Geared toward Absolute Beginners, this course gives you a solid start and foundation to build upon.
This is an introductory course to the Portuguese language as spoken in Portugal. Throughout the course, we will focus on the Portuguese sound system and basic Portuguese grammar.
You will also learn how to introduce yourself and day-to-day, useful phrases. Finally, we will discuss learning resources and strategies to support your learning journey.
After the course, you will have a basic understanding of European Portuguese pronunciation and grammar. You will also be capable of engaging in simple, short oral interactions. Last but not least, you will be aware of a variety of learning resources and strategies to help you succeed at learning the language.
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Beginners A2
This intensive course is for language learners striving toward the A2 level.
This intensive course is for language learners striving toward the A1level.
If you have just started your learning journey, you may find this course too challenging. Consider enrolling for the Clean Slate A0 instead (if available).
There are plenty of interesting options for our accommodation. It will most likely be a countryside house near Tavira.
I haven't booked it yet because I want to get a better idea of the group's composition (how many couples/singles) and your preferences before I do so. That will for instance help me understand how big a house we might need.
I look forward to soon talking to you about this and much more. Até breve, p
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In Portuguese, as in English, future tenses are normally used to refer to actions that haven’t yet taken place.
In this post, I will walk you through the Portuguese equivalents of several English future tenses (I will lay them out according to English grammar terminology).
I will be using the verb pensar (think) for the usage examples below. Here’s what it looks like when conjugated in the Portuguese simple future tense (futuro):
Pensar | Simple future Futuro
Eu
pensarei
Tu
pensarás
Ele, ela
pensará
Nós
pensaremos
Vocês Eles, elas
pensarão
It is worth noticing that the Portuguese equivalent of the simple future tense has a conjugation pattern that encompasses almost all verbs (three exceptions only). In the table above, you will see all regular endings bolded out.
To conjugate the Portuguese simple future tense, take the infinitive form of any verb (that will make the stem) and add those endings to it. It’s as simple as that.
Here’re the three exceptions I’ve mentioned above (the endings are the same but the stem doesn’t correspond to the infinitive form):
Fazer
Dizer
Trazer
Eu
farei
direi
trarei
Tu
farás
dirás
trarás
Ele, ela
fará
dirá
trará
Nós
faremos
diremos
traremos
Vocês Eles, elas
farão
dirão
trarão
Simple future
Here’s an example with the Portuguese simple future tense (futuro):
pensar (futuro) Pensarei nisso e digo-te algo mais tarde. I will think about that and I’ll get back to you later on.
Now, this futuro tense will often sound too formal and is mostly used in written language. In day-to-day life, we are likely to use something more colloquial and akin to the English structure be going to + main verb.
We’ll now need ir as our auxiliary verb:
Ir| Simple present Presente
Eu
vou
Tu
vais
Ele, ela
vai
Nós
vamos
Vocês Eles, elas
vão
Here’s a more colloquial version of the example above:
ir (presente) + pensar (infinitivo) Vou pensar nisso e digo-te algo mais tarde. I will think about that and I’ll get back to you later on.
Note that, in English, the difference between will + infinitive vs. be going to + infinitive is overly contextual (and not so much pertaining to differences in style).
In Portuguese, however, the difference between futurovs. ir + infinitive mostly concerns style and register (formal/written vs. informal/spoken).
Finally, we sometimes use futuro to wonder about something (uncertain scenario):
pensar (futuro) O Edgar pensará que estou chateado com ele… Edgar might be thinking I am cross with him…
In this context, another alternative (perhaps more common) would be to use the Portuguese modal* verb dever:
dever (presente) > pensar (infinitivo) O Edgar devepensar que estou chateado com ele… Edgar might be thinking I am cross with him…
Often, we talk about the future from a time in the past. Then, we use the so-called future-in-the-past tense.
In Portuguese, there are two ways of doing this. Either we use (1) the conditional (condicional) or (2) a compound structure with the auxiliary verb ir conjugated in the imperfect tense (pretérito imperfeito) and the main verb in the infinitive.
Ir | Imperfect Pretérito imperfeito
Pensar | Conditional Condicional
Eu
ia
pensaria
Tu
ias
pensarias
Ele, ela
ia
pensaria
Nós
íamos
pensaríamos
Vocês Eles, elas
iam
pensariam
* Note that in Brazilian Portuguese the condicional tense is sensibly called futuro do passado (literally future of the past). Also, the condicional´s conjugation shares the same principles and exceptions as the futuro tense (as spelled out before). The only difference between the two is the conjugated endings (bolded out in the table above).
Here’s an example:
(1) pensar (condicional) Eu estava certo que pensaria em ti todos os dias enquanto fosse vivo. (2) ir (pret. imperfeito) > pensar (infinitivo) Eu estava certo que íapensar em ti todos os dias enquanto fosse vivo. I was sure I would think of you every day as long as I lived.
Both alternatives are common. The first option is perhaps slightly more formal than the second.
Future continuous
We use the future continuous tense to indicate that something will occur in the future and continue for an expected length of time.
As in any other continuous/progressive tense, you’ll be using estar as the auxiliary verb:
Estar | Future simple Futuro
Eu
estarei
Tu
estarás
Ele, ela
estará
Nós
estaremos
Vocês Eles, elas
estarão
Here’s an example:
estar (futuro) > a > pensar (infinitivo) Daqui a cinco anos, estarei certamente ainda a pensar em ti. Five years from now, I’ll surely still be thinking of you.
As I pointed out before, it’s more colloquial touse the structure ir + infinitivo than the futuro tense
ir (presente) > estar (infinitivo) > a > pensar (infinitivo) Daqui a cinco anos, vou estar certamente ainda a pensar em ti. Five years from now, I’ll surely still be thinking of you.
Keep in mind that continuous tenses look slightly different in the Brazilian standard – the preposition a is left out and our main verb (pensar) comes in the present participle (gerúndio) instead:
Brazilian standard → pensar (gerúndio) (1) Daqui a cinco anos, estarei certamente ainda pensando em ti. (2) Daqui a cinco anos, vou estar certamente ainda pensado em ti. Five years from now, I’ll surely still be thinking of you.
Future perfect
We use the future perfect to refer to completed actions in the future.
As in any other perfect tense, we will be using the auxiliary verb ter (this time around conjugated in the futuro tense:
Ter | Simple future Futuro
Eu
terei
Tu
terás
Ele, ela
terá
Nós
teremos
Vocês Eles, elas
terão
Let’s change our main verb to trabalhar (instead of pensar). We’ll be using its past participle form* (particípio passado), that is, trabalhado. Here’s an example:
ter (futuro) > trabalhar (particípio passado) Daqui a dez anos, terei certamente trabalhado em três países diferentes. Ten years from now, I’ll have for sure worked in three different countries.
As pointed out before, we use the simple future tense to hypothesize or express doubt. The same goes for the future perfect (which in this case refers to a time in the past):
ter (futuro) > trabalhar (particípio passado) Terá ele trabalhado neste setor de atividade? Do you think that he has worked in this industry before?