Regular –ER verbs

While -ER verbs are less common than -AR verbs, they include some of the most essential actions in daily life. You can't have a meal without "comer" (to eat) and "beber" (to drink), can't do business without "vender" (to sell) and "receber" (to receive), and can't communicate without "entender" (to understand) and "aprender" (to learn). These verbs show up constantly — from ordering at a restaurant ("O que vocês bebem?" — What are you drinking?) to basic conversations ("Eu não como carne" — I don't eat meat) to checking comprehension ("Você entende?" — Do you get it?). Master these patterns and you'll handle most everyday situations with confidence.

The -ER Conjugation Pattern

Like -AR verbs, conjugating -ER verbs involves removing the infinitive ending and adding person-specific endings. The key difference is the vowel: where -AR uses 'a', -ER uses 'e'.

Let's use COMER (to eat) as our model:

1. Find the stem: COMER - ER = COM-

2. Add the appropriate ending:

EU → -O

• com + o = como (I eat)

TU → -ES (standard form; usage varies by region)

At Restaurants and Bars

• "O que vocês bebem?" (What are you drinking?)

• "Eu não como carne" (I don't eat meat)

• "Nós escolhemos o prato do dia" (We choose the daily special)

• "Ela bebe só água com gás" (She only drinks sparkling water)

Daily Routines

• "Eu corro toda manhã" (I run every morning)

• "A gente come fora às sextas" (We eat out on Fridays)

• "Você recebe muitos emails?" (Do you receive many emails?)

• "Eles vendem produtos online" (They sell products online)

Spelling Changes in -CER and -GER Verbs

To preserve pronunciation, some -ER verbs change spelling in the eu form:

Verbs ending in -CER: c becomes ç in the eu form

• conhecer → eu conheço (I know / I meet)

• parecer → eu pareço (I seem)

Verbs ending in -GER: g becomes j in the eu form

• proteger → eu protejo (I protect)

The change is purely about keeping the soft sound — say it out loud and you will hear why.

The 1990 Orthographic Agreement removed the circumflex from verb forms such as lêem, crêem, vêem and dêem, now written leem, creem, veem and deem. Leem, creem and veem are present-indicative forms of ler, crer and ver; deem is a present-subjunctive form of dar, an -AR verb. The rule therefore is not limited to -ER verbs.

Brazil's official transition period ended on 31 December 2015, and the new spelling became compulsory from 1 January 2016. Older books may still show the previous accented forms.

Source: Decree 6,583/2008, article 2 and base IX, paragraph 7.