Have you noticed that some of the most frequently used verbs in Portuguese happen to be irregular?

These verbs aren’t just high-frequency – they also carry a wide range of meanings depending on context. Mastering their conjugation and usage will significantly enhance your speaking skills and give you a stronger sense of natural Portuguese.

Let me walk you through 8 must-know irregular verbs and how to use them. Read on.

🔎 Note that although these verbs are irregular in the Present tense, some are regular in the Past tense. Learn more about regular conjugation in Portuguese:
→ Portuguese Regular Verbs in the Present Tense
→ Portuguese Regular Verbs in the Past Tense

Ser 

Conjugation

	Present Presente	Preterite  Pretérito perfeito	Imperfect Pretérito imperfeito
eu	sou	fui	era
tu	és	foste	eras
você  ele, ela	é	foi	era
nós	somos	fomos	éramos
vocês  eles, elas	são	foram	eram

🔎 Learn more about Past tenses in Portuguese: Preterite vs. Imperfect Tense. 

Usage

Permanent states

Ser usually describes permanent traits:

Paris é em França.* 
Paris is in France.  

Eles são pessoas alegres. 
They are cheerful people.  

Eu sou Português. 
I am Portuguese.

🔎 In geographic contexts, the verb ficar is often used instead of ser. Learn more about ficar: The Portuguese Verb Ficar.

Passive voice

The Portuguese verb ser, like to be in English,  is also used to form passive-voice sentences:

active voice 
O Manuel escreveu um livro. 
Manuel wrote a book.  

passive voice 
O livro foi escrito pelo Manuel. 
The book was written by Manuel.

Like in English, the verb ser is followed by the past participle of the action verb. In Portuguese, however, the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject it refers to:

As cartas foram escritas pelo Manuel. 
The letters were written by Manuel.

🔎 Learn more about the passive voice in Portuguese.

Estar 

The verb estar is the “other” to be. Unlike ser, estar usually refers to temporary states – things changing over time. 

Conjugation

	Present Presente	Preterite  Pretérito perfeito	Imperfect Pretérito imperfeito
eu	estou	estive	estava
tu	estás	estiveste	estavas
você ele, ela	está	esteve	estava
nós	estamos	estivemos	estávamos
vocês  eles, elas	estão	estiveram	estavam

Usage

Temporary states

Here are a few examples:

Hoje, estou bem-disposto. 
Today, I am in a good mood.  

Nós estamos na Inglaterra. 
We are in England.  

O chá está super quente. 
The tea is very hot.

🔎 Learn more about ser vs estar.

Ter 

The verb ter means to have, and more.

Conjugation

	Present Presente	Preterite  Pretérito perfeito	Imperfect Pretérito imperfeito
eu	tenho	tive	tinha
tu	tens	tiveste	tinhas
você ele, ela	tem	teve	tinha
nós	temos	tivemos	tínhamos
vocês  eles, elas	têm	tiveram	tinham

Usage

Expressing possession

Eu tenho dois filhos. 
I have two children.  

Ela tem muito dinheiro. 
She’s got a lot of money.

Talking about age

– Que idade tens? 
– Tenho 23 anos. 
– How old are you? 
– I’m 23 years old.

Describing what’s going on with your body

– Tens frio? 
– Pelo contrário, tenho calor. 
– Are you cold? 
– On the contrary, I am hot.  

– Tens sede? 
– Sim, tenho sede e também tenho fome. 
– Are you thirsty? 
– Yes, I am thirsty and also hungry.

Forming Perfect tenses

Like have in English, ter is used as an auxiliary to form Perfect tenses:

Tenho trabalhado muito ultimamente. 
I have been working a lot lately.

🔎 Explore Portuguese equivalents to English verb tenses and moods.

Ter de – must

Finally, the verb ter followed by the preposition de is equivalent to the English modal verb must: 

Tens de deixar de fumar. 
You must quit smoking.

🔎 Learn more about Portuguese modal verbs.

Haver

The verb haver is used to indicate the existence of someone or something, or to express that something occurs, similar to “there is” in English.

It can also convey temporal notions, such as how long something has been happening or when it occurred.

Finally, haver may be used as an auxiliary verb in place of ter when forming perfect tenses

Conjugation

Here’s what haver looks like in the present and Past Simple tenses: 

	Present Presente	Preterite  Pretérito perfeito	Imperfect Pretérito imperfeito
eu	hei	houve	havia
tu	hás	houveste	havias
você ele, ela	há	houve	havia
nós	havemos	houvemos	havíamos
vocês  eles, elas	hão	houveram	haviam

💡 To express existence or temporal notions, use only the third-person singular form (highlighted in bold).

Usage

Existence

A few examples where haver (há) is used to express existence:

Há alguém aqui? 
Is there anyone here?  

