Portuguese Perfect vs. Imperfect Tense: Know When to Use Either
The Portuguese Perfect and Imperfect past tenses (aka Pretérito Perfeito and Pretérito Imperfeito in Portuguese) are often a headache for language learners whose native tongue doesn’t make…
Portuguese Food Recipes (Practice the Imperative Mood)
Today I will bring you a few traditional Portuguese food recipes. You should know that following Portuguese recipes is an excellent way to create exposure and engage…
Portuguese Present Subjunctive (Presente Conjuntivo)
The use of the Subjunctive in Portuguese (Conjuntivo) is way more frequent than in English. That alone can be a stumbling block for many language learners as…
Portuguese Future Subjunctive (Futuro do Conjuntivo) – Conjugation and Usage
If you have been learning Portuguese long enough, you know that sooner or later you’ve got to come to grips with the Future Subjunctive (Futuro do Conjuntivo).…
Portuguese Present Tense – Usage Rundown Anchored to English
This article concerns Portuguese equivalents to the English Present Simple, Present Continuous, and Present Perfect tenses. We will be mostly focusing on usage, not conjugation. To learn…
Portuguese Regular Verbs in the Present Tense
Portuguese verbs are indeed more cumbersome to learn than, say, English. Being a Romance language, Portuguese is not short of verb forms to keep track of. Fortunately,…
Portuguese Past Subjunctive (Imperfeito do Conjuntivo)
The Subjunctive mood is often a source of much whining and moaning among Portuguese language learners – so many conjugations one must keep track of! We have…
Portuguese Defective Verbs
Defective verbs are verbs with incomplete conjugation. For instance, Portuguese defective verbs are only conjugated in the 3-person (singular or plural). Some defective verbs are commonplace so…
The Portuguese Verb Ficar – Conjugation and Usage
Ficar is a high-frequency and versatile Portuguese verb that every language learner should master as soon as possible. Depending on the context, Ficar may mean ‘stay’, ‘get’,…
Portuguese Gerund: Progressive Tenses and Beyond
The Portuguese Gerund (Gerúndio) is used to build Progressive tenses (such as the Present Continuous) and is the equivalent of the English Present Participle: the -ing verb…
The Verb Ter in Portuguese
In short, the verb Ter is the Portuguese equivalent of Have in English as both share the same basic meaning and are used to form Perfect tenses:…
50 Most Common Verbs in Portuguese
Want to start speaking Portuguese as soon as possible? The key is to learn the words you’ll use most often! Here’s a list of 50 commonly used…
Portuguese Regular Verbs in the Past Tense
Let’s look at Portuguese regular verbs and conjugation patterns in the Past tense – both Preterite and Imperfect conjugations (aka Pretérito Perfeito and Pretérito Imperfeito). As you’ll…
Portuguese Verbs “Ir” vs. “Andar” – Know When to Use Either
I’ve noticed that Portuguese language learners often use the verb Andar when they want to say Ir, and vice-versa. This happens almost without exception in a context…
Personal Infinitive in Portuguese (Infinitivo Pessoal)
The Personal Infinitive (Infinitivo Pessoal) is unique to Portuguese and commonplace. There’s no parallel in other languages and learners of Portuguese often struggle to wrap their heads…
Present Continuous in Portuguese
In Portuguese, as in English, we use the present continuous to talk about ongoing actions. Note, however, that the present continuous in the European and Brazilian standards look…
Falar vs. Dizer vs. Contar in Portuguese
Portuguese language learners often wonder about the difference between the verbs Falar, Dizer, and Contar. While they can sometimes be used interchangeably, certain contexts will call for…
Poder vs. Conseguir in Portuguese – Tease Them Apart
Portuguese language learners often struggle to discern between Poder and Conseguir, not least native English speakers or anyone using English as a reference since Can usually encompasses…