A1Lesson 3: Present Indicative & Modal Verbs
Regular –ER verbs in the present indicative are used to talk about current or habitual actions involving verbs like comer (to eat), vender (to sell), and beber (to drink). They follow a slightly different but equally regular pattern compared to –AR verbs.
Remove -ER from the infinitive to find the stem
Add endings: eu -o, você/ele/ela -e, nós -emos, vocês/eles/elas -em
Tu -es exists but is rarely used in Brazil
A gente uses the 3rd person singular (-e), like você/ele/ela
Fewer -ER verbs than -AR, but many are extremely high-frequency
Some -ER verbs have spelling changes (-cer, -ger verbs)
Present tense covers current actions, habits, and the near future
Stress patterns mirror -AR 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.
verb stem (remove -ER) + present tense ending (-o, -e, -emos, -em)
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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:
Find the stem: COMER - ER = COM-
Add the appropriate ending:
com + o = como (I eat)
TU → -ES (rarely used in Brazil)
"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)
"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)
To preserve pronunciation, some -ER verbs change spelling in the eu form:
conhecer → eu conheço (I know / I meet)
parecer → eu pareço (I seem)
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 -ER verbs ending in -eem in the third-person plural — so lêem, crêem, vêem and dêem are now spelled leem, creem, veem and deem. Brazilian publishers had a transition period that ended in 2016, which is why older novels and textbooks may still display the old accented forms.
Source: Uso do acento circunflexo no Novo Acordo Ortográfico — portugues.com.br.
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