Portuguese Verbs “Ir” vs. “Andar”

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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 where means of transport and mobility are implied.

Here’s the difference. We use Andar to talk about means of transport in general. However, we switch over to Ir as soon as we also mention the final destination:

ANDAR
Eu ando de carro todos os dias.
I use my car every day.

IR
Amanhã, vou de carro até ao Porto.
Tomorrow, I am going to Porto by car.

Let’s dive in.

Idiomatically Rich Verbs

Verb Gems

Andar

Conjugation

Here are a few verb forms of the regular verb andar:

	*Presente*	*Pretérito Perfeito*	*Pretérito Imperfeito*
Eu	ando	andei	andava
Tu	andas	andaste	andavas
Você Ele, ela	anda	andou	andava
Nós	andamos	andamos	andávamos
Vocês Eles, elas	andam	andaram	andavam

Learn more about Portuguese regular verbs:
Portuguese Regular Verbs and Conjugation Patterns in the Present Tense
Portuguese Regular Verbs for the Past Tense

Usage

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