Na vida há momentos bons e maus. 
In life, there are good and bad moments.

💡 Unlike in English, the verb remains in the singular form (há) even when referring to plural nouns, as seen in the second example above.

Temporal notions

Here are a few examples where haver (há) is used to express duration or elapsed time:

Vivo em Lisboa há 3 anos. 
I’ve lived in Lisbon for 3 years.  

O José visitou a Rússia há 2 anos. 
José visited Russia 2 years ago.

Forming Perfect tenses

Finally, here’s an example of haver being used as an auxiliary verb to form a perfect tense. In this case, haver is conjugated to agree with the subject:

Eu já havia estado no Rio de Janeiro de visita antes de me mudar para lá.
I had already visited Rio de Janeiro before moving there.

🔎 Dive deeper into the Portuguese verb haver.

Ir 

The Portuguese verb ir is equivalent to the English verb go. It is also used as an auxiliary verb to express the near future. 

Conjugation

	Presente Presente	Preterite  Pretérito perfeito	Imperfect Pretérito imperfeito
eu	vou	fui	ia
tu	vais	foste	ias
você ele, ela	vai	foi	ia
nós	vamos	fomos	íamos
vocês  eles, elas	vão	foram	iam

💡 Note that the verbs ir and ser look the same in the Pretérito Perfeito.

Usage

Here’s an example:

– Onde vais? 
– Vou ao supermercado. 
– Where are you going? 
– I’m going to the shop.

Here’s another example where ir is also used as an auxiliary to express the near future, much like the English structure be + going to:

– O que vais fazer logo à noite? 
–  Vou fazer um bolo. 
– What are you going to do this evening? 
– I’m going to bake a cake.

🔎 Students often use andar when they want to say ir, and vice versa. Learn how to use them right → Ir vs. Andar – Know When to Use Either.

Poder 

The verb poder is used to express permission and possibility, just like can in English.

Conjugation

Here’s what it looks like in the Present and Past Simple tenses:

	Present Presente	Preterite  Pretérito perfeito	Imperfect Pretérito imperfeito
eu	posso	pude	podia
tu	podes	pudeste	podias
você ele, ela	pode	pôde	podia
nós	podemos	pudemos	podíamos
vocês  eles, elas	podem	puderam	podiam

Here are a couple of examples with poder:

Podes-me ajudar? 
Can you help me?  

Não podes fumar aqui! 
You can’t smoke in here!

🔎 Learn more about other Portuguese modal verbs. 

Fazer

The verb Fazer often translates as do, make, or take. It is very common in idioms and set phrases.

Conjugation

Here’s what fazer looks like in the present and Past Simple tenses:

	Present Presente	Preterite  Pretérito perfeito	Imperfect Pretérito imperfeito
eu	faço	fiz	fazia
tu	fazes	fizeste	fazias
você ele, ela	faz	fez	fazia
nós	fazemos	fizemos	fazíamos
vocês  eles, elas	fazem	fizeram	faziam

Usage

Do, make, take

Here are a few examples:

– O que estás a fazer? 
– Estou a fazer o almoço. 
– What are you doing? 
– I am making lunch.  

Faz uma pausa! 
Take a break!

Set phrases

A couple of examples of set phrases with fazer:

Fazer ideia (to have a clue) 
Não faço ideia! 
I have no idea!  

Fazer de conta (pretend) 
Ela fez de conta que não me viu. 
She pretended she didn’t see me.  

🔎 Dive deeper into Fazer and its idiomatic riches.

Dar

The verb dar, give in English, features heavily in idioms and set phrases. 

Conjugation

	Present	Preterite  Pretérito perfeito	Imperfect Pretérito imperfeito
eu	dou	dei	dava
tu	dás	deste	davas
você ele, ela	dá	deu	dava
nós	damos	demos	dávamos
vocês  eles, elas	dão	deram	davam

Usage

Give

Here are a few examples where dar is used in its literal sense:

Ele deu-me uma prenda. 
He gave me a gift.  

Este problema está a dar-te dores de cabeça! 
This problem is giving you a headache!

Expressing possibility

Now, dar followed by the preposition para expresses possibility:

Desculpa, mas não deu para chegar a tempo. 
Sorry, but I couldn’t make it on time.  

Dá para me ajudares? 
Can you help me?

Idioms

Here are a few idioms with dar:

Dar um jeito (do a favor) 
Podes dar-me um jeito? 
Can you do me a favor? 

Quem me dera (I wish) 
Quem me dera que estivesses aqui. 
I wish you were here.  

Dar com o gato (finding the culprit) 
Já deste com o gato? 
Have you found what was troubling you?

🔎 There’s so much more you can say with dar… Learn more about its idiomatic riches.