantei às 7h30.
Ela acordou cedo e já se levantou para trabalhar.
Don’t confuse these: Você já acordou? asks if someone is awake. Você já se levantou? asks if someone already got out of bed.
Practical usage: polite and casual commands
When asking someone to wake up or wake someone, there are polite and casual forms. Brazilian Portuguese tends to favor the pronoun você in casual speech and the formal imperative in polite situations.
Polite or formal commands
Use the imperative formal or phrases like por favor to sound polite: Por favor, acorde às 6h amanhã. A formal negative imperative uses não acorde.
Example: Por favor, não acorde as crianças cedo.
Casual commands
In informal contexts, use the imperative with tu or você depending on region: Acorda! (tu in some regions) or Acorda, cara! or Acorde! for você in more formal register.
Example: Acorda, já está na hora!
Passive and passive-like constructions
While less common for a acordar, you can express being woken by someone in a passive or passive-like structure using ser + past participle or the reflexive passive se:
Ele foi acordado pelo alarme. (He was woken by the alarm.)
Ele se acordou com o barulho. (He woke up because of the noise; reflexive-like)
In daily speech, Brazilians prefer active constructions: O alarme acordou ele or O barulho o acordou.
Nuances: acordar vs. despertar
Despertar is a synonym but slightly more formal or literary. In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, people use a acordar more often. Despertar appears in literature, formal writing, and some fixed expressions.
Example: O sol despertou a cidade is more poetic than O sol acordou a cidade.
Cultural notes and everyday tips
Understanding waking customs in Brazil helps in context. Brazilians often mention alarms, sunlight, and neighborhood noise as common wake-up triggers. Napping culture: cochilos and sonecas are common; when someone says Vou cochilar, they use other verbs. Saying Bom dia is the usual greeting after waking up or in the morning.
Politeness tip: If you need to wake someone who is sleeping, use gentle verbs and soft language. Acordar alguém brusquely can be rude — instead, try chamar someone or dizer baixinho.
Examples in context — short dialogues
Dialogue 1 — home morning
Mãe: Já acordou?
Filho: Acordei, mãe, mas ainda quero dormir mais cinco minutos.
Dialogue 2 — waking someone for work
Colega: Você pode me acordar amanhã às 6h?
Amigo: Claro, eu te acordo.
Dialogue 3 — describing a past event
Eu acordei às 5h porque o cachorro do vizinho latiu muito.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
Mistake 1: Using levantar instead of acordar to mean stop sleeping. Remember levantar means get out of bed, not necessarily stop sleeping.
Mistake 2: Omitting reflexive pronoun when meaning to say you woke up yourself. Use me/acordei or context can confuse listeners otherwise.
Mistake 3: Confusing acordar and despertar in formal writing. Prefer despertar for literary effect and acordar for everyday speech.
Quick reference: useful phrases
Eu me acordo às 6h.
Você me acorda amanhã?
Acordei tarde hoje.
Acorde com cuidado — a criança está dormindo.
Ele foi acordado pelo telefone.
Conclusion
Mastering a acordar helps you describe waking up, wake others, and talk about morning routines in Brazilian Portuguese. Remember the reflexive use for waking oneself, the transitive use for waking others, the difference with levantar, and common collocations like acordar cedo and acordar com. With practice, these patterns become natural in conversation and writing.
