This intensive course is for language learners striving toward the B1 level.
My suggestion* for these two weeks is to focus on:
*There's always room to adjust the course according to the group's preferences:
After this course, you'll have come closer to the B1 level and have the tools and strategies to get there and beyond.
Not sure if you should enroll in the A2 or B1 course?
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.
I will keep you updated on upcoming course seasons
This intensive course is for language learners striving toward the A2 level.
My suggestion* for these two weeks is to focus on:
*There's always room to adjust the course according to the group's preferences:
After this course, you'll have come closer to the A2 level and have the tools and strategies to get there and beyond.
Not sure if you should enroll in the A2 or B1 course?
This intensive course is for language learners striving toward the A1 level.
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).
This is an all-round course, meaning that we’ll work on all aspects of language learning (at the A1 level):
After this course, you'll have come closer to the A1 level and have the tools and strategies to get there and beyond.
Not sure if you should enroll in the A1 or A2 course?
In this article, I will walk you through the Portuguese equivalents to the English present simple, present continuous, and present perfect tenses.
Also, we will be mostly focusing on usage, not conjugation. To learn more about present tense conjugation in Portuguese, take a look at this one: Portuguese Regular Verbs and Conjugation Patterns in the Present Tense.
Let’s get started.
Tips! Here’re a couple of analogous reads on Portuguese past and future tenses:
• Portuguese Past Tenses – Usage Rundown Anchored to English
• Portuguese Future Tenses – Usage Rundown Anchored to English
Henceforth, I will be using the regular verb cantar (sing) for all the usage examples:
| Cantar | Present simple Presente | |
| Eu | canto |
| Tu | cantas |
| Ele, ela | canta |
| Nós | cantamos |
| Vocês Eles, elas | cantam |
| Present participle Gerúndio | cantando |
| Past participle Particípio passado | cantado |
Put simply, we use the present simple to talk about things done on a regular basis (habits, repeated actions, etc). Here’s an example:
| Eu canto num grupo coral às terças-feiras. I sing in a choir on Tuesdays. |
We can also use the present simple to express a time in the future (as long as we have some adverb or adverbial phrase indicating a future time):
| Na próxima semana, contudo, cantamos na quarta-feira. Next week, though, we will sing on Wednesday. |
We use the present continuous to talk about ongoing actions – something that is unfolding as we mention it.
We’ll need the auxiliary verb estar, the Portuguese counterpart of the verb to be:
| Estar | Present simple Presente | |
| Eu | estou |
| Tu | estás |
| Ele, ela | está |
| Nós | estamos |
| Vocês Eles, elas | estão |
Reading tips! There are actually two (!) verbs to be in Portuguese, namely ser and estar. Dig deeper into their differences: Portuguese Verbs ‘Ser’ and ‘Estar’- How and When to Use Either.
In European Portuguese, the equivalent of the present continuous is formed by the auxiliary verb estar in the present simple followed by the preposition a, after which comes the main verb in the infinitive.
| estar [pres.] + a + cantar [inf.] Neste momento, a Catarina está a cantar. At this very moment, Catarina is singing. |
Notice that the present continuous (all progressive tenses for that matter) looks slightly different in the Brazilian standard.
Accordingly, the preposition a after the auxiliary verb is left out and the main verb comes in the present participle instead *:
| estar [pres.] + cantar [pres. participle] Neste momento, a Catarina está cantando. At this very moment, Catarina is singing. |
* The present participle is called gerúndio in Portuguese, which is used beyond progressive tenses (in either standard). Learn more about it: Portuguese Gerund: Progressive Tenses and Beyond.
Also, explore the differences between the European and Brazilian standards: European vs. Brazilian Portuguese – How Different Are They Really?
Portuguese compound tenses use ter as the auxiliary verb – the Portuguese counterpart to have:
| Ter | Present simple Presente | |
| Eu | tenho |
| Tu | tens |
| Ele, ela | tem |
| Nós | temos |
| Vocês Eles, elas | têm |
Now, the English present perfect often refers to a completed action in the past, which is never the case in Portuguese.
Take the following English sentence and see how the Portuguese version calls to the preterite (a simple past tense):
| have [present] + sing [past participle] Catarina has sung a lot in the past. cantar [preterite] A Catarina cantou imenso no passado. |
Here’s the thing. When we use a structure analogous to the English present perfect – auxiliary verb (ter) in the present tense followed by the main verb (cantar) in the past participle – then, we are referring to actions that started in the recent past and continue all the way up to the present (and not to complete past actions).
Let’s look at a Portuguese sentence using this compound verb structure:
| ter [present] + cantar [past participle] A Catarina tem cantado imenso nos últimos meses. have [present] + be [past participle] + sing [present participle] Catarina has been singing a lot over the last few months. |
As you can see, the English translation calls to the present perfect continuous rather than the present perfect simple.
Now, the example above depicts something that has been ongoing “over the last months”. Imagine, however, that we use the same structure (in English) to illustrate an ongoing action unfolding on the same day that the observation is made.
In that case, the Portuguese equivalent will be other than the one above. There are actually two options:
| (1) ter [preterite] + a + cantar [past participle] A Catarina esteve a cantar toda a manhã. (2) ter [pres.] + estar[past participle] + a + cantar [inf.] A Catarina tem estado a cantar toda a manhã. have [present] + be [past participle] + sing [present participle] Catarina has been singing the whole morning. |
While the second option offers a more clear indication that the action is still ongoing, the first one is simpler (probably more common) and will do the trick as well.
Reading tips! Further explore the Portuguese Past Participle: Portuguese Past Participle and Auxiliary Verbs that Go with It.
Break Free from the Tyranny of the Present Tense
Stay tuned for upcoming online courses and other learning materials.