Irregular Verbs in the Present Indicative (Brazilian Portuguese)

Memorizing the present indicative is essential for mastering Portuguese irregular verbs, as many of them have very unique forms in this tense. Let's break down these irregularities into clear, manageable groups based on their patterns.

1. Irregularities Only in the First-Person Singular ("Eu")

Many verbs are completely regular in the present tense except for the eu (I) form. The stem changes significantly, but the rest of the conjugations follow standard rules. Some of the most common ones include:

• caber (to fit) → eu caibo
• dizer (to say) → eu digo
• trazer (to bring) → eu trago
• fazer (to do/make) → eu faço
• ver (to see) → eu vejo
• pôr (to put) → eu ponho
• poder (to be able to/can) → eu posso
• querer (to want) → eu quero

Example: Eu faço o jantar todos os dias. (I make dinner every day.)

Example: Eu não caibo neste carro. (I don't fit in this car.)

2. Broad Irregularities

Some foundational verbs are irregular across multiple subjects, not just the first person. You will need to memorize their full present tense conjugations (eu, ele/ela/você, nós, eles/elas/vocês):

• saber (to know): sei, sabe, sabemos, sabem
• ir (to go): vou, vai, vamos, vão
• ser (to be - permanent): sou, é, somos, são
• haver (to have/there is): hei, há, hemos, hão
• dar (to give): dou, dá, damos, dão
• estar (to be - temporary): estou, está, estamos, estão

Example: Nós vamos à praia amanhã. (We go to the beach tomorrow.)

Example: Eles são meus amigos. (They are my friends.)

3. The "Ter" and "Vir" Pattern and Their Compound Verbs

The verbs ter (to have) and vir (to come) share a very similar and important conjugation pattern:

• ter: tenho, tem, temos, têm
• vir: venho, vem, vimos, vêm

Important Rule for Compound Verbs: Verbs derived from ter (like deter - to detain/hold) and vir (like convir - to suit/be convenient) follow this exact same pattern. However, because of Portuguese spelling rules regarding word stress, the third-person singular (ele/ela/você) takes an acute accent (´) to mark the stressed syllable, while the third-person plural (eles/elas/vocês) takes a circumflex accent (^).

• Ele detém o poder. (He holds the power.)
• Eles detêm o poder. (They hold the power.)
• Isso não me convém. (That doesn't suit me.)

4. The Verb "Requerer"

While the verb requerer (to require/request) looks like it would be a compound of querer, it behaves a little differently in the first-person singular. Instead of following the "quero" pattern, it has its own specific irregularity: requeiro.

Example: Eu requeiro mais tempo para terminar o projeto. (I request more time to finish the project.)